In order to get quickly to yesterday's excitement, this blog will just memorialize the past weekend.
We stayed in the city for the weekend which allowed us more easily experience the flavor of this bustling place. The city is built around a bay, and by all accounts has really only sprung up over the last 10 years or so. The skyline is full of 40-50 story high-rises. It even is graced by a Trump Tower, for heaven's sake. There are excellent multi-lane elevated thruways and thousands of yellow cabs (but without meters....so negotiate, negotiate). There is a tremendous air of bustle and certainly the appearance of prosperity and economic activity. It does resemble Miami in appearance, but apparently is more important economically. Maybe being low tax and next to Colombia contributes to all of this?
After catching up on admin stuff on Saturday, we had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant, which had an excellent mezza, bringing back memories of Lebanon in the good times. There were hookahs galore and beautiful belly dancers to entertain the well-dressed, mostly youngish patrons. After dinner, Gavin took us to a Cuban bar/dance place which had like a 10 piece band playing salsa. The crowd was an older one, but boy could they dance!
Next day we spent 4 hours touring the sights, including the original city ( burnt by the Welsh pirate, Henry Morgan in the 17th century). The ruins are reminiscent of the remains of the Norman castles in Ireland. Next was the Casco Viejo, which is where the Spanish moved after the Morgan plunder. This one was better protected, and so was left unmolested. It has a great location on a promontory and is in the process of being rehabilitated from the decay of centuries. Both the State and private entities are involved in this effort. The area is quite charming, with cobblestone streets, a mix of architectural styles and the obligatory multiple churches, a cathedral and the presidential palace. Much restoration remains to be done but there are a number of good bars and restaurants. We then went up to the top of a 300 meter hill overlooking Balboa. This hill had been the location of the US militaries more senior officers and could still be taken for a well-to-do US suburb, with widely spaced houses and lots of trees and flowering shrubs. The views from the top of the sweep of the city on one side and the canal and Bridge of the Americas on the other were quite something.
By 5 pm we had ventured to the venerable Balboa Yacht Club, founded in 1913, to watch the US Superbowl. Lots of TV screens and some of our World ARC friends, all showing up for the football. The commentary was in Spanish, but who cared. Buckets of beer, nachos and buffalo wings added to the atmosphere. And best of all, after quite a tense game, New York pulled out a win in the last 3 minutes, to round out a very good day.