Today was another challenging and somewhat frustrating day in Panama.  Up at 4:15 AM in order to catch the 5:00 AM shuttle to the airport for my 7:00 AM flight.  Check in was a breeze, wandered up to my gate area, stopped to buy a cappuccino and guava/cream cheese Danish ($15.00—do they think Panama City is New York?).

When I saw the additional security at the gate, I settled myself into a seat across from Gate 7a to savor my breakfast and still have access to restrooms.  At about 6:30, the security personnel called for everyone who hadn’t already done so to enter the gate area but I noticed there was no plane at the end of the passenger bridge so asked why.  I discovered that security personnel do not like to be questioned so I did as told; then, at 6:59, they announced a one hour delay.

Of course, after a while, I had to use the facilities so had to leave, then go through the indignation of being completely patted down AGAIN, having everything removed from my purse and carry-on.  I wasn’t back in the gate area but five or ten minutes when they announced a gate change.  Completely different terminal and, when we got there, the sign showed another hour delay…

At about 10:00, they had us go through security AGAIN and this time, we went through the door that normally leads to a plane but instead they loaded us on buses.  No explanation whatsoever.  I was wondering if they decided to just drive us to Miami since they couldn’t seem to get us a plane.😊 Anyway, we drove all around the airport to an outlying area.  At one point, we had to stop to let a jet take off in front of us.  Quite bizarre and a bit scary.  Finally, we saw a plane all by itself near what looked like a maintenance building.  Up the mobile stairs, we all made our way to assigned seats and we FINALLY took off at 11:00 AM.  American Airlines “appeased” us with free snacks and drinks but, more importantly, they also managed to cut the flying time a bit.

I was worried because I only had a little more than an hour until my flight to Tampa.  My recollection of entering Miami when returning from Europe last year was one of extreme chaos and it took over an hour to navigate immigration and customs.   I must say, I was extremely impressed with the efficiency in the North Terminal.  I was able to get to my gate in less than twenty minutes!  I even had time to buy a cappuccino and tiramisu ($6.50—now that’s more like it!).

This plane left Miami and arrived in Tampa on time.  Mary Pat met me in the terminal and we were finally BACK AT HOME by about 6:00 PM!

Interesting note… I checked my credit card and bank statements to ensure that all charges were accurate and was very pleased to see that the exchange rates used were much more favorable to me than what I had calculated when on site signing chits.  YAY!