Day 642
City life
Tom and I can often be heard saying that we dislike and avoid cities. There are a few exceptions and Panama City is one of them. We are staying in the old town, a mix of restored buildings and near derelict ones. History is all around us. Just by our apartment is a piece of graffiti depicting how Victoriano Lorenzo's life ended. A hero of Panama, he dedicated his life to gain rights for and improve the quality of life for his indigenous fellow man. He threw in his lot with the liberals during the 1,000-day war with Colombia (1899-1902). As with many wars, compromises were made and from fighting with the victors helping Panama gain it’s independence he was hunted down and executed by firing squad in the Plaza Francia.
We have spent time in the museums, learning about the history of the Panama Canal. Seen awesome modern buildings such as the Biodiversity Museum, designed by Frank Gehry, a world famous architecture who likes to put the word ‘fun’ as well as practical in his designs. We also loved the F&F tower block in the city, or as locals call it, in tribute to it’s distinctive shape, ‘The corkscrew’.
Naturally we’ve had a cocktail or two, people watched, and as our week draws to an end we still need to try the most expensive coffee in the world, maybe tomorrow!
And in case you’re wondering, we will explore the world-famous Panama Canal when we cycle past it on our ride away from this awesome city towards our boat around the Darien Gap.
