Fern e mike a Palermo – Giorno 3 – Sept 3 2013
Buonanotte. Hi All –
So the heat is beginning to get us. It’s in the high 80s and very humid; after about 3 hours walking around we feel as if we are going to die. I’m not very good after 70 degrees and the humidity just adds to the problem. Give me winter travel any time over summer travel. (Maybe I won’t say that in December when we are in Tibet in the snow, but honestly I’m happier in the cold when you can always bundle up.)
Began our day at around 9 am walking down the Via Marqueda (a broad street in the new section of Sicily), stopping at a small café where they are always dumbfounded that we don’t drink coffee and that Mike orders milk (which they then warm up as if they are going to add it to a latte.. and then they give him several packets of sugar for his non-coffee). Sat outside where we were quickly approached by a young family begging (there’s actually quite a bit of begging in the streets).
We then walked to Le Vucciria (supposedly the oldest market in town) but it was definitely not thriving. From there we walked to the water’s edge — taking our lives in our hands crossing traffic. As I said, pedestrians are for sure the lowest on the food chain in Italy — where motorcycles and cars reign supreme. We then meandered our way back to the hotel criss crossing the Loggia neighborhood and some other rather colorful areas; we stopped at two churches (no weddings today) including San Domenico and walked from piazza to piazza — eventually getting to the hotel at around 1:30 pm totally drenched in sweat and feeling pretty exhausted. We decided to have lunch at the hotel and to cool down in the air conditioned room before heading out again… a very good idea.
We headed out at about 4 when there was a slight breeze in the air. I had researched a list of craft places which became the goal. Naturally, no matter how good the map, we could never find these places which were all in tiny alleyways.. but the goal was good as it took us through a variety of neighborhoods – some upscale and some pretty marginal. I’d say there’s easily one church for every five people here in Sicily.. but most are in great need of repair, closed, with cars parked nearly on their stairways and markets at the entrances. The big grand churches all function, but these smaller ones are like remains from another era.
Not too many tourists this time of year.. or at least not very many Americans. We do hear Spanish being spoken so maybe the tourist base is heavily Spanish in September.
During our walk, somehow Mike and I got separated. which would be fine, except that Mike had decided to help me out by carrying my bag which had my wallet, my cell phone and one camera (as well as cosmetics)… so when we separated I couldn’t call him and he couldn’t find me. I headed toward where we were going and he decided to stay put.. So I walked about a mile before deciding to turn around. When we reconnected, he claimed that he thought I stopped at a store so he was waiting across the street. I had NOT stopped at any store.. but the humor of it all is that the store he was pretty sure I went into sold punk clothing! Just my style! He’s still convinced that I went into that store.
Eventually we made it back to the hotel at around 8 pm… and at 9 we walked to the restaurant that was closed last night.. BellOtore. A really good local place filled with upscale Sicilians. We shared: marinated shrimp with mint and ginger; whole wheat pasta with assorted fish and vegetables; tuna “tartare” (although it wasn’t raw as expected) composed with tomatoes and potatoes sitting in a basil cream, and homemade pistachio ice cream.. By the way, lots of pistachios cooked in everything.
Tomorrow we are renting a car and headed to Erice overnight.. We’ll be back in Palermo on Thursday night and head to Rome on Friday afternoon.
All is well. Still eying those Fiats although the Citroens look pretty good (but not sold in US).
Will stay in touch.
Arrivederci alPalermoper nessun-
Fern
Fern e Mike a Palermo – Giorno 2– September 2, 2013
Happy Labor Day (Buon Labor Day?). September 2 (currently in Palermo). Buonosera
Well, the lack of sleep after being awake for about 35 hours straight finally caught up with us; we woke up (without an alarm clock at about noon! which was body time about 3 am.. so we didn’t really hit the streets until about 1 pm… Decided to stroll (without any real direction) through the streets and eventually came upon the Ballaro District (a decidedly lower-end neighborhood that was very multiracial and multi-ethnic with Arabs, Africans, and others mixed in with Italians). We got there as the market was coming to an end but strolled through the stalls anyway.
Along the way we stopped at a few churches — mostly Baroque — with fantastic murals, some with mosaics — all with weddings taking place… We stopped for paninis in a little terrace café and couldn’t resist (a bit later in the walk) some incredible gelato. The Sicilians get these “ice cream burgers”… two scoops of gelato inside a brioche roll! We did not partake in this, preferring to just have our gelato in a little cup. But everyone else was getting the burger version and we must definitely have seemed like foreigners. Stumbled on another wedding that had just taken place; church mid-block, with wedding party in the street causing a traffic jam because the sidewalk in front of the church was only about 3 feet deep. (The other church only had a sidewalk of about 18”.)
We strolled about 6 miles during the walk… checking out little neighborhoods and hidden alleyways… eventually making it back to the hotel at about 7 pm to get some work done. Traffic is a mess but fortunately the average size car is about the size of a Mini and everyone is able to weave in and out easily (or so it seems)… For sure drivers are not too interested in pedestrians and the cars rule the road. I must say that my desire for that little Fiat 500 is growing what with seeing them everywhere here; they remain pretty cute.
