Panama City's Old Town

We’ve been obsessively reading Frommer’s and The Lonely Planet guide books ever since we booked this adventure mid-August. If there’s one thing about Panama City that we’ve read time and time again, it’s that a visit to Casco Viejo (Old Town) is a must!  What’s the first thing Gen and I decide to do just 24 hours into our journey? Naturally, visiting Casco Viejo was at the top of our to-do list.

 

And what a marvelous decision, indeed. Casco Viejo is a study in contrasts — a place where old meets new, where rich meets poor, and where history meets the 21st century. You’ll literally be walking down one of the narrow cobblestone streets and you’ll see brand new, million-dollar luxury condominiums that reside next to dilapidated, old ruins of buildings that once were. Modernized restaurants and coffee shops sit beside decaying and hollowed structures.

 

First settled in 1673, Casco Viejo was built following the near-total destruction of the original Panama city, Panama Viejo, in 1671 by Captain Henry Morgan (yes, the rum’s namesake).  This time, the Spanish wised up and built the new city with a fortress of walls on a peninsula completely isolated by the sea.

 

Walking through this section of the city is like taking a trip back in time to 17th century Spain complete with Catholic cathedrals and plazas so grand they make you stop dead in your tracks. La Catedral de Metropolitana (the Metropolitan Cathedral) features two magnificent bell towers inlaid in mother of pearl. At the same time, we’re fortunate for the comforts of an afternoon pina colada on a patio when the skies turn grey unexpectedly and it begins to rain.

 

Thankfully for us, tropical rain storms in Panama City last but an hour or so (similar to back home in New Mexico) and we were able to complete our walking tour of Casco Viejo looking out over the ocean where a line of cruise ships await entrance to the Panama Canal.  Off in the distance, downtown’s towering skyline watches over the crystal clear blue bay. 

 

For the first time this trip, I forget that I’m in one of Central America’s most sprawling metropolises. Strolling along the boardwalk, I have to spend more than a few passing minutes just staring blankly at the open ocean. For a New Mexico boy like me, all it takes is a little water and I’m mesmerized…