After being on the road for over six months, it was good to be home in Denver. We spent time with our girls, celebrated the holidays with family and friends, drove on the right side of the road, and spoke English all day, every day for six weeks!
Sarah-Jane, Brydie and Sarah at Sarah's new home.
Sarah and Jenna
and our budding Mozart, granddaughter Lyla.
At 5am on a freezing January morning, our friend Sandy took us to the airport where we reluctantly relinquished our winter jackets to her and dashed inside to catch the next plane to Panama.
If we hadn't gone through passport control when we arrived in Panama City, we would have been convinced the pilot had taken a wrong turn and we had landed in Miami.
The city of 3 million people never rests. There is a constant background noise of traffic, honking, car alarms and construction, construction, construction!
Panama City is the banking capital of Latin America and the high standard of living is definitely apparent. SUVs are a status symbol, even though gas is expensive and there's not a snowflake in sight from one end of the year to the other. There are several up-scale shopping malls boasting stores like Cartier and Hermes, with no shortage of customers.
During our month long stay, we were "forced" to live in a luxurious apartment on the ninth floor of a high rise in the up-scale neighborhood of Obarrio.
Dogs are absolutely forbidden to poop in the neighborhood, although...
residents can have their needs met at the local "head" shop.
Casco Viejo the old town of Panama City, is a mix of French, Spanish and Caribbean architecture dating from the early 16th-century. The town is being lovingly restored building by building to its original glory.
Much of the action of the latest 007 movie "Quantum of Solace" was filmed in Casco Viejo. Looks like a leg may have been left behind!
A view of the new city taken from the boardwalk of the old city of Casco Viejo.
Of course, no visit to Panama City would be complete without seeing the famous canal. The Miraflores Lock is one of three locks that ships have to pass through in order to be raised about 100 feet on a journey from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean.
We were fortunate to arrive at the Miraflores Lock in time to watch this container ship being raised about 40 feet. The water is pumped into the lock in eight minutes, faster than it takes to fill a bath tub.
The construction of the Panama Canal was financed and supervised by the United States and completed in 1914. Always a bone of contention between the US and Panama, the US turned over administration, operation and maintenance to the Panamanians in January 2000.
Since its inception, nearly a million vessels have transited the canal. Over the years ships have significantly increased in size, and this ship had less than a foot clearance on either side. Currently a new canal is in progress to accommodate the super tankers and is scheduled to be completed by 2014.
After a hard day playing tourist in 97 degree weather, a well-deserved dip in the pool at our apartment was just the thing!Next, the two faces of Panama.
Ben & Lindy
No comments:
Post a Comment