For a variety of reasons I haven't done a proper #coffeewalk in a while. But today the stars aligned. Today's walk is in the old town of Panama City, Panama, an area founded in the 1670s and now a UNESCO World Heritage area.
Turns out all those cats I was promised in Buenos Aires have moved to Panama City. I saw more on this coffee walk than I did over the entire month in BsAs.
There's a mix of beautifully restored buildings here and dilapidated shells. Lots of those shells and facades are currently for sale. Calling them fixer uppers is a huge stretch. Gut job might also be too generous given in most cases there's very little left to gut. But a girl can dream... until Aaron pokes her in the ribs and says No.
The weather here is steamy during the day. Currently 91 ("feels like 100" per my weather app) and sultry at night. So forgive me, this walk was a little shorter than I originally planned.
But first, coffee!Have you heard of Gesha coffee? I had not until arriving here. Some say it might be the best coffee in the world and it's recommended to drink it black, something I almost never do. It might also be the most expensive coffee in the world for a few reasons: high quality, high demand, limited supply. It's available in a couple cafes in the area and I plan to give it a try, but not today. Today is for walking. Fyi, prices are in US dollars. Panama uses the dollar. It's nice to have a break from converting.Cat delay. I sat down to figure out where I was on Google Maps and this happened. Cat people know the rules.Alleyway looking out toward the Pacific. The entrance/exit of the Panama Canal is out there just beyond the mud flats and the distant elevated roadway. I assume this is low tide.Cheers to old brick and stone. This was a church that burned in the 1800s. Just sitting here like this for a few hundred years. New info: I took a walking tour of this area and our guide said as a child he and his friends would sneak into this yard to play soccer and climb around on all the structures until the neighbors would call the police.Project, anyone?Another cat sighting by the water.A bright, breezy plaza in Casco Viejo.Modern Panama City across the mud flats.A colorful building mural tucked into the walk.Balconies, shutters, and the layered old-town streetscape.One of the roofless old stone shells still standing in Casco Viejo.Beautiful, crumbling, and maybe for sale.One more doorway cat, because Panama City clearly had plenty.Church, statue, sunshine, and the end of a very hot short walk.
I suppose we will make it over there to the modern Panama at some point. I'm enjoying the quiet and calm though, over here in the Casco Viejo.