After getting some work done, we decided it was time for dinner (at about 9:45 pm)… We wanted to go to a restaurant we had read about : Bellotoro, which appeared to be an easy walk from the hotel. We strolled over to find that it was closed. Mondays are not very active days and someone said that today was also a holiday (some Saint’s birthday I think). So we had heard of a second restaurant (a bit hip) in the Mondelo area near the beach — about 7 miles from the hotel. We got a taxi and asked if he knew if the restaurant was open and he nodded yes … so off we went through the city and through a big park and to the water’s edge to the Bye Bye Blues Restaurant… only to find that closed as well. The taxi driver seemed a little embarrassed and said he’d take us to another restaurant in the neighborhood.
Mondello is actually its own small town in the autonomous region of Sicily. It lies between two cliffs — Monte Gallo and Monte Pellegrino. It was originally a small fishing village, but at the end of the 19th Century it grew into a tourist destination. Apparently it is now the home of the World Windsurfing Festival, an annual event that brings together windsurfers, kites, beach volleyball, and other activities.) The area was alive and kicking at midnight (when we left).. with kids, families, motorcycles, honky tonk shops and restaurants.. and lots of gelato. We ate at a small family owned restaurant called something like Ristorante Sympaty.. We had fish, fish, and more fish… started with a mixed fish appetizer (octopus, clams, mussels, calamari, etc. sautéed in olive oil and garlic), a risotto with fish, followed by a skewer of swordfish rolled around a mixture of shrimp and tomatoes grilled.. and a small piece of grilled calamari… I’m going to swim home.
Just arrived back at the hotel.. It’s about 1 am now.. and time to hit the pillow.
I migliori auguri! (I think this means “best wishes”.. but not sure..)
Fern
Fern e Mike a Palermo – 1 September 2013
Saluti da Palermo. September 1, 2013 (midnight in Italia)
As many of you know we make an annual summer trip to Europe to visit Mike’s brother and sister-in-law who live in Geneva and France. It’s not our complex trip which happens in December (wait til you hear our plans for this coming December)… The location for the visit has changed in recent years with only rare meet-ups in either of the cities in which they live. This year we meet in Rome. It’s always a short trip — 3 or 4 days together, and Mike and I generally add on a few days in another place to make the trip about 7 or 8 days.. (sometimes about 10 if we can link onto an American holiday). We often also catch up with Mike’s nieces who live in Geneva and London.
Anyway for all of you who have gotten these daily missives over the years, this should be a fairly calm trip – nothing exotic planned (or at least that’s what we think).. nowhere near the chaotic and challenging December trips (so these notes might be really boring– if so, feel free to toss!).. But still, since so many of you seem to enjoy hearing our travel notes, I’m documenting this one as I have in the last decade or so — with a daily email. (By the way, there really is a blog site that has about 300 of the daily reports from countries as far flung as Honduras, Tunisia, China, Morocco, Iceland, Panama, Estonia, etc. etc. — it’s not really launched because of the tens of thousands of images from these places, I haven’t yet been able to decide which to post to complement the stories. But in my spare time.. this too will happen.)
So now.. short and sweet –
We took a taxi to West Oakland BART and then BART to SFO (for those of you not in the Bay Area — the Bay Bridge is down as the new one opens on Tuesday; construction of the east span linking to the west span is taking place this weekend and demolition of the old bridge is happening too which was pretty uneventful and quite efficient once the crowds thinned out around Civic Center.
We lucked out at the very last minute and were upgraded to Business Class (which even with my two-million-miler status has not been a sure thing since United’s merger with Continental) — the flight was also uneventful (except that every single seat was taken). Arrived on time in Frankfurt, quickly changed planes to head to Palermo (which is where we will be for 5 days before we meet Mike’s brother in Rome). Naturally we couldn’t take our American-size carry-on rollies on the second flight so we checked them at the foot of the stairs to the plane… after carrying them down and up several flights to reach the plane (jetways in Europe are not all that common except for large planes). No matter how frequently we travel overseas, we always forget to check bags since we are so accustomed to carrying everything on and then being able to dash right out of the airport, bypassing the baggage section.
Arrived at the Hotel Excelsior which is a bit tired and could use a little bit of attention, but otherwise fine, and we think fairly well located. We’d been up about 27 hours by the time we got here (at 7:30 pm)… checked in, showered, put stuff away — and then walked about 5 blocks to a small ristorante recommended by the hotel… I think it was called Le Volte. Food was fine.. we couldn’t really read the menu and it was a local place so no translated versions.. but we did fine (especially since we are big devotees of Italian food) except for those parts of the menu that were very descriptive and who knows what that said…
We over-ate (but no dessert) — clams and muscle appetizer; pasta with tomatoes, eggplant and clams, eggplant tart, and veal with asparagus and mushrooms — and then headed back to the hotel (now awake for about 32 hours). We didn’t do too much planning or reading up on Palermo, given that we were both working up until the last minute before departure and even some work time on the flight… so we’ll wing it and see where it takes us. Supposedly this is a post-Mafia period for Sicily — with repaired streets, renovated buildings, and businesses that have pledged not to pay Mafia protection fees.
