Panama City

Like dutiful tourists, we spent our second day in Panama City seeing the sights: the ruins of “old Panama,” which date back to the earliest permanent Spanish settlements in this area; the newer “old city,” called Casco Viejo, the epicenter of Panamanian government and culture since colonial times; the fabled fish market (mercado mariscos) where I gorged on two kinds of ceviche (Candy wouldn’t touch it :); and a drive to the top of Ancon Hill, which towers over the western edge of the city. Our guide was a personable young master of multi-tasking named Jean Paul, who spoke English and navigated the bustling, traffic-clogged mayhem with ease, while answering our questions and catering to our every whim.

The tour began with a stroll through the ruins of Old Panama…

This stone arch has withstood the test of time in the Old Panama ruins.

An attractive female tourist, accompanied by her young Panamanian tour guide, strolls through the ruins of Old Panama.

Dancers in traditional dress pose for a photo shoot in the church plaza in the Old Panama ruins.

Next, we drove to the top of Ancon Hill for birds-eye views of the city…

Panama City, as seen fron Ancon Hill, is a forest of high-rise apartments and office buildings.

This view of Casco Viejo, taken from the top of Ancon Hill, shows the amazing progress of the four-lane highway around the Old City. The ambitious project was started less than a year ago, and is testament to the vital and burgeoning Panamanian economy.

From Ancon Hill, we wound back down to the Old Town, where we drove through the narrow streets and made a quick stop at the old cathedral…

The streets of Csco Viejo are narrow and quaint, some in horrible disrepair. The traffic is waful during the day and early evening, but thins out after the dinner hour. Armed "tourist police" are on every corner, lending a sense of security to this important tourist and government center. — The streets of Casco Viejo are narrow and quaint, some in horrible disrepair. The traffic is awful during the day and early evening, but thins out after the dinner hour. Armed “tourist police” are on every corner, lending a sense of security to this important tourist and government center.

The old cathedral in Casco Viejo is the home of this towering gold-encrusted altar. Legend has it that, threatened by the imminent attack by Henry Morgan the pirate, the priest painted the altar black to hide its gold skin and convinced the dread priate that it has been moved to another part of the city.

This side altar, one of several in the old iglesia in Casco Viejo, is exemplary of of the lavish decoration invested in these religious structures.

We finished our tour with a visit to the famous Mercado Mariscos, a world-class fish market in the heart of the city and home of the best ceviches in Central America.

Our tour guide, Jean Paul, is a 21-year-old student who is also working in real estate. He was a very knowledgeable and helpful chauffeur for the day.

This hulking fisherman was busy fileting the morning's catch. — This hulking fisherman was busy fileting the morning’s catch.

In the shady back alleys of the seafood market, fishmongers clean their catches.

A man peels plantains in the fish market.d — A man peels plantains in the fish market.

Later in the day, we returned to the Old City for a wonderful dinner in an Argentinian restaurant called Mostaza. On the way, we took a little walking tour through the heart of the old city district, past the cathedral and down the narrow streets to the waterfront, where we stumbled across a splendid fireworks display. It was a fitting way to end an exciting day in Panama.

This nighttime view of the newer cathedral along the Plaza de Indepencia is lit by the high-intensity lights of the television crews who were covering the day's festivities. — This nighttime view of the newer cathedral along the Plaza de Indepencia is lit by the high-intensity lights of the television crews who were covering the day’s festivities.

After the fireworks, the old colonial plazas and edifices of Casco Viejo were the scene of numerous upscale parties. We never did find out what the occasion was, but it was great to see how the Panamanian gentry party.