Word: panamas
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...been nine years since the Panama Canal was returned to sole Panamanian rule following almost a century of U.S. control. Since that time, Panama - a slim slice of a nation wedged between the Pacific and the Caribbean - has quietly emerged as Central America's must-discover hidden gem. And no wonder. With its mix of the eco (dense tropical rain forests), urban (a Miami-like skyline) and aquatic (crystalline diving sites), Panama is an all-in-one destination where the dollar is legal tender - and still manages to go a long...
Nowhere does it stretch further than in the Casco Viejo, Panama City's quaint, compact, colonial-era Old Town. Dating from the early-16th century and surrounded on three sides by the Pacific, the Casco - as it is affectionately known by locals - was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 and served as the backdrop for much of the action in the latest James Bond film Quantum of Solace. The Casco's appeal is clear: grand cathedrals, fountain-filled plazas, timeworn cobblestone streets, even a bullet-scarred Presidential palace, which was attacked during the 1989 U.S. invasion...
...with a sunset stroll along the promenade on the Pacific to see Panama both old (Las Bovedas, a 17th century Spanish fort) and new (Frank Gehry's Museum of Biodiversity, which is still under construction but rising rapidly) before heading to the recently opened Pony Club (www.limoncillo.com) for dinner. Panamanian chef Clara Icaza has worked at Manhattan hot spot Aquavit, and her nuevo-Panamanian menu includes signature dishes such as Turkolimano (grilled jumbo prawns, tomato and feta with lemon-ouzo vinaigrette) and squid risotto in a broth of octopus and roasted red pepper, all served in a pale-wood dining...
...diversity of peoples who worked on the Canal: "Although most [non white-American] employees came from the Caribbean, many traveled to the Canal Zone from southern Europe, from India and from other parts of Latin America. The 1912 census included as employees of the [Isthmian Canal Commission] or the Panama Railroad one thousand Panamanians, eight hundred Italians, thirteen hundred Greeks, thirty-five hundred Spaniards, and smaller numbers of East Indians, Portuguese, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Mexicans, Hondurans, Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans...
Building the Panama Canal involved more than the moving of great steam-powered digging machines. The most difficult task was quickly establishing what amounted to a brand new nation. Cities had to be built, diseases had to be eradicated, and thousands upon thousands of workers had to be shipped in, and housed, and fed, and entertained, and jailed, and cared for, and buried when that caring for failed. Greene sees the Canal Zone as a melting pot whose constituent pieces never quite came together; her book explores the racial and economic conflicts that arose as a result...