9/6 First day: Panama, Here we come!

I can hardly believe that here we are beginning our fifth grand adventure of this great world! When Steven and I began our first overseas trip together in the fall of 2013 to Iceland, across Russian on the Trans Siberian train and then through Mongolia, part of China, a good chunk of Thailand and then the last three months in Cambodia, I don't think either of us envisioned or dreamt that we would be lucky enough still to be taking another three plus month trip so many years later.

This has been such a blessed time for us as just a few days ago we helped our daughter, Natalie, celebrate her marriage to the love of her life, Adam, in Michigan. Our daughter, Nina, will be marrying Will, her prince charming, in Brooklyn on February 24th not long after our return. Then, as if that wasn't enough love going around, our son, Alexander, will wed Cory, his princess in late July!

Less than 48 hours before leaving Denver, we didn't know how or when we'd actually reach Panama City because our flight from Denver was through Houston and the city was of course devasted by Hurricane Harvey and flights in and out of the city were on a day to day basis. Then we got the reassuring news that our dawn flight from Denver would actually be the first one landing in Houston and all was a go. When I got a phone call from Amsterdam, the home of booking.com and where I had booked all our hotel reservations for the next 3.5 months, the day before our trip was to begin, I must admit to some trepidation. We discovered that our hotel for the first three nights of the trip had closed due to fumigation and we needed to find another one pdq. Luckily, booking.com came to our rescue as it has previously and the trip was finally a go after about eight months of planning!

After the excitement of the wedding and the flight and hotel concerns, landing in Panama City and seeing the ribbon of high rises stretching along the coast was a novelty. We had started our South American adventure in Panama to see the canal but wanted some time to explore the capital.  Immediately we were intrigued by so many of the city's fascinating highrises. This one, affectionately known as the Lego building, is the F&F Tower.

After dumping our bags, we hightailed it to Panama City's historic quarter which was no easy feat considering the mammoth building boom everywhere we looked and also the city's crazy traffic! 

Because we didn't arrive in Casco Viejo until after 4, we made a beeline for the top attraction, the Iglesia de San Jose aka St. Joseph's Church, which was due to close shortly, as it's famous for its Golden Altar. According to local legend, a wily priest painted the altar with mud to discourage its theft from Captain Henry Morgan, the pirate who destroyed the first city of Panama in 1671.

The church's namesake, St. Joseph:

There were several altars in the church; this one was home to the first image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima that was carried across the country on a pilgrimage in 1950.

Strolling along the narrow, mostly brick streets and seeing the intricate wrought iron balconies so soon after leaving Denver made us appreciate anew why we love to travel and the joy of discovering new places.

It was, though, more than a tad peculiar to look up and see so many shells of buildings that appeared to be still standing only by the grace of God alone.

I read that a few spots in the quarter had been used as stand ins for both Bolivia and Haiti in James Bond's Quantum of Solace starring Daniel Craig!

We knew we weren't in Dodge any longer when Steven spotted a pelican high in a tree!

Plaza de Francia: This attractive plaza was dedicated to the French attempt to build the Panama Canal and to the thousands who died in the process, mostly from yellow fever.

The dozen marble plaques told the story of their monumental task.

Even we could understand this Spanish text but the plaques were well beyond our embarassingly limited knowledge of Spanish!

Directly above the plaza was a striking promenade, the Paseo Esteban Huertas, built atop the old city's outer wall where we walked next. From there, we had a million dollar view of the skyline and its huge highrises. We almost felt like we'd been transported back to Dubai where we were last December.

A popular handicraft in Panama is the mola, a fabric picture hand sewn by ethnic Guna women and worn on their blouses. On the Paseo, there were a large number of Guna women selling their molas, beautiful bead bracelets and jewelry made from shells. 

Was I tempted by the molas? Is the pope Catholic?!! But all I could think of was this was the first day of a 3.5 month trip and where could I pack it and especially what would we do with one or two molas once we got home? I can't imagine showing such restraint further into the trip so I felt quite virtuous for a few minutes!

Carnival masks, made from seeds, were another common item for sale.

Yet another shell of a building. It, however, was slated for a complete redo.

The stately Iglesia de San Francisco in Plaza Bolivar had already closed its doors for the day so I could only peer through its interior, glass door to marvel at its interior.

The church was attached to an elegant colonial building called the Palacio Bolivar which is now the country's Foreign Ministry.

I walked through the courtyard into the grand Salon Bolivar where Simon Bolivar's meeting of independence with leaders from all over South America took place in 1926 until I was shooed out by a security guard. In my defense, I didn't see any signs prohibiting entry!

Directly across from the church was a monument to the Venuzuelan general known as the 'Liberator of South America.'

On the other side of the plaza was once the country's best hotels, the Hotel Colombia, when it opened its doors in 1937. After renovations in the 1990s, it was converted into luxury apartments.

Around the corner was the most charming church we'd seen yet, the recently restored Iglesia de San Felipe de Neri. Not only were we enchanted by the lovely interior but the recorded Gregorian music being played added the perfect ambience. The AC didn't hurt either on such a warm day, I must admit!

Janina: This is the first ceiling shot and thus for you!

The church security guide gestured that we see this enormous Christmas display in an adjoining room. We've never seen anything quite like the 3,000 piece extravaganza before.

After traipsing through more of the historic quarter and therefore more shells of buildings, we stopped to admire the old city's main square called variously Plaza Catedral, Plaza Mayor or Plaza de la Independencia since Panama's independence from both Spain and Colombia were celebrated there.

Across the square, the Cathedral was getting a facelift for World Youth Day in 2019, we learned today.

Busts of the country's founding fathers were scattered around the plaza.

Yup, yet another shell of a building en route to our last church of the day.

A sign on a local car advertising so called 'Panama hats.' Stay tuned for more about the famous hats in an upcoming post.

On the outskirts of Casco Viejo was one of its oldest structures, Iglesia de La Merced or Mercy Church. Walking in this area made us feel a tad dicey for the first time since we'd arrived as it was in a noticeably more questionable neighborhood.

Just as it should have been of course, the interior was an oasis of peace and serenity and, even more so, a short while later when the priest entered and began saying Mass.

The Art Deco style building across the street seemed out of whack with the others we'd seen but it definitely had its own charm.

We didn't mind retracing our steps back to Plaza Catedral as the early evening light painted the gazebo in a special light.

Couldn't resist this storefront shot as we walked toward the Presidential Palace.

There was a heavy police presence near the Palace so we couldn't get even a glimpse of it unfortunately. The buildings near it made up for that as they were stunning.

These flowers in a nearby grove were huge, no doubt due to Panama's receiving rain daily for eight nonths of the year and being the fourth wettest climate in the world!

As we walked along just part of the almost three mile long waterfront, we finally caught sight of the Presidential Palace which is more well known as Palace of the Herons because a former president started the tradition of keeping pet herons in the building's front courtyard.

Since we'd gotten up at the insanely early hour of just 3 and somehow had seen everything we wanted in the Old Town without feeling rushed, we headed back to the hotel ready to collapse before having to be up early again tomorrow for a tour of the Panama Canal and Panamian jungle. What a fabulous first day this was - let's hope it's the start of many more this trip.

Posted from Panama City on September 7th.