We arrived at the port in the late morning and left immediately on an all day tour to Panama City. For much of the 20th century, Panama City was actually two cities - one American and one Panamanian, separated by walls and fences. Throughout the building of the Panama Canal thousands of workers flooded the land to work on the construction project. Conditions on the Panama side became extremely crowded and run down. Although the fences were dismantled following the signing of the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977, the area remains poor and filled with wooden tenement houses which the other parts of Panama City consider to be a slum area. Thankfully, over time the city is building new roads and developments in this area and it is slowly being integrated into the new and modern Panama City which surrounds it.
We had a lengthy tour in this city. We were driven to the historic old town section of Panama City where we took a long walking tour and witnessed modern buildings interspersed with brick streets, and quiet plazas with a European atmosphere, ancient churches and monasteries. Although much of the neighborhood remains dilapidated, we were told that many of the city's nicest restaurants and bars are located here.
As we walked past a vendor selling Panama hats our guide shared with us that the famous hat is actually made in Ecuador!!!! It seems that ever since President Teddy Roosevelt was photographed wearing the hat when he traveled to this country to check on the progress of the Panama Canal, it has been associated with Panama!!!! While strolling along this quaint area we noticed lots of families riding 4-wheeled cycles covered with two rows of seats and a canopy covered top. Evidently, this is the way local residents enjoy a nice, sunny weekend day. It did look like they were having a great time. We also watched a family of young children playing on the side of a small, cramped and crowded side street in a small, plastic swimming pool someone had blown up for them. We were reminded how easy it is for young children to take pleasure and find joy in the simplest of pleasures, regardless of the difficulties in their daily lives.
Amazingly, we were able to walk right up to the Presidential Palace. There were a couple of guards at the entrance but it was quite incredible that we were able to get right outside the palace grounds. Equally amazing was to see very old, dilapidated buildings with laundry hanging outside the balconies built right next to the palace! As we walked along the streets of the old town we had an opportunity to visit the Plaza de la Cathedral. The church, built in 1688, had a baroque architectural feature with ornate stonework throughout the structure. Once inside, we walked into a separate room where we had an opportunity to view a large (maybe 20 x10 feet) Nativity scene. The work was extremely detailed and intricate. It was absolutely exquisite. I could have spent much longer looking at all of the different scenes but it was time to move on.
Typical houses in this area have balconies that were apparently used as places to escape from the heat buildup in the small houses, as gathering places for family members, as an outdoor space to hang wet laundry, and for extra storage. Every space is used in these small dwellings. As our small group marched toward the Plaza de la Independence we noticed that most of the houses had three stories. Our guide informed us that since many generations of extended families typically live together in a single house, the third story is often occupied by an elderly widow or spinster so that younger family members can look after her.
Once we re-boarded our bus and headed back to the ship we had a beautiful view of the modern, or new, Panama City skyline. One of the buildings that particularly stood out was the Revolution Tower, which is a modern skyscraper built with glass-paneled walls designed in a graceful spiral. It was absolutely spectacular.
As we returned to the seaside villages near the port we saw numerous small fishing boats emptying their catch for the day into huge containers. When a fisherman had caught a particularly large fish he held it up and presented it proudly with a huge smile on his face as our bus passed him.
We returned to the ship exhausted and a bit sunburned but thankful for a great day in which we were introduced to another culture. We are looking forward to tomorrow morning when our ship will pass through the Panama Canal beginning about 6:00 a.m. and will take most of the day.
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