The second full day that we were in Panamá, we took the bus and explored Casco Antiguo, the historic district of Panamá City. It was beautiful!
Catedral Metropolitana - Built between 1688 and 1796. It was built using stones from the ruins of the cathedral in Panama Viejo. La bandera de Panamá. Iglesia San José - Constructed around 1671 - 1677. El teatro nacional. Palacio de las Garzas - where the president resides "when he wants to" (as the guard told me :) The Palacio was inaugurated in 1923. La Plaza Francia. A pretty walkway in Casco Antiguo. The view next to the mercado de mariscos. Our dinner of fried corbina, salad, and coconut rice. It was FANTASTIC!!! | A figurine of Jesus or a saint next to the door. It appears to be made of wood and the face is completely worn away, supposedly from weathering. An old wall. I thought it was neat how there are so many different pieces of stone and brick used to construct the wall. The beautiful golden altar inside Iglesia San José! It is made of mahogany with gold veneer. Legend has it that when the pirate Henry Morgan raided the city in 1671, the gold from the altar was not stolen because the priest had painted it black. La Plaza Francia. Iglesia Santo Domingo - ruins of the church and the convent. It was built in 1678 but was destroyed by a fire in 1756. It had an interesting arch called Arco Chato, but unfortunately it collapsed in 2003 from neglect. Statue of Bolívar in the plaza. La Plaza Francia. El mercado de mariscos (seafood market). Somehow a business between Panama and Japan, still not sure why! People come and buy fish here but there are also several outdoor restaurants here, where we had dinner. The restaurant where we had dinner. I had to take a picture of the gas prices! Those are the prices per liter and diesel is less expensive than "regular" and "super." So it's currently $2.61 per gallon of diesel, $3.15 per gallon of regular, and $3.56 per gallon of super. Panamá is known for having the cheapest gas and other goods than any other country in Central America. Many people have told me that people from elsewhere in Central America will travel to Panamá to go shopping because things really are much less expensive there. |