| The restaurant scene in Casco Antiguo, Panama | | | | tropical coast--then this may not be the place for |
| represents some of the finest and most innovative | | | | you. |
| cuisine in the entire country. From shee-shee prefix | | | | But think about quaint plazas in Europe? Think about |
| menus to simple outdoor cafes, there is something | | | | beautifully-aged balconies and droopy bougainvilleas. |
| for almost everyone behind these walls. | | | | Think about Cuba, think about Cartagena, think about |
| Where else in Panama can you sit beneath hundred | | | | New Orleans (minus the girls gone wild). |
| year old stone walls or beside historically-preserved | | | | Casco Antiguo might be Panama's most unique nook: |
| monuments? Where can you go out for a night of | | | | a neighborhood with almost no middle-of-the-road |
| theater and a glass tangy ocean-side sangria? The | | | | travel characteristics left in its tank. This is a place for |
| emerging restaurant scene in Casco Antiguo, though | | | | romantic travelers and investors to whom the twinkle |
| already firmly established, is making hefty strides in | | | | of all-inclusive resorts, and the sheen of loft high rises |
| the nation's culinary marketplace. | | | | is anything but extraordinary. |
| Casco Antiguo is not for everyone. The | | | | Get on a double-decker tour bus if you want. Eat at |
| preconstruction condos in the city and sprawling | | | | the tourist restaurants and shop in the tourist malls: |
| beach resorts on the Pacific Coast are for the | | | | the same places you've been vacations year after |
| masses. If you're looking for everyday vacation--the | | | | year. Those who find their way to Casco Antiguo |
| kind of place that might exist on just about any | | | | though, are ones who will not forget. |