Day 32 - last mandatory program Panama Canal and getting ready for home

Today was the last sightseeing program for this trip. What? Of course, the Panama Canal. We had read on the internet that it is not as spectacular as one might think, but you don't visit Paris without going to the Eiffel Tower or New York without going to the Empire State Building.

The most important facts: The canal connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean over a length of approximately 80 km. This allows ships (mainly traffic from the east coast of the USA to the west coast or vice versa, and traffic from China and Japan) to save about 15,000 km around the South American continent (which is about three weeks of travel time). The whole thing consists of various lock systems and partly natural waterways made up of a large lake and rivers.

The best place to visit the canal from Panama City is the Miraflores Locks, which are about 5 km from the city center. In the visitors center, we watched a film about the history and construction of the canal, which was very interesting - unfortunately in Spanish, but I have been practicing for four weeks now 👍. Then it was announced over the loudspeaker that 39 ships would be passing through today. However, the first one wouldn't pass for another 2 hours - not worth waiting that long. But there was a very interesting exhibition about everything related to the Panama Canal. The lock processes were also shown there and you could see the whole thing from the perspective of a ship's bridge (almost like being there live). It was definitely worth seeing.

In the afternoon, we rushed through two shopping centers again, but without success. But there was a spa with a special offer for manicures and pedicures! So we thought, let's get pampered for our loved ones at home, so we don't look too shabby under the Christmas tree. My hands still look pretty good, I've been taking care of them on and off. But honestly, my feet needed some attention. So 2 Panamanian ladies took care of our hooves. Due to some communication problems, I now have transparent nail polish on my fingernails. I promise you, it only looks a little gay 😂😂

In the late afternoon, Julia drove to the airport. She has to take her flight home to Germany from Medellin. She will have a layover in Panama, but she can't board here (I tried to arrange it from Germany, but it didn't work). But in about 40 hours, we will see each other again in Germany.

In the evening, I turned on the TV for the first time in a month. And lo and behold, in the Mexican program, there was a summary of the DFB-Pokal ⚽️👏