Our own Brendan Spiegel is down in Panama this week and will be reporting back on all that he's seen and done. Whether or not he's wearing a Panama Hat, we can't say. But if you have any questions or suggestions for him, let us know.

Flip open any guidebook to Panama and you'll read that the country's biggest project since the canal is getting set to open "next year." The attraction in question is the Bridge of Life Museum, a celebration of natural biodiversity housed in a futuristic building designed by starchitect Frank Gehry. (You can check out the crazy design online).

The museum's backers hope the Bridge of Life will do for Panama City what Gehry's Guggenheim did for Bilbao, namely, give it a permanent spot on the global cultural map. And Panama seems to have all the tools in place. ]]> BS 2009-03-31T09:26:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/30/93156/3424

Our own Brendan Spiegel is down in Panama this week and will be reporting back on all that he's seen and done. Whether or not he's wearing a Panama Hat, we can't say. But if you have any questions or suggestions for him, let us know.

Considering how built-up and cosmopolitan much of Panama City is, we've found that to our tastes, the accommodations game is surprisingly lacking.

You've got a bunch of very high-end places like The Bristol, which are pretty clearly outside our price range; there's a whole slew of cheap, dimly-lit pensions that strike us as just a tad too sketchy; and there are only one or two backpacker hostels to even speak of. ]]> BS 2009-03-30T10:11:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/25/102733/474

Our own Brendan Spiegel is down in Panama this week and will be reporting back on all that he's seen and done. Whether or not he's wearing a Panama Hat, we can't say. But if you have any questions or suggestions for him, let us know.

When traveling in less developed countries, we're of mixed opinion about street food. The pros are obvious: genuine, not-for-tourist grub at prices often cheaper than a stateside pack of gum. The cons are also obvious, and evident when you spend a significant portion of vacation in the bathroom.

So we don't recommend partaking in street food everywhere you visit, but we're definitely declaring that Panama falls in the category of "bring some back-up stomach meds and pig out." ]]> BS 2009-03-26T08:56:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/22/23548/6803

Our own Brendan Spiegel is down in Panama this week and will be reporting back on all that he's seen and done. Whether or not he's wearing a Panama Hat, we can't say. But if you have any questions or suggestions for him, let us know.

Jaunted is checking out the wild shores of Panama this week, and as you might expect, our first question upon arriving is, where can we find some WiFi?

The answer, quite surprisingly, is just about everywhere. Cosmopolitan Panama City is a telecommunications hub, with tech businesses like Dell, MCI and Swisscom basing much of their Latin American operations here, creating a mini-Silicon Valley along the isthmus. Consequentially, the Internet infrastructure across the country is years ahead of the rest of Central America. ]]> BS 2009-03-23T11:54:57-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/21/112020/382

The developers of the Trump Ocean Club in Panama City just obtained a protective order against Dubai's Jumeirah Group from a Panamanian court. The Ocean Clubbers say they've faced "veiled threats of legal action" from the Middle Eastern luxury hotel chain because Jumeirah feels that Trump's new $220 million tower copies the design of their flagship Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

The Trump Ocean Club, pictured at right, does look a lot like the Burj, at left, but you'd think Jumeirah would be flattered. The Burj Al Arab's sail-style construction has been described by critics as the "pinnacle of tackiness," so it's no surprise that Trump would admire the design. Besides, it's not like the Trump folks copied the Burj's amazing rooftop tennis court.

Jumeirah hasn't tried to sue yet, and we doubt they actually will: This whole thing smells like a Trump publicity stunt. Selling your place as a Burj knockoff is probably a lot easier than getting mega-rich tourists excited about Panama City.

Related Stories:
· Trump Ocean Club [Official Site]
· Trump Project in Panama Goes to Court [IHT]
· Trump Tower Developer Gets Order of Protection [La Prensa]

[Photo: IHT]]]> Hunter Walker 2008-05-21T15:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/4/24/85649/8543
Are you a girl? Do you want to go wild? Better do it in Panama City, FL, where the founder of Girls Gone Wild is serving 23 days of jail time for contempt of court.

Joe Francis, who built an empire on offering girls free hats for a quick peek at the goodies, is facing charges of tax evasion and failure to pay fines on a previous charge of capturing minors gone wild. Francis could use some visitors; he's not having a good time in the Bay County Jail, having already attempted to smuggle in prescription drugs and bottled water by bribing a guard, according to Celebitchy. (And like many of his exploits, that was caught on tape. Oops?)

The good news is, it is now safe to go wild in the Panama City area.

[Photo: Celebrity Gossip]]]> egw 2007-04-24T09:05:16-05:00 30.154047 -85.657311 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/