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Published: November 20th 2015
Casco Viejo
Old buildings have the patina of romance, no matter the history.Breakfast this morning included
plantain – boiled whole then fried and lightly coated in a sweet honey sauce. That great plantain flavour is in these plantains ripened on the plant. I had lots, with a couple of very bland chorizo sausages.
The bus took us back to Panama City and out to
Casco Viejo. This was the second site of Panama, after Panama Viejo was destroyed. This is the city of the French era and the streets look like New Orleans. Far too much is rundown, but work is going on to restore it. The buildings that are completed look very elegant, so in five or ten years, the “French Quarter’ should be lovely to visit. Don’t know where the current inhabitants will go.
We visited the
Canal Museum, one of the restored buildings and the location of the sign that Casco Viejo is a World Heritage site. The displays were excellent, covering the history of deciding, planning and building the Canal. Perhaps the deaths were underplayed, but the leadership was fully portrayed in the French, American and Panamanian eras. The Panamanians revere Jimmy Carter for following through and returning the Canal; however, also on display was an American pin calling
for retention by the US because the Canal was paid for by the “blood” of Americans.
Back on the street, we took pictures of the Cathedral. It was closed. We did go into the Church of San Jose, which had about six altars for worship in addition to the huge gilded one at the front of the church. (On the web I learned that this solid gold altar was hidden from the pirate
Captain Morgan. The parishioners painted it over with black paint, and the priest convinced the pirate that the altar was made of simple wood. He even convinced Morgan to make a donation to the restoration of the church.) The other alters were engaging folk art.
Outside, Pedro pointed us to the restored
National Theatre, which looks a lot like the
Theatre Royal in Bath, only larger and painted pink and cream. Across the street was a beautiful yellow and white building with a tall clock tower. Signs said it was the National Bank and Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Further along we came to some ruins, although no signs to explain them. Beyond them was the Promenade, partially arcaded with bougainvillea and inhabited by souvenir vendors. Vendors here are very
Carnival floats
Hidden on a side street, waiting for the night's festivities polite and not insistent in any way. The arcade opened up into a broad, long, sea-wall walk and ended in a public square bordered by the French Embassy and the Ministry of Culture.
By this time Joyce and I needed to hurry through the narrow, hot streets. Many people were walking along on this Carnival holiday - not crowded, just full of bustle. I took several pictures of the narrow second storey balconies, all in French style.
From here we went to the causeway of the marina. This causeway and three islands were built from the rocks and dirt excavated from the
Culebra Cut in building the Canal. At the marina we had a delicious lunch on the deck of a fine and busy restaurant overlooking the boat slips. My lunch was a large piece of sea bass with sweet peppers and onions, salad, baked potato, and more delicious plantain. The service was slow because of the holiday crowds, but we couldn’t think of a better place to while away time.
About 3:00 we moved on to the
Kuna Indian market. Here were many small stalls with “
molas” (fabric appliqué designs or pictures) and weaving with embroidery, all made
French Quarter
Shadows of former elegance in a frontier city into bags, hangings, cell phone holders, purses, etc. Plus other articles that didn’t look Panamanian. I bought a large-ish mola of a parrot from a woman who had made her own products. I also got two potholders with flower pictures for Margaret, our condo neighbour. Eighteen dollars (down from $25) for the large one and five dollars each (down from $7) for the potholders.
This brought us back to the Marriott Courtyard Hotel next to the “Multiplex” Mall. I went swimming, we had a beer (bought in Colon), and with small appetite we went for a light dinner. As a digestive aid we first went for a walk in the Mall, but it was closing early for Carnival, so we walked all around the very big block. The air was verging on hot and was smoggy. The streets were almost silent because of Carnival – everyone who can goes home to their village.
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