We had a week to explore Panama City and made one of our first site-seeing stops to Panama Viejo; the ruins of the old Panama City and former site of the capital. We had a lovely afternoon walking around the old ruins of the city, founded by the Spanish and that saw mountains of treasure, gold and silver passing through on its way from Peru.
Apart from being threatened by a big fire or two, it wasn't until Henry Morgan (of Morgans rum!) marched over from the Caribbean with 1400 of his pirate friends in the 17th century that the city came to its end. The attack left the city burnt to the ground and in disarray, leading to the city being rebuilt in the area that is now known as Casco Viejo.
It wasn't until recent years that the site had been declared a UNESCO site, so quite a few of the buildings stones had been taken by local people! Recently it's undergone restoration and has been brought back to life!
After a visit to the museum, we rode of the worlds fastest chicken bus stopping off at parillada 'Jimmy' for a delicious lunch and some pink vino.
Panama City seems to have three distinct areas; the high-rise business / financial district where we were staying, Panama Viejo and the new city, Casco Viejo where we enjoyed spending a couple of our days...
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