We went to the club level to check out the breakfast, and the girls were very pleased with the cereal and yogurt selection, plus there was bacon for Vivian.
At 8:30 we met our guide for the day in the lobby, and she and her cousin took us in two cars to the old part of Panama City, Casco Viejo. Jeff was really excited to see it, since the last time he had been to Panama City was almost 12 years ago, and it was an area where he was told not to go because it was so unsafe. Since then, there has been a major renovation effort, and Casco Viejo is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Of course, this means that prices for properties have skyrocketed into the millions, and the people who used to live there have been priced out. There was a big sign in one of the plazas.
It is definitely the hardest part of urban development to balance the economic benefit of having a tourist friendly, scenic old town with making sure that everyone in the city has access to affordable housing.
For our part, we were happy to admire the renovated Casco Viejo and do our part to put some money in the local economy. The overall architectural look was really interesting. It felt kind of like a combination of Cartagena and New Orleans. There were the white and pastel colored buildings, but instead of Cartagena's wooden balconies, there were lots of French looking wrought iron balconies. Our guide explained that this was because Panama City had also had a French influence. The result was beautiful, and we were snapping pictures left and right.
One of the first buildings we went into was the American Trade Hotel. It's the one with the statue in front. Our guide told us that this was one of the fanciest hotels in Panama City. It was beautifully redone, but they also tried to keep some of the history of the area. The staircase was lined with photographs of all the gang graffiti that had lined the walls of the building before it had been renovated.
There were also some really cool older stone ruins that our guide told us were still used as settings for parties and get togethers.
The last one was filling up with people in traditional outfits as we were leaving. There were also a couple churches that had been carefully preserved and were still in use. The first one we saw wasn't open to the public, so we just took pictures from the outside.
The second church we went to was simple on the outside, but quite ornate on the inside.
Elena was intrigued by the pulpit, and really wanted to go up and check it out.
To distract her, I drew her attention to the pews and explained that the cushioned part was for kneeling and praying. She asked me to explain praying, so I did it as best I could. She then said that she wanted to talk to "The God", and she would be a minute.
Like so many people before her, she was perplexed when The God didn't answer her. We explained that that was just how it worked, but she could talk to him any time she wanted to. This seemed to satisfy her, and she was then willing to come with us to the church's basement to view an incredible display of large portions of the Bible.
Jeff got pictures of every scene, but I'm not going to put them all in the blog. In the same room were also old wooden statues that used to adorn the church.
By this point, the girls were getting pretty close to their sightseeing limit, but luckily, the next stop was for them, a chocolate store with a chocolate tasting!
It was getting hot by that time, so we all appreciated the air conditioning and sweet treats. Elena even got a picture with the store's sloth mascot.
Next up was a walk around the part of the old city along the water. We had a good view of the cool Frank Gehry designed Biomuseo. I kept trying to convince the family to go visit it, but I got vetoed.
There wasn't much shade, and the girls were getting hot and whiny, so Mom solved it by buying them little bobble head animals. Elena was so pleased that her running skills came back to her.
Luckily the next part of the walk was in the shade provided by beautiful flowers. We even found some big flowers for sale in the next square.
Our next church was the main cathedral of the city, and it had been specially renovated for the Pope's visit a couple years back.
The inside was lovely too.
Elena convinced Vivi to have a chat with The God with her.
After the church, we caught a glimpse of the President's house and went through one more square with some interesting buildings.
We tried one of the buffet restaurants for lunch, and discovered they had a pasta station, which was a big hit with the girls.
By common consensus, the rest of the day was spent in the pool rather than sightseeing. The hotel provided a lot of different floats, which was a strange decision considering how windy the pool area was, but my swimming crew tried out as many as they could, and then found a place to anchor them, so that they wouldn't blow away.
The next morning we had a few hours before we had to leave for the airport, so, big surprise, we headed back to the pool after breakfast. In our hunt for shade, we settled in a new area with grass, hammocks and other interesting seating options.
Mom and Vivi even ventured out for a dip in the Pacific.
It was a fun way to end our Panama City vacation. I'm so glad we made it happen before we left South America.
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