PANAMA AFTER NORIEGA

                         Some of Panama's Changes 

            How can Panama be only 13 years old if Columbus discovered it in 1502, and Old Town was established in 1519?

            I learned on a recent trip to this Latin American country that Panamanians consider the country wholly free and  independent only from the time when the canal was turned over to them in December 1999. Being such a young country many say the population is searching for a national identity.

            In 1997, soon after Noriega was deposed and arrested, Panama City had 1400 hotel rooms. Today there are over 15,000 rooms and many more on the drawing board.  National and global chains started building hotels a couple of years ago. International visitors increase every year and are approaching a million annually.

            The economy has not only expanded, it has exploded. The canal is undergoing a 5 billion dollar expansion that will double its capacity. Wealthy Americans and South Americans are buying second and retirement homes. Some things are moving a little more slowly. Slums are slowly being removed and replaced with high-rise apartment buildings. People are buying old buildings and renovating them for affordable housing, often getting youth off the streets to fill jobs while teaching them skills.

            Proper addresses are still difficult to find; people still refer to the old XYZ building on the corner, then turn right for a block and a half and at the big tree turn left. You get the picture. There are almost no street signs.

            Traffic grid-lock is a 24/7 problem, although a new two-billion dollar subway system is due to open soon and should alleviate some of that problem. In contrast sidewalk disrepair is common and reminded me a lot of a similar situation in Cuba. It is wise to watch your step!

            Old 16^th century ruins, the result of Henry Morgan’s rampage, are still visible and visitable, standing in contrast to a forest of green, blue, yellow skyscrapers. In Panama City a hundred skyscrapers are completed and another 150 are under construction with still more on the drawing board.

            A new museum has opened. The first international film festival took place last year, and the 10-year old Panama Jazz Festival is going strong. The first micro-brewery is a year old.

            Petty crime and poverty still exist and probably always will to some degree, as it does in most large cities. Old Spanish Colonial Casco Viejo is quaint with its newly cobbled streets, plazas and rum bars. Within its 40 blocks, on the far end of Panama City, there are 7 squares, 6 churches, including the San Jose Church with its golden altar, and a multitude of new restaurants. The area is becoming a popular tourist draw.

            Panama is not a culture built around the dining table. But the old adage of the food being starchy, fried and basic is slowly changing, and will continue to get better as chefs have better access to better ingredients.

            The canal has been the attraction in the past. It is a long full day transit all the way through the canal. Today many large ships enter on the Atlantic side, go through two locks into Lake Gatun and then turn around to exit as they entered. If you want to make the full transit read the literature carefully!

            Today Panama is trying to change and make the once ho-hum destination into a world class metropolis and a major leisure destination, and it appears to be well on its way of reaching that goal.

This is a general overview of Panama City so more detailed posts will follow in the weeks ahead.

GHENT, BELGIUM

                                              A Really Old City 

            Ghent is also spelled Gent. Ghent is a Celtic word meaning confluence of two rivers. We met our local guide at St. James Church which is made of limestone and dates to the 1200s. Before 1400, stone was imported.

      Ghent is a charming Flemish city where winters are mild and the streets aren't overrun with tourists. Belgium’s fourth largest city is one of the country’s oldest. City PR information says: Ghent is often over-shadowed by Bruges and Antwerp, but it actually combines the best elements of both its brasher neighbors  with more historic sites than Antwerp, and better eating and drinking options than Bruges. We didn’t really agree with this statement as we loved Bruges and certainly did not find it brash!

Known as the Jewel of Flanders, the city has a rich history with many medieval and renaissance buildings. From the 11^th century the city reigned as the textile capitol of the world and  was more populous and wealthier than London for several centuries.

            Under Spanish rule the people rebelled against Charles V protesting against taxes. He punished the city by making the nobles parade in front of him wearing a noose, called a stroppendrager, around their necks. 

The city's medieval core is cradled within a loop of the River Leie, which surrounds old town like a moat. The restored area is made for strolling and biking. To the north is Patershol where many of Ghent's best restaurants are located. To the south is the Kunstenkwartier, the cultural quarter and congregating area for most of Ghent's 50,000 college students. The hub of this area is the Boekentoren, the stark art deco tower of the university library. To the east, the red light district around Brabantdam has been renovated, now containing some stylish bars and cafés, though it's still a bit seedy after dark.