Most likely we’ll just walk the streets tomorrow — assessing the scene; hopefully it will be a bit overcast which would make it less hot than what the typical temperature is. Tonight when we walked to the restaurant there was a nice breeze and the temperature was probably high 70s.
Take care
Happy Labor Day-
Buonanotte.. Tutto e buono
Fern
Follow up to Panama. January 2013
Short follow up for those of you asking if we’ve returned.
We arrived safe and sound in Miami at around midnight on Tuesday; visited with family in Delray Beach on Wednesday (including getting some juicy gossip about senior living from my 92-year-old aunt).
Thursday proved to be eventful, with Mike waking up at our hotel in Boca Raton with severe pain, middle of the night… and us going to the Boca Hospital ER at about 5:30 am… for about 5 hours… long story.. but with the help of modern pharmaceuticals, he was fine a few hours later, and we flew to SFO last night, arriving around midnight.
Checked out by his own doctor this morning.. so all is well.
Glad it didn’t happen in Panama.
We’re good.
Fern
Ola
Here’s the quick summary of New Year’s Eve.. gotta pack after this and head to airport.
First a few explanations for those of you who have been asking..
- I have been working on a blog of all of these travel notes from all over the world — actually the written part is done, with about 200+ posts as of 2012, and surely more to come over the years. It’s taking me a long time to select photos from the many thousands I have.. but eventually, hopefully in the coming months this will happen and I will alert you to the blog site address, and yes it will link to the FTA site.
- We picked Panama because we wanted to stay in this hemisphere, go to a small country where we could get the flavor without having to make it a very very long trip, and we wanted to stop in Florida on the way going or coming to visit my 92-year old aunt…
We left the hotel around 7:15 to head to Helene’s for drinks. Naturally we were a little early, since she said people would come between 7 and 9… and it’s Latin time.. so getting there at 7:30 we were the first – except for Jacqueline who I suspect spent the day with Helene after the fish market. Gave us a chance to learn more about them and to chat quietly. Helene served champagne, wonderful pate, ceviche (she bought the ceviche at the market, then soaked the fish in orange juice, added a pinch of rum (!), and served it on seaweed… Really good. And a few other treats. We tasted everything, but kept saying we shouldn’t eat because we were off for a big dinner.
So we learned that Helene’s grandfather or maybe her father (Helene is 70) was Jewish but became Catholic before WWII and Helene was raised Catholic. She has a daughter here in Panama who is an interior architect and she has 5 grandchildren, the eldest is 16 and wants to go to medical school in the states. Helene’s father worked for GM in Europe and Helene was sent to Palm Beach, Florida for a year when she was 16 to learn English. She returns to France annually because her mother is 94 years old. She considers herself a painter (water colors) and got involved in fashion design and promotion of local designers because of her interest in preserving the quality and culture of indigenous Panamanian groups.
Jacqueline has only been in Panama City for three years and she seems to have mixed feelings about the place, although she sees a lot of hope. She’s still figuring out what she might do here… her gallery in Miami represented mostly emerging artists (North America and Europe) and she doesn’t feel the market is here yet in Panama to do the same. She was explaining how Miami had built a wonderful new opera house with phenomenal acoustics but the programming was amateurish.. so the building was ahead of the people. I think she left Miami because she began to feel unsafe.
Soon another woman (also French, from Burgundy) arrived. Never really got her name because they referred to her as Madame something. Anyway, she is a part timer here in Panama City. She still lives in France (I think she was a professor, but not certain.. her English was weaker than Helene’s and Jacqueline’s).. She’s retired and her son and daughter-in-law live in Panama, so she bought a small apartment and comes for two months every year.
Funny story… her daughter-in-law was in finance (has an MBA), but decided to learn how to make ice cream. Apprenticed in France. Now has an ice cream store in Casco Viejo (the area where we stayed when we first arrived in Panama)… She brought some samples to Helene… so before we headed to our dinner we topped off the pate and ceviche with delightful coconut and raspberry ice cream.. felt like I was in Paris at Bertillon!
The women were all quite fascinated with the work that Mike and I do… and decided that we MUST return and they will try to arrange for a conference about community development and housing and other issues. I wouldn’t put it pass them to actually move ahead with this idea. They have lots of connections and seem to be friends with people in important positions, like the director for the new Metro that is under construction.
We left before the others arrived, including a musician from NY who is married to a Panamanian.
We said our farewells and off we went to Casco Viejo for our new year’s dinner at Las Bovedas… a former Spanish prison from the 1600s converted into a restaurant… that sits on the waterfront at the tip of the old section. We arrived around 9:15. Mike made the reservations and said that this was the last seating.. But actually it was the first and only seating for the evening.. and no one else came until about 10.. Dinner was good (not great).. but the best was the fireworks at midnight — everyone left the restaurant to go outside (it was actually a delightful night — breezy and drier.. and about a cool 80 degrees) up some stairs to the Casco Viejo pedestrian “terrace”.. a sort of embarcadero or malecon. From there we could see all the fireworks going on simultaneously around the city… It was like competing fireworks!
