Panama City: Panama viejo & Multiplaza

Sullivan enjoys the view

After a good night's sleep we headed out to explore the vast urban playground of Panama City.  While walking to the waterfront, my first impression was that this city is super clean and really large.  I'd anticipated a bit more grit but was very pleasantly surprised.  We strolled down to the Cinta Costera, a greenway with sports courts, palm trees and a brand new bike trail with killer views of the bay.

Panama city

Thanks to our late start after sleeping in a bit, it was pretty warm by the time we got out and moving around.  A breeze off the water kept it from being unbearable.  We walked for an hour or so along the coast and soaked up the views along the water.  There is apparently a large project underway to clean up the bay.  A main cause of the problems is apparently house trash dumped into the rivers upstream from the bay.  They say that the water is much cleaner now than it has been in the past but there is work to be done.

La Cinta Costera

As is typical for us during our travels, we managed to find our way to a park and take a little time to relax.

Henry works on his balance

Sufficiently exercised and warm, we realized that any more walking would be a bit too much in the heat.  We flagged down a cab and got into the car with Victor.  He explained that he could take us to Panama Viejo, but he'd have to make a quick stop at the pharmacy first to pick up his vitamins.  The vitamins help to keep him in good health and feeling young, he says.  The 30 minute ride to Panama Viejo, through sometimes heavy traffic, cost $5.

Victor

Panama Viejo is one of the most famous places to visit in Panama City.  It was the original site of the city, first founded in 1519 by the Spanish conquistador Pedriarís Dávila.  Panama Viejo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/790/ for more detail) and was the first European city on the Pacific Coast of the Americas.  Its existence itself was interesting enough, but was made much more so by the fact that the famous pirate Henry Morgan sacked and burned the city.  Twice.  More of the story can be seen here:  http://www.historynet.com/henry-morgan-the-pirate-who-invaded-panama-in-1671.htm .  After the second sacking, it was felt that the city was not defensible and was moved to another site.  There is an interesting museum and many ruins to explore.

Panama Viejo

Vista from church tower ruin 

Remaining monastery ruins

During our time Panama Viejo we met tourists from Mexico and Costa Rica.  Erica and I did manage to understand a bit more Panamanian history and maybe the kids learned just a bit too.  We ended the day's adventure with a trip to the Multiplaza, easily the largest mall I have ever seen, all decorated for Christmas.  Filled with all the high-end shops one could ever want, it was impressive.  There was even a Lego store and a Chuck E Cheese, which was almost disturbing.  We didn't buy anything except dinner at the food court.  Movie tickets (and a large popcorn) were US $3 each so we couldn't resist watching The Hobbit, a great movie.  It was in English with Spanish subtitles, which came in quite handy when characters were speaking Orc or Elvish.  The theater was immaculate and a far cry from our movie experience in Granada, Nicaragua which included live bats during the movie but which made for everlasting memories.