Nochebuena en el Cascl Viejo, Panama- Dec 24, 2012

Ola!

After our rather complicated first 4 hours in Panama, we slept at the Marriott Hotel, missed breakfast which ended at 10, ordered food to the room and decided to head to Casco Viejo (the old section of Panama City) to check into the room and hotel we never found the night before. We headed out around 1 (by the time we got organized, got the GPS to work, re-packed, etc.)… The route was much easier in daylight, although still a bit complicated — especially with all the closed off streets due to the construction of a metro, unbelievable amount of building construction, street repair, and one way streets… We laughed as we retraced many streets we had been to only hours before but now bustling with people and markets.. and cars.. So while it was easier to navigate, it was more complicated because there was so much congestion and traffic.

But alas, we made it to Tantalo Hotel (http://www.tantalohotel.com/) in the old section of Panama. It’s a rather hip little boutique hotel with a fantastic roof bar that looks out to downtown Panama City across the water. The room, too, is hip… concrete floors, black leather couch, sparse décor, orange wall, and minimalist furnishings… Obviously we got the last room since probably last night everyone else checked in before us. So we have big glass sliding doors that open to an interior walkway that overlooks the atrium lobby where the downstairs restaurant and bar are located.. All the other rooms face the streets with views to downtown. But it’s fine.. especially since now it is just for one night.

Once we settled into the room (about 5 minutes)… we headed out to stroll the town… starting out together and somehow losing one another within minutes.. and then catching up an hour or so later..

Panama City (like most Latin American cities) is a city of contrast — wealth and poverty; old and new; decrepit and shiny; crumbling structures and engineering feats — all within blocks of one another and often next door to one another. Casco Viejo stands as a testament to all of this. It’s the historic district and cultural gem of Panama City, and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the late 90s. It was founded in the 17th Century by Spanish colonialists and the Catholic Church. It fell into decades of neglect in the 20th Century, but the streets of this section of town are filled with buildings that served as homes, churches, and government buildings for centuries and is comprised of diverse architectural styles. In recent years, some buildings have been restored quite well and are home to museums, restaurants, and what appear to be upscale residences. Next to them are buildings in total disrepair or remain as homes of poor families situated adjacent or across from exclusive properties for sale or occupied by people of a total different class. It’s hard to imagine how such a “neighborhood” can even think about the future together. Clearly if you come to visit five years ago, this will be a very different place.

One of the really stark views is from some of the most seedy parts of Casco Viejo where you are standing amid garbage and looking across the water to sleek high-rises that look as if architects were competing with one another to design the most engineering challenged and architecturally (ugly and) slick buildings. As you stand at those points you can literally see the hollowed out buildings in the foreground and the skyscrapers in the background.

Still, it was quite interesting to walk the area.. we headed to the water, walked along their “malecon,” and suffered in the unbelievable heat and humidity. Frankly, for me it was unbearable.. I held up ok for about two hours and then I thought I would die. I was never very good in Phoenix climate and this made Phoenix seem cool and breezy in August! The real problem is the humidity… which must have been about 99%. Anyway, Mike and I met back up at the hotel at about 5 and had some quite good snacks (grilled octopus and some eggplant thing) at our hotel in the lobby bar.. And then I set out to work (need to finish up the details of my Spring course — “Creating the Urban Narrative”) and Mike took a nap.

We had planned to find a church that held midnight mass and go there after dinner. We’ve watched midnight mass in many developing nations and it’s always a great cultural experience But alas, it seemed as if the Cathedral was closed and several other churches were not going to hold Christmas Eve ceremonies.. in spite of the fact that Panama is 77% Catholic. But we found out that the Iglesia del Merced would have a mass at 8 pm, and figured we’d stop by… But then dinner plans were complicated since many restaurants were closed and those open seemed to finish dinner at 9… So we decided to head to Iglesia del Merced for the opening part of the mass and then duck out to head for dinner. The church was populated by lower income families (and a sprinkling of Catholic tourists).. The music was great and they “played” the bells which are now located in the sanctuary (?) at the back.. huge bells that used to sit atop the 16th Century church… bells were about 4 ft tall…

Dinner was at Rene… where they serve a fixed menu of about 13 courses… we could only eat about half… food was good, but we thought we were going to die from the quantity… The meal was $22 each… Probably would have been about $200 in San Fran. Yo pondiento gordo (spelling?).. or maybe it’s Me siento gordo ??? In any case, I was feeling fat… as a result of that meal.

We walked back to the hotel around 10 pm… The air was great… a nice breeze, much less humid, and temperatures of about 75! This I can handle.
Oh — in case any of you are interested, it appears that many developers are converting old houses here in the Casco Viejo.. and turning them into condos and pitching to Europeans and Americans. Get your deposits in fast!

I think that’s it for today; we head to Penonome tomorrow.. Our trip is short and lots of driving, but short stints each day. So not a lot of time anywhere.. more like a big look at the country.

Take care — Christmas in Penonome tomorrow.
Feliz Navidad.

Fern