Casco Viejo, or Old Panama # 2

Our last Panama Post. :( Saturday the 20th, David and I took a cab down to Casco Viejo, for $3.

Casco Viejo is the place the moved to after pirates destroyed its original location.

It reminded me a lot of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, except that a lot of it was really run down and abandoned, whereas Old San Juan really does good with the upkeep of the old buildings and monuments.







There is a main square is in front of this church where vendors sell their wares.





We walked down side streets, along a walking tour that was in our guide. We screamed "Tourist."









Underneath this covered floral walkway were dungeons used to keep prisoners.



The view of the current Panama City from Casco Viejo.





A local told us that these little peaks in the foreground are a German submarine run aground. We really couldn't know if that was true or not. He was probably hosing us anyway. :)





After our walking tour, we stopped in a little bodega hidden in one of the narrow streets for some bottled water. We hailed a cab back to the hotel for a quick lunch before my 1 p.m. - 9 p.m. stint at the trade show.


The following day, Sunday, we flew back to Miami, where we alternately laughed and grumbled at the customs route we had to take. We got off the plane, walked a very long way to collect our luggage, turned in our customs claims forms, walked a very long way to give our luggage back to the airport employees, walked a loooong way back......to board the same exact airplane we had just left. *sigh* It took so long, the 45 minute layover was eaten up and they were already boarding our flight to Orlando, so we didn't have time to grab a meal.



I was a bit trepidacious leaving the country. Although I am usually an optimist, I am a traveling pessimist. I am so glad this entire 'work-cation' went so well. I was also so blessed to be able to bring David along and to have a cool mother-in-law who drove down to stay with the kids for a week.