Old Town of Panama

Panama's old town is very enchanting full of history...many of the stories we heard would make you cringe to imagine.  The town wears its age.  Many buildings have been left to rot since the Americans have left.  We walked right past the presidential buildings, we heard stories of whole castles being built to house royal families that never came due to fear.   We saw views of the cities, learnt how many of their buildings were constructed and where the material came from.  We saw many street vendors....however, we were not allowed to take their photos without payment, as it is believed that every photo steals a piece of their soul.

The history is amazing, Ted and I are planning to return tomorrow or the next day on our own, so we can take our time.   We have been shown the areas not to go in and will leave all jewellery at home.

Here are a few photos from the our downtown tour.

The colours are so vibrant, yet peeling and rusting.

This woman sat for the whole time we were there just watching the world pass by.  Notice why her chair could not be set to the right of the door!   Many of the sidewalks here have caved away, have holes and pockets of water sitting....you really have to watch where you walk.

What you see here is the alter of an old church in town.  The sculpture was first carved out of wood, and then covered in 5 mm of gold.   When the pirates came to loot the townspeople loaded in mud and covered the whole wall up so it would not be stolen!   It was amazing.

I started taking this photo to show the proximity to the ocean, when this young boy came up from the surf....I loved that he was in it!

This deteriorating fence surrounds a monument for a man that came to Panama before the canal to 'rid' Panama of all the Indians....(why he has a monument is confusing to many - with good reason)

This is a real zebra rug hanging over a balcony, the nostrils and eye holes are right in the rug!

The bridge in the background is called the "Bridge of Americas"  because on the far side it is North America and when you cross to the side we are standing on in the photo you are in South America!   So we have visited Panama as well as crossed over to South America this trip ;-))

That is Panama's city centre in the background.

This rock used to be 9' higher, it has been shaved out in blocks to create their buildings....the last photo features this construction.

The centre part of this building is created with shaved blocks of rock from different areas around panama, hence the colour changes.  The two bells in the towers are the first bells ever floated over from Spain in 1601.