Casco Viejo – Casco Antiguo – Panama

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Holidays always leave me as crushed as a soda can after being hit by a truck… twice (you know: going forward and then back!).  So finally I can post about our party at Las Clementinas in Casco Viejo and upload some interesting photos.

First of all, let`s just make a big disclosure: Casco Viejo is a loud place during holidays.  Normally on Fridays you can hear music in more than one corner, but specially during New Year they take special pride to embrace certain Panamanian traditions such as exploding those small “bombitas” (little bombs) in the streets.  Full belts of bombitas, noise and smoke all over. But the best is the construction of the “dolls”.

In fact, if you are in Panama during Año Nuevo, and you happen to drive towards the countryside, you`ll see hundreds of life-size dolls in different “everyday” poses by the highway.  From people you hate to people you admire, from dictators to your favorite uncle, in New Year you get the pleasure of exploding them all just for the fun of the ear deafening noise. Somehow I think this is our Chinese cultural influence…

So at Calle 2nda the kids built a doll of one of their uncles:

Usual suspects here:

Then we went to Las Clementinas to enjoy the fireworks.  For those who were not there, let`s try to describe it.  You know, Panamanians are not famous for keeping an exact sense of time.  Unlike the British or German, we like “keeping it loose” and add an “ish” to the hour. Well, about 10 or 15 minutes before time, the “storm” started.  Also, let`s point out we don`t believe in organized anything, unless it is Carnival.  So our firework show isn`t like this pompous or orchestrated thing where stuff is choreographed into rivers of light rushing into the sky… no no no…. we are an eclectic bunch and we love it.

So, Calidonia and Plaza 5 de Mayo claimed the first fireworks of the night (regardless it was not even close to midnight) and after them,  Chorrillo started setting out theirs. Finally the official midgnight countdown came and the bay sent their own, the Balboa Yatch Club (very nice ones!) and two sets in Casco Viejo: Plaza Bolivar and Plaza Catedral.

From Las Clementinas roof terrace Panama City looked like being bombed. From ever

ywhere you could see beautiful light flowers exploding into the night.

After the party, we headed with some friends to Canal House and decided to close our evening with a Caribbean and Panama Rum Tasting involving ten different rums .  Being already “in tune” with the activity, we decided to actually take it serious .  It was to be a blind tasting (only the person pouring it knew which one was which) and we were to grade them from 1 to 10 in a chart.  We all sipped the first round and made comments. Of course, on some of them we needed to “re confirm” our thoughts (thoughts?) so we kept doing rounds “just to make sure”.  After all, it was an international competition and participants needed to “get it right”.

Well… our conclusion basically was: all of them were good. But of course, Zacapa (Guatemala) took the lead, very close by Panamanian rum Abuelo and by Appleton rum.  I`m not much of a rum drinker myself, so I`m posting my chart for you to get a laugh at: