On Wednesday we took a walking tour of Casco Viejo, the “Old Quarter”, where original settlers of Panama relocated after the famous pirate Sir Henry Morgan attacked Panama Viejo in 1671. Today it is a piece of Panama that shows both its historical heritage and modern development. Additionally, both sites are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Let’s step back a moment and talk about the UNESCO World Heritage List. In July of 2009, we sat in Barnes & Noble during Anthony’s home leave and ginnie’s vacation looking at travel guides to plan our route. We had our dream list of places and it was getting complicated to figure out how we would map it out and what would tie it together. Our quite limited budget also factored into the plans. As we began to feel slightly overwhelmed, a thought came to us; we became familiar with World Heritage Sites in Belize due to the Barrier Reef and visiting other listed sites in our travels, so we thought we should theme our trip on these sites. Figuring there must exist a book on the sites, we immediately asked at customer service and lo and behold we found a large UNESCO World Heritage List book. To be honest, the layout of the book is a bit random, but by looking on their website it is easier to plan by country. As it happened, most of the places we had on our personal sights to visit list are World Heritage Sites, so it was a perfect combination. This helped us with planning for some of our coming country visits and provided a clear focus for prioritizing our limited time and budget. Take a look through the list, and you’ll see that many of the sites are recognizable.
Back to Casco Antiguo. We opted for bus transport since it looked a bit cloudy and our feet were pretty tired from the walk along Amador Causeway the day before. Ginnie wrote the basic site list of the various ruins, museums, and other points of interest in our small notebook so we would not have to carry a guidebook. Anthony recreated the map and we had all we needed to be on our way. Fortunately, we hopped on the correct bus (which wasn’t hard since a fellow traveler had done this a few days ago and told us which bus to take – Calle 12). The tricky part was being sure to lookout for el parque de los aburridos (the park of bored men) and Café Coca Cola. When the bus pulled near a small park, it seemed right so we decided to just hop off – luckily the café was right where described! Unfortunately, at the same time the clouds opened up and we found ourselves in quite a heavy downpour. We sought shelter under the small overhang of a building next to a fruit vendor’s cart. When the rain began to fall even harder, we found a wider overhang in the doorway of a cash advance place and just balanced on the ledge. It felt like quite a long time, and ginnie was ready to get on a bus and go to a movie when Anthony suggested a few more minutes (his instincts were honed well by Belizean rain storms!). Suddenly, blue skies began to move in and the rain slowed and we were on our way down Ave Central and into the heart of Casco Antiguo.
We first came upon one of the churches, Iglesia de La Merced and then continued to the Plaza de la Independencia where the Cathedral overlooks the park, much like in any Central American Spanish colonial city. We toured around the ruins and saw the famous Altar de Oro (Golden Altar) in Iglesia de San Jose. This altar was reportedly painted black by a priest when he heard of Henry Morgan’s attack on Panama Viejo and allegedly this priest convinced Morgan that it was stolen by an earlier pirate. 
Whatever the truth is, the altar survived the attack and was moved to its new site when Panama Viejo was deserted for Casco Viejo. The altar is quite impressive; hopefully, our photos do it justice!
Behind el teatro we came to the seawall where we could walk along for yet more views of Panama and moored ships awaiting entry to the canal and came upon some Kuna women selling their craftwork. Kuna women dress as their traditional ancestors did in a colorful fabric skirt wrapped around the waist, a short-sleeved blouse covered in bright-colored molas (traditional colorful hand-stitched applique textiles made by the Kuna women), a gold ring through the septum, and with their legs wrapped from ankle to knee in long strands of tiny beads in beautiful intricate patterns. Many also wear a headscarf, many necklaces, rings and bracelets. We have seen many Kuna women walking through the city and tried to capture a photo while along our walk. We like to have a textile from the places we visit, so we’ve been looking at the molas and will soon find the perfect one!
By the time we reached the Plaza de Francia at the tip of Casco Antiguo, the rains opened up again (a few other showers came down as we were in some churches and ruins, so we just waited them out). This one caught us close to the dungeons that have been converted to shops and a restaurant, so we waited in the Thai/French restaurant there. 
Once it cleared, we walked back through the colonial neighborhoods to return to catch a bus and got another downpour right by the waiting area – outside! We were not certain which would get us back around by our section of Ave Espana, so these extremely friendly gentlemen explained (in the fastest Spanish we have ever tried to interpret) which bus to take and where it will pass and where to disembark… needless to say, we had no idea which one to take, but one said to follow him and he’d show us and sure enough we were dropped right at the corner where we needed to be! We continue to meet some of the most friendly and helpful people in Panama. Also, we have heard some interesting Kriol-type speaking as well, sometimes we feel like we’re back on a bus in Belize when we hear Spanish and Kriol-ish in the same area.
Thursday we planned a quiet relaxed day to rest the shin splints and blisters. After a very leisurely morning of breakfast and researching places to visit in the coming days, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and head out to the ruins of Panama Viejo.
This area was founded on August 15, 1519 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias de Avila (who, it is said, was so barbaric he beheaded Balboa in 1517 and ordered attacks on the indigenas and would roast them alive or feed them to dogs) and was the first European settlement along the Pacific. We caught a bus from Cinta Costera and took a busy ride through the more developed business and banking section of the city, passing two malls and a lot of American fast food until we reached the museum and entrance to Panama Viejo where we disembarked and walked along the ruins. It was a nice walk and we could read little tidbits on each of the ruins, most of which were churches.
We took a quick look in the Mercado de Artesanias but no molas caught our eye today…
The relaxed day concluded with a dinner of stirfry vegetables and soy meat we found at the Riba Smith supermarket. Another beautiful, and hot hot day in Panama City!
Paz y Amor!
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