Back in the restaurant for a final glass of champagne.. and to the hotel to sleep.
Chatted with the restaurant owner who turns out to have been in finance in Europe.. retired.. and felt that if you really retire you die in 6 months, so he had to figure something out.. and he moved to Panama and opened this restaurant!
By the way, Mike is now sporting a panama hat!! And the New Years’ Eve beads.
OK.. that’s it until the next trip.
Fern
31 Diciembre El Ultimo Dia del Ano 2012. December 31, 2012
Prospero Ano Nuevo
Whoa! What a day… Unexpectedly.
After the most luxurious shower in 10 days… and following a great breakfast here at the Bristol Hotel, we set out to walk (in the 92 degree heat and 90% humidity) to see a few markets and shops that specialize in Panamanian design, including the preservation of the work of the indigenous Kuna people (who live on reservation-like lands, but whose existence had been threatened by the Panamanians in the 1920s. ) Kuna people are famous for sewing the “molas”.. which technically translates to “shirts” in Kuna language but the term is used to describe various cloths that are sewn with bright colors and patterns.. Apparently, these geometric patterns were originally painted on women’s bodies.. using natural colors; now these designs are sewn using pieces of bright and earthy colored cloth. By the way, Kuna is a matriarchal society and the men take the woman’s family name at marriage.
As usual, it was next to impossible to find the particular streets we were looking for, because there aren’t any street names. We stopped a guard at a bank (by the way there are armed guards all over Panama City.. private guards for nearly every building… and it’s no wonder because the contrast between the rich and the poor, between the hovels that regular Panamanians — especially those with dark skin — live and where the wealthy live, is beyond staggering).. But even he didn’t know the name of the street he was standing on.. the street with the bank he guards. Then he asked a construction worker who was building a structure on that block and he didn’t know the name of the street.. Everything is done with a bit of touchy-feely navigation.. and also references to things nearby… but as we later learned, people also tell you things are near a particular shop, but then it turns out that there are many shops with that name all over the city!
Eventually we found our way to a little shop on the second floor, behind another store on a very busy street (taking our life in our hands crossing 7 lane streets with no striping).. and after seeing the wares we chatted with the shopkeeper and found out that she was a “Zonian” (born and raised in the Canal Zone)… so she’s a dying breed. We learned her last name was Saltzman, so I asked a few questions… and then she told us she was one of about the 15,000 Jews living in Panama City (go know!)– mostly very orthodox, and also a small reformed community. She explained a lot about her mother’s (who started the shop) effort to preserve the culture of Kuna and other Panamanian indigenous groups. She also explained that her mother’s efforts at starting the shop included (and still include) buying whatever craft local people bring, in order to provide some funds for those people to be self-sufficient. Thus, the store has a very very wide range of quality… and a bit of a charitable mission.
After that we strolled for about 10 minutes and decided the best bet was to take a taxi to the next stop on our list… or we might melt completely. Many of you know that after 80 degrees I’m a basket case, so this entire trip has been a challenge that I’m glad to say I won.. sort of.. But even Mike who can tolerate heat pretty well gave up. It’s just not possible to be outside here.. unless you’re under a canopy …
So we took a taxi (negotiated price, since there aren’t any meters) to visit another artisan shop but this time owned by a French woman who once worked for Christian Dior (learned about her in an article in the NY Times)… but that proved to be quite a challenge. First, the taxi wasn’t air conditioned — which is ok when the traffic is moving and you get a little breeze (of hot air).. but traffic is pretty impossible, so mostly we were standing still in the hot cab… Anyway, the driver stopped many people to figure out where the place was, because he, too, doesn’t know street names… We stopped and started many times and then he thought we were on the right street, but it wasn’t there.. I checked the trusty iPhone Google app… and found the phone number.. Turns out the shop had moved about two years ago to a new location.. Anyway, the shopkeeper gave directions to the driver.. without street names, just with iconic information… and lo and behold we arrived..
The shopkeeper, Helene Breebaart, is from Bordeaux.. and has lived in Panama City for 42 years or so. Her husband was Dutch (died of cancer a few years ago)… She was incredibly sweet, although very very scattered.. She lives in the house that serves as the shop and also the mini-“factory” to produce her designs. Everything was so beyond my price range, that we were sort of embarrassed to even be looking.. but she showered us with attention (we were the only ones there for most of the time — or so it seemed)… and took us into the living room to serve juice.. and to talk.. She kept offering to drive us to our next destination — el mercado de mariscos (fish market, a huge cavernous building with scores of little stalls selling one fish or another and all the vendors yelling to attract customers) — but we kept politely refusing, saying we would get a taxi. This went on for a while as she tended to a few things and wanted to show us her operation and introduce us to some of the Kuna people who work for her… which she did, amid other chores as she dashed about the house/office/shop… always explaining how her maid was on vacation and her secretary also, and so she was a bit lost… Then a customer emerged (who I suppose was upstairs trying on a dress)… She introduced us, and it turned out that her husband was the architect (Pinzon) for this spiraling, contorted blue-green skyscraper that you can see from most vantage points in the city — (the F&F Tower, formerly called ironically, Revolution). Eventually, we succumbed and agreed Helene could drive us to the fish market, and then she decided to pick up a friend Jacqueline, who has lived in Panama City for 3 years.. following 12 years in Miami, running an art gallery… She’s originally from Paris.… Helene is clearly part of an international and artistic group of ex-pat folks (with money and education) — many French — who see a lot promise in Panama. They find fault with many things, but see an emerging middle class and an emerging art base.
