Casco Viejo Debacle

We didn't intend to visit Casco Viejo, and I tried to keep right in order to avoid it. But my rights couldn't overcome the wrongs and we ended up driving straight into Panama's old downtown without any chance of turning around.

Our intended destination was the Bridge of the Americas via Balboa Avenue. My inexperience on these roads cost us precious time but we caught a quick view and a whirlwind tour of this most unique area.

Unfortunately for us we were trapped within the narrow streets, trinket shops, and certain elements squalor. Round and round we went until we came to the Metropolitan Cathedral which is at the center of the whole labyrinth, which I find out was laid out with thought and planning, with 38 blocks arranged in a grid pattern running east and west. This "old quarter" was created in 1673; just two years after Henry Morgan burned down the original Panama City.

The Metropolitan Cathedral was part of the grand plan and construction began in 1688 and completed in 1786, 108 years later. What I don't know is why it took so long. Maybe they couldn't find their way out of the city?

We stopped and asked for directions several times. Once we were given very specific instructions to turn right at a small park. I overshot the turn without realizing it.

Had I been more watchful I would have noticed a statue in the center of this park. It is that of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat and entrepreneur behind France's disastrous effort to build a canal in Panama. De Lesseps may have been the hero behind the construction of the Suez Canal but in Panama he met his match and afterward France hauled him into court and convicted him of crimes related the failure. We can thank France for providing much of the architectural style of the buildings found in the quarter.

It became clear to Ma and I that we were hopelessly bound within the old quarter and asking directions was no use. Finally, we came across a small police substation with a small crowd gathered out front. We asked directions once more but our prospects of ever finding a way out was nil. A voice from within the crowd told us to hold on a helmeted policeman appeared and offered to lead us out. We accepted. Thus, the pictures you see here have two officers escorting us out of Casco Viejo.