Penonome - best bakery in Panama

We hopped on a bus (and check out that bus!!) after our stay with Luna in Portobello, and rode to Penonome. It is where Panama hats are made.

I got a huge sun hat for $10, which is fantastic. As my skin is made out of some incredibly flimsy, bisquick-like material that is not designed in the least for exposure to sun, a big hat is necessary. My people are not of sunny climes.

My lack of melanin aside, Penonome is where the best bakery in all of Panama is.

We were planning on staying in Penonome only one night, and then going on to David and then up to Bocas, but all the busses were full. I mean ALL the busses. We waited for hours. We played a lot of dominoes. We played a lot of rock-paper-scissors. We slouched and rolled our eyes. All the busses were still full. All day long. ALL DAY.

Turns out there was a huge party all weekend in the next town over. Patron Saints´holidays are a really big deal. Since we were stranded in Penonome for another day, we went back to the bakery, and discoverd not only where their struedels amazing, but their chicken empanadas were astounding. Being foodies in a foreign land, we love it when we find the goods.


The other nice thing about being stranded with nothing to do was that it made laundry an appealing and totally reasonable use of our afternoon. Given the choice between swimming or doing laundry, I will usually go swimming. Or hiking, or to an old fort, or whatever. Adventure trumps laundry. But on that day, laundry won out over all other possibilities and it was totally fantastic. I am all for washing things in the sink and all, but there is something really nice about a real washing machine, and detergent, and a dryer. Ah, the luxories we appreciate more when we travel.