Biomuseo & Casco Viejo

Today we headed back into Panama City with Nathalie (our neighbour) to check out the new museum which just opened before Christmas.  The architure of the building is very unique and it is painted many bright colors depicting the colors of Panama.  And so the story begins...

The Biomuseo tells the story of the rise of the Isthmus of Panama and how it changed the climate and the biodiversity of the whole planet.  This is the first building designed by Frank Gehry (Canadian) in Latin America.  The architure and colors truly explain the wonderful biological diversity of Panama.  When you explore the 1st gallery you will see images of colourful animals and plants from Panama, then in a 30 ft high room with 10 screens surrounding you watchthe natural wonders on 3D, and carring on from there walk through sculptures that illustrate the rise of the Isthmus and how this changed the global climate and the impact it had on all living things.  This gives you a much better understanding.  Another gallery showcases the relationship between human culture and natural landscapes in Panama from the 1st arrivals 15,000 years ago to the present.  The 3rd gallery is not complete as they are expecting it to cost 9 million.  When completed there will be 2 aquariums with live aquatic life in each, one from the Pacific Ocean and the other from the Carribean Sea.  This should be spectacular.  There are also plans for a Botanical Park outside along the waterfront (Pacific Ocean) close to the entrance of the canal.

From here we drove to Casco Viejo, Nathalie giving Fred good directions so he was able to get around very well.  It was very busy there and it took us awhile to find a parking spot.  We had a very nice lunch and then Nathalie treated us to a delicious ice cream cone.  After that we went wondering to see the sights.

Walking on Paseo de las B'ovedas, a walkway running along the top of the sea wall built by the Spaniards to protect the city.  From here you can see the skyline of Panama City.

Below the wall is Plaza de Francis where large stone tablets tell the story of the construction of the canal.  The plaza is dedicated to the memory of the 22,000 workers,mostly French who lost their life trying to create the canal.

We carried on passing many sights, such as different plazas and churches till we reached our car.  Many of the buildings  in this area are under construction and they are relocating the people that lived in these builds in order to restore Casco Viejo to its original state.

We got out of the city and arrived back in Coronado.  Great day of exploring!