So, off we went to pick up Jacqueline, and to the fish market. All the while, Helene telling us that we have to come back to her house tonight (New Year’s Eve) for a drink before we head to dinner.. actually she invited us to dinner, but we already had reservations…
Finally, we left Helene and Jacqueline as we entered the fish market… as promised — noisy, competing screaming, lots of fun.. and the building is surrounded by little ceviche stands.. one of which was called Ceviche Tigre!
Finally, from there, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the Miraflores Docks (Panama Canal). Decided to have the very overpriced and mediocre lunch on the second floor of the exhibition hall so that we could eat and watch the ships go through the canal.. While the meal was pretty terrible, it was great to be able to leisurely watch the boats being lifted (or lowered) 54 feet in two stages, enabling them to move from the Pacific to the Atlantic. .. which was quite impressive… Watched the film about the Canal.. which was part propaganda and part cartoon.. but the exhibit at Miraflores was quite good.. including the simulator which enables you to get a sense of what it’s like (albeit a very sped-up version) to be on a boat going through the Canal.
Back to the hotel.. to change for dinner and our stop at Helene’s…
Final email tomorrow on January 1 –
Feliz Ano Nuevo.
Fern
30 diciembre – to Panama City. December 30. 2012
Ola
En el lado del último día del año– y En el lado del último día en Panama —
Dinner last night was quite good — salmon tartare, fish filet with vegetables cooked in a wok for me and braised pork in wine for Mike, mango pudding. Tonight’s special drink was called coco volcano… very tasty.. although a bit too milk shakey for me.. Ray (the bartender — a local who comes from David, Panama – where we head tomorrow) likes to design different drinks each night..
And we chatted with one of the young couples — who turn out to be from NY… She is living in Brooklyn Heights; he in Manhattan; Yalies.. she is working for AOL – marketing Patch… Didn’t get a chance to tell her what I think of Patch; perhaps tomorrow!
This morning — packed after breakfast.. and headed to the “dock” to get the boat to Boca Chica — We wound up sharing with a family we had not met.. who turned out to be from “NY”.. although after a very brief conversation found out they were from Long Island.. not exactly NY by our standards (but we didn’t say that). Anyway, then we had a little mishap, in that we had gone to the “office” to say good bye and see if we needed to sign anything, but no one was there so we just walked to the dock and got on the boat.. Then just as the boat was leaving Roger came to say that we hadn’t really settled our bill (even though they had our credit card number and they took a hefty deposit before we came on that credit card).. so Mike went up the boat ramp to the “office” and I waited on the boat with the family (who were clearly annoyed and had already shown themselves to be very aloof and unfriendly earlier)… Well we all waited and waited and Mike didn’t come back… The boat guy decided to take us on a bit of a cruise as we waited and then I offered to get off the boat with our luggage to wait for Mike as the other couple became more and more irritated. I also tried to phone Mike but his cell was not picking up… After about 20 minutes Mike appeared. Turned out that the office was missing our lunch tab from yesterday… and they needed to send someone all the way to the other end of the island to get it… and then they had to check all the charges, which is all done by hand..
The system is funny, but then when it doesn’t work, it’s a bit annoying. All of the staff have these very small notebooks that are sort of stacks of paper tied together.. For every meal or activity they mark the cost on their stack of papers with your room number (remember only 11 rooms)… Then after each meal they show you this handwritten paper in the “book” and you sign… Invariably there is at least one mistake.. Some order from another room is on your page.. and then they have to get it fixed… Lunch is at a totally different part of the property from where dinner is.. and I guess the two don’t always communicate well… According to Mike they were having trouble finding someone to go to the lunch place to get the bill because everyone was busy.. There is only one person who does the final billing and check out.. Diana (from St Tropez).. Roger’s wife.. And while Mike was trying to get this done, people were coming off one of the boats to begin their stay and Diana was preoccupied getting them settled. I think any little thing gets everyone a bit flustered.. remember this is island life.. and slow island life at that.
Eventually Mike appeared at the boat.. by then the family (especially the man) was noticeably pissed. I would have been irritated as well.. but frankly they were catching the same flight as we were.. and in the end we were all in David to get the plane, hours before it ever boarded.
