BENEATH THE TOWERS OF THE CAPITAL LIES A HISTORIC NABE THAT'S GROWING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, DAVID APPELL
March 6, 2007 -- DON'T know about you, but when I think "stunning colonial architecture," Central America doesn't even crack the five that come to mind. And Panama? Isn't that the place with the big canal, some rainforests, and skyscrapers? Yep.
Everybody's talking about Manuel Noriega getting out of the slammer, the expansion of the canal, and don't forget the $220 million "Ocean Club" complex The Donald's planning to plop amid the Hong Kong-esque skyline down here by 2009.
But what grabbed me more than any of that on a recent visit is something that's not on many radar screens, but sure will be soon.
On a promontory jutting out 100 acres into the Pacific, Panama City's 17th-century Casco Viejo or Casco Antiguo (old quarter, also known as San Felipe) is as ravishing as any colonial cityscape in the Americas - gracious, glorious shades of Old San Juan, Old Havana and Colombia's Cartagena. El presidente presides along these red-brick streets in a handsome white manse, and the minister of tourism, salsa legend Ruben Blades, lives several blocks away.
The elegant National Theater is here, as are several handsome churches (including the Iglesia San José with its eye-popping gold altar) and great museums covering religious art and the history of the country and canal. And you can stroll on the waterfront promenade and buy a colorful cloth mola from Kuna Indians straight from the pages of National Geographic.
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