Panama City

Today we ventured out to explore the Panama City area. The capital city is a bustling hub of modern high rise buildings. With 127 high rises completed and over 110 currently under construction, Panama City ranks 45th in the world for high rise buildings. There are some very interesting architectural designs. The F &F Tower really stands out and was ranked in the top 10 in the world for design in 2011.

Does anyone want to guess which building is the tallest in Panama and the 2nd tallest in Latin America? It has a curved top to represent a ship's sail, it stands 932 feet tall with 70 floors and is located in the prestigious section of town called Pacific Point. Are you ready? It is Trump Ocean Club Tower.

The top curves outward to represent a ship's sail.

There are several other high rise buildings in this section of town where apartments sell for more than $500 thousand. 

Looking across the bay from the old colonial section of town, you can see the impressive skyline of the modern Panama City.

After our visit to the "high rise" and "high cost" section of town we went to San Felipe (also called Casco Viejo) which is the historic colonial section of town. In route we stopped at a local market. Unlike some I have visited in my travels this one wasn't very crowded and it was really clean. Did see some familiar items such as fresh chickens and meat being processed right there on site.

We stopped and talked with this lady who was selling lottery tickets outside the market as a way to make some extra money to supplement her retirement. She said she only sells tickets for the Sunday drawing so she works on the weekend. Unlike in the U.S., most anyone can sell the tickets. You go to the Lottery department and buy the tickets, then you can take back the ones you don't sell before the drawing for a refund.

The chickens were packaged with the un-laid eggs for making stews.

We sampled some of the local chicha (fruit) drinks. These were the non-fermented drinks and were fairly tasty.

Bottles of homemade hot sauce.

A little background on Panama City and the old section of town. Panama was founded in 1519. The original town was destroyed by fire in 1671 by Henry Morgan. The city center was moved a little and was rebuilt in 1673. Today San Felipe is a cobblestoned historic center with several styles of both Spanish and French influenced architecture. San Felipe was conceived as a walled city to protect its settlers against future pirate attacks. It was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003.

Just a small section of the old wall remains.

There are small park areas in the colonial section.

Undergoing redevelopment today, the old quarter has become one of the city's main tourist attractions, second only to the Panama Canal. Both government and private sectors are working on its restoration but there is some controversy as the government is forcing people who have lived there for many years to relocate. We talked with this charming 92 year old lady who is the only person left in her building. She said she has to move by the end of the month.

This where she lives.

One of the requirements of the renovation is that the original outside frame must be preserved. This shows a building that has been gutted for renovation.

Next stop was a visit to the San Jose Cathedral. The main attraction of this church is the seventeenth century Baroque style Golden Altar, Altar de Oro. The altar was originally located in a temple by the similar name, San Jose. After the pirates had burned down the Old Panama city, the altar was relocated to the new place and entirely renovated in 1915. Carved in mahogany, the altar is covered in golden leaf.

There are several other altars in the church.

An old monastery.

The old Santo Domingo Convent which is said to have played a role in convincing the French to build the canal in Panama rather than Nicaragua. The authorities were sent a drawing of the flat arch with an explanation that after several hundred years the arch was still intact because Panama doesn't have the earthquakes and severe storms like Nicaragua does.

Some more examples of the colonial architecture on restored buildings.

Looking back at the old town from the point.

We adventured onto the new subway system for our return trip to the hotel. It is just a couple of years old and was very impressive.

To end the day we went out for our welcoming dinner.