Tuesday was another Sea Day with a formal dinner. So, as has become our habit (unfortunately) we laid around by the pool for most of the day. Keith went up and did the Basketball Shootout and I went to Trivia up in one of the lounges - and he did much better than I! We watched Tina Turner in "One Last Time" on the Lido big screen during the afternoon. It was much better than I thought it would be - not being one for musicals and such.
Late afternoon I coerced Keith into dressing up for the first time since the sailing evening dinner. We actually put on some of the good clothes we brought, went and had portraits taken, and got into line for the Anytime Seating at the dining room. We were seated with 4 other people (one of the advantages of the 'anytime' is that you sit with someone different each time so you meet many more people) and proceeded to have a great time, great food, with great people. And, as a bonus, it gave me 4 more people on board that I could say hi too! :-)
After dinner we went up to the Princess Theater and watched "Dance". Another great production by the Coral Princess Dancers. Then off to the "Movies under the Stars" where we watched 'UP' - which was animated and very, very funny.
It was another great, relaxing day aboard the Coral Princess.
Wednesday morning we found ourselves anchored outside of Puerto Amador. This island is a novelty and a whole story in itself. Ten days into our cruise, we are still on the Pacific side of the trip. It seems as though we should have been clear to the south pole in this many days - fun days, relaxing days, but jeez, it seems as tho' we are moving rather slow!!!
The faraway Panama City skyline behind Keith. He is on Deck 14 just outside the Solarium that housed the covered 'adult' swimming pool.
The same skyline from a deck closer to the middle of the ship.
We (more like I) booked a tour for Panama City. I didn't figure I'd ever go this particular route again and the whole Panama Canal history is very interesting to me. I was convinced that this city would be like the picures I've seen over the years in history books. I don't know why I don't think that any city except for US city's would be modern, with modern skylines, and with all the modern conveniences... but it never ceases to amaze me that we can call city's with skylines like this '3rd world' or un-industrialized. So I have gotten quite the wake up call on this holiday. (Did you know that 'holiday' is what we call what we used to call vacations but now that we live on vacation, we have to call it a holiday? News to me but made perfect sense!!)
So above you see the skyline, below you see pictures of the history, the ruins, the narrow streets that reminded me of downtown New Orleans, the individuality and charm that Panama City hold for the visitor.
The ruines of a Church
The Panama Tree that is growing in the middle of what used to be a nunnery.
A narrow street that had bare-ly clad 'ladies' lounging on the 2nd story balconies. This was a 'drive by' not a slow down and look.
The traffic was horrendous. There is only 1 main road between the 3 parts of Panama. The New City, the Old City, and Puerto Amador. We tendered in to Puerto Amador, caught out bus and were almost totally over the causeway when a call came to our guide that we had to return to the docks and pick up several that had booked morning and afternoon tours - and missed the bus. This so totally annoyed one very verbal man to the point that he got off of the bus and demanded a refund. Turns out that he didn't pay for the tour anyhow - his companions had - so his demands were not met to his IMMEDIATE satisfaction! If I get that intolerant of the rest of the human race - please - someone - just shoot me!!
So, new passengers in tow, we headed off again. Our guide for this tour was Ryhan. He was a charming young man who started off with a humorous story regarding the Panamanian way of life. He was born Ryan and at some point had to register for something or another with the government of Panama. When whatever ID card that he had registered for came back as Ryhan - he contacted the government. After going in many, many circles trying to fix this issue, he was finally told.... the government does not make mistakes. His name was now spelled correctly. It was them that had been spelling it wrong all this time. And it well described the seeming way of life there. We passed dozens of high rises that were in progress at one time - but no longer. Just sitting there - rotting. Cinderblocks stacked waiting for someone to come lay them - with vegetation growing because they had been there for so long. Just a complete shame. Made me remember that the economy crisis didn't just affect the US - and that the US has so MUCH influence over so many other country's economies that when ours suffers, thiers collapses.
Anyhow, off of my soapbox, and on to the tour. We visited a museum, saw many, many Christmas decorations, did a drive by to Manuel Noriega's home and the place where he holed up until he was ready to surrender himself, went and visited many, many ruins, the historic old town, one of the oldest still-running Churches in Panama, and soooo many other places, with so much detail that I don't even remember it all.
We got very little history on the Canal itself other than the actual procedure for requesting use. To use the Panama Canal - there must be a request - accompanied by a direct wire transfer to transverse it. If the 'ship' waits until arrival at the entrance - they have to have cash money and then wait their turn. Some ships wait for days for thier turn. The harbor was full of large ships and small boats, and some very impressive yachts waiting to go from the Pacific to the Carribean.
Ryhan kept talking about the jets going thru the Canal and the cost differences for them. I was so very confused.... then the light bulb came on.... he was saying yachts. I don't know why it took so many hours to figure out what he was saying - but figure it out I did. And when I did - most of what he had been saying finally made some sense to me.
Another thing I tried - a new food item - pinapple/mango milkshake. About 16 or so ounces - $1.20 American. And the best $1.20 I ever spent too. It was the perfect thing to cool and sooth after the hot and humid walk!
Kieth didn't feel up to doing most of the walks - so he hung out in the AC'd bus and waited for us to do our wanderings. I pal'd up with Adam and Christina (the ship's shopping guide and his wife) and we had quite the blast. They are very, very friendly people. He from Australia and she from Romania. A really cute couple - and I was glad of thier company.
So, hot, sticky, and sweaty, we returned to the tender dock and got into the amazingly swift moving like to go back to our 'home on water'.
We had our dinner in the ever-ready Horizon Court Buffet and headed over to the Universe Lounge to watch Adrian Zmed...in Concert. He used to be on T.J. Hooker with William Shatner as well as many other popular shows and movies. He is a year older than I am - and during his show he came through our aisle - and we got to shake hands with him!
By the time his show was over - it was beyond bedtime and we (or at least I) wanted to be up for the Panama Canal. Rumor has it that the Canal pilot will board about 5 am - and then as soon as we get permission - we will go thru one of the worlds greatest engineering feats - and it's over 100 years old!!!
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