OK.. so arrived in Boca Chica.. walked up the ramp and into “town” and to the car… Car in fine shape.. And headed to David where we hoped to get some lunch.. and then head to the Airport. The route is fairly simple.. but again, no signs.. not even when the road from Boca Chica hits the Pan-American Highway… unbelievable.. Didn’t really get lost; tried to locate a restaurant called Cuatro (4).. which we did, but it was closed… so we meandered abit around town and stumbled on a little fish shack… Had amazingly fresh corvina (bass)… fried, of course… with rice… Rest of the people seemed pleasantly surprised to see foreigners in this little place… They laughed as we attempted to translate the menu — at one time using the iPad…
Ate, and off we went to return the rental car… took about 20 minutes for them to “inspect” the car… then walked about 20 feet into the airport.. a fairly modern, small “international” airport (planes go to Costa Rica)… and after about 90 minutes we were on board (after chatting a bit more with the Yalie who works at AOL.. giving me an opportunity to tell her my opinion about the problems created by Patch!)… Our friends — the family on the boat — were as cool and detached at the airport as on the boat… Flight was extremely short.. supposed to be 60 minutes but was probably about 30 minutes.. so even though we left late, we arrived on time.
Given that we are accustomed to carry-on luggage, having to check (and not “gate check”) was an experience in and of itself.. but here it was truly different. When we landed, everyone on the plane gathered in a big group to wait for luggage. No conveyor belts or area where one gets their bags… The staff bring the bags out one at a time and read out the luggage tag number.. and then you yell that it’s yours and show your number and you get your bag!! Once we had our bags we headed to the taxi line, if you can call it that.. and since taxis don’t have meters.. we “bargained”… The driver said $30; we said $10; he said $15; we agreed to $12.. probably could have gotten it for about $6, but way too tired to deal with that..
Sweaty, tired, looking like hell.. in shorts and tees… we arrived at the rather elegant Bristol Hotel… Huge room, view of the city.. bathroom bigger than our entire hotel room at Kimpton in NYC! Changed and headed to La Posta, which is supposed to be a really good restaurant.. but alas it was closed tonight, so we opted for the hotel restaurant Sal Si Puedes… food was quite good, so not disappointed.. and now I’m headed to bed.. It’s close to midnight.
Tomorrow we head to a bunch of markets in the morning.. and then the obligatory trip to the Canal.. For a while, we thought we might be the only foreigners who don’t get to the canal… but that won’t happen.. Canal in the afternoon.. and then big New Year’s Birthday Dinner. Will try to send a short note before dinner tomorrow, if not, on New Year’s Day when we head to Florida late in the afternoon.
Prospero Ano Nuevo.
Fern
29 Diciembre – On the island
Ola –
Had dinner in the charming restaurant at the “resort” — it sits at the highest point on the property — with views of water in nearly all directions. Got the scoop on the staff and owners. The key staff and those who interact with the guests are nearly all European, and very very new. Ownership changed about 6 months ago. The place was built about 8 years ago, and according to the current management (Roger from Rotterdam) it fell into disrepair in the last year. The guy who bought the place a year ago (maybe even less than a year) is also Dutch… a millionaire I gather in that he owns many restaurants in St. Tropez, has many homes around the world (including one a few kilometers from where we are), and has 16 pure-bred Arabian stallions that he breeds. (He flew the Arabians here to Panama and the horses are not happy campers.. different climate, different food! Anyway, the owner is fairly invisible and the European crew seems to handle everything. Roger is married to the French woman who met us at the dock. There’s a younger French woman (who serves as waitress and other fill-in positions) and she’s from Montpelier.
Small world: Roger has lived in many places around the world. His father was in some kind of international construction job. Anyway, he went to high school in Helsinki! So we had a lot to reminisce about.
Apparently the owner of this place and this European crew who have worked for him before are sort of “turnaround” types.. They go into failing or problem businesses (restaurants, hotels, visitor industry kind of places) and they work 24/7 to fix them and bring a new reputation… and then I think they sell, or at least turn over to others to run. So, since they’ve been here (6 months) they’ve renovated, built some new structures (a library — really a little open hut with some shelves and books and couches), trained the kitchen staff so that they can prepare good food, brought good wines and liquors… and in general are building the place up. Apparently it was all solar before, but could not accommodate the needed power, so the pool filter couldn’t work properly, room fans would fail, no air conditioning, etc. Now everything is spanking clean.. and they rely on fossil fuel. And I think they want to attract an international clientele.
Roger has a lot of ideas about marketing the place and coming up with gimmicks that he thinks will attract press and visitors.. like creating a soccer golf course.. where you use a soccer ball but there’s a course.. got it?
It was difficult to figure out who was staying here based on last night’s dinner.. But we know that four of the little huts are occupied by two families (including 5 kids between them).. and then there is us.. and then we think a Swedish or Danish couple, and two young American couples.. We think that’s it. The families with the kids provide the most information (although we haven’t actually met them), because they are a big group.. a bit loud.. and talkative, so it’s hard not to know their story. (Two brothers and their wives and kids; one family from Connecticut, one from California — we are guessing LA.)
