Yesterday was a day of travel~ Keith & I flew on LASCA airlines from Medellin to Panama City; it was a flight that made me wish we were in the air longer because the service was so good! We settled into Costa Inn, a simple (cheap for this city) hotel where we will spend five nights. I returned to the airport to pick up Shana Jan around 9 pm, the owner of the hotel was kind enough to drive me there where we both caught the shuttle back to the hotel. A buffet breakfast is included so we had a great start before setting out this morning.
St. Patrick's Day was spent in colonial Casco Viejo. This World Heritage site has everything we were hoping Shana would see in Cartagena. Beautiful churches...
Latin squares...
And restored colonial buildings...
This area is slowly being restored and it is an interesting mixture between the 'high life' and people squatting in rubble. We took a walk from the Fodor's guide that Shana brought with her, it included a tour of the Panama Canal interactive museum. This will help us better understand the Canal on tomorrow's half-day tour on a boat through the canal itself.
The museum was educational, one disturbing thing that I learned about the process of building the canal was the Silver and Gold levels of pay and treatment given to the workers. Those blue-eyed, fair-skinned workers from the USA, and their families, were treated like kings, while the other workers representing 89 countries were housed in barracks with 72 men each. Food rations, sanitary conditions, fresh water supplies as well as pay & types of work was all based on ethnic background.
Another tidbit... this long arch is partially responsible for the canal being built in Panama rather than Nicaragua. Stamps with its image were sent to the US Congress making the decision, it swayed their thinking by proving that Panama was the better location based on its lack of earthquake activity as based on this arch's longevity.
Very interesting history throughout the museum was well displayed, though only labeled in Spanish.
The Presidential Palace, a little 'white house', is located along the peninsula with a striking view of the cityscape across the harbor. Inside the courtyard two African Ibis are free to wander and although security is tight with military and police presence, we were able to walk right up and photograph inside the gates.
A little shopping, a yummy lunch, and a scary taxi ride brought this first day in Panama City to an end. The beauty of this city exceeded our expectations. Tomorrow, the Panama Canal Tour!
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