Dinner was good — lobster consommé, chicken curry, poached pears with ice cream. Good tropical drinks before, decent wine with dinner.. What more could you want?
Today we both worked — on the patio — computers going strong; signal intermittent. Strolled to and along the beach a bit (but too hot and humid for me); lunch at the little hut down by the beach.. great salads, cold beer, fresh fruit… then back to the little Shangri-La.. I’m taking a short break from working to send this note…and Mike is “napping.” Dinner in a few hours.. and we leave tomorrow — back on the boat (pray for no rain or thunder; it poured briefly today; power went out for a bit, but quickly kicked in again), then an hour drive to David where we drop off our car (which is in the “secure” parking between the church and the little white house in Boca Chica), then one hour flight to Panama City… Mike wants me to check flight safety record.
Take care –
Fern
December 28 2012 – Cars Trains Planes and Boats
Ola from a peninsula without road access, a 20 minute boat trip from Boca Chica, Panama
28 Diciembre 2012
6:15 pm
Left the weird gated community of Valle Escondido (sort of a jungle version of a Scottsdale, AZ development with Panamanian architectural shmaltz, nestled in beautiful gardens) — right after breakfast, making it probably the shortest stay anyone’s had at that place. We set out to explore Bouquete — first the town and then the environs which butt up against both a national park and the base of a volcano. The town is really a mess. I think (although I don’t have any confirmation), that this area with its beautiful climate, its rugged but reachable terrain, its proximity to a small airport, probably encouraged developers to market to Americans (retirees and outdoors folks especially) and Europeans as both a destination for vacation and for year-long or temporary resort living. Thus, there are many condo developments hovering the low hills — all sort or protected with gates and security booths. There are also many youth hostels and tour groups who use Boquete as a base for hiking, rafting, kayaking, mountain climbing etc. So, my sense is that all sorts of businesses popped up to support these different populations… and it’s a bit of wild west.. every one for themselves… without any planning or concern about public spaces or public amenities.
Amid all of this is a true indigenous population living in very tiny bamboo houses (one small room) with thatched roof living outside the town in the lush jungle area.. which is clearly the original life of the area. The indigenous population appears to be small and shrinking. The women are noticeable, in towns, wearing very brightly colored (solids) loose cotton dresses with contrasting color trim in a zig zag style across the bodice.
Anyway, we “strolled” the town, if you can call it strolling with sidewalks about 18″ from the street and lots of uneven pavement, and many places without sidewalks.. cars parked every which way. Not much to see.. Lots of real estate offices, sports activity tour offices, local restaurants.. So we set out to do a loop road we found on the Internet (remember, no guide book, and no map)…. which remains challenging since the iPad shows street names but none of the streets are actually labeled in reality. We meandered up to Café Ruiz to purchase some coffee beans to bring back to California and then found the loop road which goes up into the mountains out of town. It was quite wonderful, filled with amazing flowers and great views of the valley and the town.. We also stopped at some place called Explorador –someone’s house (a local) that sits on about 10 acres of hillside jungle, which the owners planted many decades ago with a huge variety of plants, trees, flowers.. and the owner, a bit of a folk artist, then had fun decorating the trees and the grounds with hundreds of “messages” and found objects. Unfortunately it was a bit of overkill and nothing like the great outsider art found randomly around the world. …
Then we headed to Boca Chica where we needed to find a boat to take us to Cala Mia…
We drove from Boquete to David to Horoncitas (sp?) to Boca Chica.. the last part of the drive was delightful, going through tiny little settlements.. and then we followed the directions we were sent — through the little town square of Boca Chica (blink and you miss all of Boca Chica), past the old gas station and the church and then we went behind the church to park our car in the “secure” lot for $2.00 per day… “Secure” means that it is one of several cars parked between the church and this white house, where the whole family apparently watches the cars! OK.. our car is there.
From there we walked to the dock (wheeling our very urban suitcases and computer bags!).. to wait for Marvin who would pick us up in a small motor boat for the 20 minute ride through the lagoons and around to the peninsula where Cala Mia is located. We got to the edge of the boat ramp, but no Marvin.. After a few calls to Cala Mia (what would anyone do without cell phones), we were told to find Carlos who would take us. Turns out Carlos was just hanging out, and Marvin was detained taking someone else back to Boca Chica (very complicated planning). So off we went.. the city folk… to the tranquil Cala Mia.
The boat ride was fine.. a full 20 minutes; no life jackets.. both of us holding tight to the rim of the boat… (a fiberglass shell with a canvas canopy held up by PVC tubing usually used for water pipes. We were greeted at the Cala Mia dock by Eva (a recent arrival as an employee — from St. Tropez, France where she managed several restaurants.. and was seeking “tranquility”… and Rosa.. and another woman. They showed us to our little Shangri-La.. a sort of octagon shaped structure, made of masonry stuccoed over and “white washed” with earth colors.. and a thatched roof… There are 11 of these little cottages. Bedroom, bathroom, little sitting area.. and the room opens to a fantastic “patio which is stepped and cantilevers out overlooking the lagoon about 30 feet below… The patio is covered (thatched roof also).. and we have our own hammock and canvas swing chair… All you can hear is the sound of the lagoon that feeds to the Pacific… Pretty cool
The dining room serves breakfast and dinner.. and there’s a well-stocked bar with Ray attending… and making special drinks each day.. as well as the welcoming drink (a mixture of fresh tropical fruits with rum.. all blended together to create an adult smoothie.) The description of the meals sounded pretty great, but we shall see fairly soon. So far we just sat at the bar and had the welcome drink. There’s a spa (might get a massage tomorrow), an endless pool that just disappears into the lagoon..
Naturally, neither Mike nor I remembered to bring bathing suits… The trip was rather late in getting planned; it was extremely hectic the days just before our departure; and we were headed to NYC first and I think we were mostly focused on that part of the trip and figured that Panama would sort of work its way out.. I, at least, brought shorts.. Each night we’ve been checking on what we are doing and where we are headed for the next day or so.. and finally we realized we were going to this island-like place. During the drive today, Mike kept saying that if we got to Boca Chica early, he would buy a bathing suit… But Boca Chica has a population of about 100 (half of those are chickens) and there isn’t even a grocery store.. let alone a place to buy a bathing suit! Then Mike thought that the Cala Mia (where we are staying) might have a shop… but alas this is really a little haven away from everything, so there isn’t even a thought of a shop at this place.
My plans for tomorrow are to sit on this great patio outside the room.. and complete (or at least make headway on) the work I brought with me… I can’t think of a better setting to be doing it…
By the way, it is hot and humid; the little cottage is air-conditioned, which is probably a necessity for us gringos. Should be interesting to see who else is staying here.. when we have dinner.. in about 15 minutes.
Hasta Luego from Cala Mia..
Fern
2012 Diciembre 27 — El Paseo Largo
December 27, 2012 . El Paseo Largo . The Long Drive
Ola-
Fairly short and sweet.
Spent most of the day in the car…
Left Chitre without problem, although even using two GPS systems we got a little lost –mostly at the end. The guidance issue is that I can get the iPhone GPS to mark our location (the little blue ball).. but if I switch out of the location – even to read the directions, I lose the map completely and have to start again, which is problematic since we have to drive through areas that don’t have any Internet reception (imagine!)… And for whatever reason the iPad which has the same application as the iPhone cannot seem to locate us.. so no blue ball. But on the iPad I can get the direction list step by step, although it does make a lot of mistakes. So, between the two devices we found our way.
Left Chitre around 10:30 (they are still working on the elevator at the Gran Azuelo Hotel, but overnight they seem to have done one coat of stucco on the wall and the guy who was standing on the upside down can to reach the top of the wall seemed to have survived.
Drove through town and onto the Pan-American Highway (one lane in each direction)… through some really nice countryside, hills, and eventually climbed in elevation as we approached Boquete. Stopped for lunch at a little roadside “café”… basically a few tables on the roadside with someone who is cooking one dish… sometimes there is a choice. It’s rather basic. My goal is stick to the chicken. Yesterday Mike opted for the pork dish and it was pigs feet — no meat, just bones.. so he had a lot of rice. I got chicken both days.. a far better choice. Anyway the dish is generally the meat (not much of it) and rice… sometimes also beans. Not very gourmet, but it’s fun to sit in these places and see daily life.. Today we both got chicken. The bill was $4.00, but that was because we each got bottled water. Obviously if you’ve been following these notes, for dinner we’ve been going a different route in restaurant choices.
Anyway, we drove to Boquete, and saw the town from the car window (we will walk around tomorrow)… It seems lively and must have a lot of ex-pats as there are way more restaurants and shopping than in a typical Panamanian town of this size. Boquete is the coffee growing capital of the country.. It also borders a very large international park that is half in Panama and half in Costa Rica, so the terrain is much like Costa Rica. Climate is clearly better than anywhere we’ve been — dry, cool. We wanted to stay in this area for a few days, but it was difficult to get any reservations. There’s a nice coffee plantation inn, but we couldn’t get reservations. Anyway, we got the only hotel room we could find online (we were a bit late with all of these plans)… and it is at a very strange place (fortunately one night only).. with a golf course and spa! There are 200 condos on the grounds and 35 hotel rooms… Seems the condos are owned primarily by Europeans and Americans… hence, I suppose the golf! Anyway, it’s just to sleep. We’re leaving in the morning to explore the area and then we head to Boca Chica.. a little island.. for two days… assuming we meet the boat on time!
….
Just back from dinner at The Rock… good, but they didn’t have half of what’s on the menu. Weather has changed drastically.. We nearly froze eating outside at The Rock… Up here in Boquete it’s drizzling and it’s about 65 degrees.. Actually very pleasant but we don’t have sweaters or jackets since we didn’t expect anything like this. But prediction for tomorrow in Boca Chia is 90 degrees, so we’ll be sweating tomorrow and happy we didn’t bring sweaters.
Buenas noche…
Hasta luego
Fern