Ghent has managed to preserve its medieval power while keeping up with the times. The city center alone is a showcase of medieval Flemish wealth and commercial success. Modern Ghent certainly cannot be overlooked. The city has an important harbor, thanks to the Ghent-Terneuzen canal which allows sea-going vessels to bring their products to the city and its industrial hinterland.

The city has many small squares and two large ones. Southern French monks arrived in the 600s and were the source of the written word.

The Romanesque architecture is 1000 years old. The political center is at a large 1000-year-old square where Friday markets were and still are held. There was a large statue in the center of the square which  is surrounded by guild houses.

Ghent is also the flower city of Belgium. Flower growers from the region around Ghent sell beautiful begonias and azaleas all over the world.

The best views across the city are from the battlements of Gravensteen at Sint-Veerleplein. Built in 1180, this knights-in-armor castle has been used as a mint, cotton mill, courthouse and jail. Restored in the 19th century, its museum, chronicles the city’s checkered past, and even has a gruesome torture chamber. The counts of Flanders wielded their power from Ghent's 12th-century castle in the centre of town. Rising up out of the water, its square-cut towers and ramparts are the makings of storybooks.

AUSTRALIA'S GHAN TRAIN

                                     An Interesting Night

We took the Ghan train from Adelaide for a 970-mile overnight ride through the outback to Alice Springs. Waiting to board the train we watched all the windows being cleaned so we’d have nice clear views. Afghani camel trains, carrying supplies, made the long 970-mile trek between the two cities for many years, thus the name Ghan Train. A paved road did not exist until 1980.

We were delighted to learn that only one of us was booked into a double sleeper cabin. That meant that neither of us had to climb up into the top bunk and it gave us a lot more room. Our cabins were located just about midway from the bathrooms on either end of the train.

The train traveled over level ground in the center of the country. After the wheat fields of the Flinders Range, it was flat expanses of salt bush. Flat, flat, flat!

We bought a bottle of wine before boarding the train. Since we left Adelaide very late afternoon, we decided to open the wine before dinner. I have to tell you it was the first and last time I ever drank wine out of a Styrofoam cup---but it was all we had and the good Girl Scout in me said just make do!

Dinner on the train was good, and served in style.

     The evening on the train was a good time to learn a bit more about the land Down Under. We agreed Australia is a land of awesome natural wonders, vibrant contrasts, friendly people, sophisticated cities, exotic and unique wildlife and has a short but interesting history as a nation.

The county’s bush ballads and folk tales tell the story of the perseverance of farmhands, miners, and sheep shearers to build a nation in a challenging environment. It is the only nation in the world that covers an entire continent, and is the world’s sixth largest country in land area. It is the flattest, smallest and second driest continent (after Antarctica).

            Most of the train ride took place while we were sleeping, but I wager we missed little interesting scenery. Only an overnight bag was allowed on the train as all other luggage was put in a separate train car.

            We had breakfast on the train and arrived in Alice Springs 9:40 AM. Luggage was off loaded in a timely manner and we were actually at our motel at 10 AM.

            Alice Springs is small and the motel was exactly that, although clean and adequate. There was little choice in accommodations, but we knew we’d be back in wonderful small boutique hotels in a couple of days.

            The city was originally named Stuart after an explorer, but was renamed Alice Springs after Alice Todd, the wife of the telegraph station building project foreman. In 1939 the population was 700, today it is 26,000 give or take, and it is the center for Aboriginal artworks, and base camp for Outback travelers.

            Alice Springs started out as a cattle town, and as late as the 1970s the city still had a Wild West image. It now survives on the tourist trade. In the Northern Territory, twice the size of Texas, the 178,000 people are outnumbered by sheep and rivaled by kangaroos, dingoes and Afghan camels. There were at the time of my visit  1600 Americans living in Alice Springs, most involved in the NASA tracking station at Pine Gap.  Aborigines make up 20% of the city’s population.

TRIVIA

From Germany

Perfect climate and conditions abound along most of the Danube  for grape growing The area is hilly leading down to the river. It was strange to see vineyards planted in horizontal rows rather than vertical ones. It was explained that it makes picking the grapes easier for the girls and for the men to carry the full baskets of grapes to the trucks on the roads that lead through the vineyards. The vertical planting also provides for maximum sun to reach the all the leaves.

Eight ships constantly cruise the Rhine River to siphon off old oil to recycle and to keep the river clean.  What a good idea!

The Danube depends on rain fall and the river can be either too high or too low to transit. I have been grounded in each instance. There is not a thing you can do about it so go with the flow---no pun intended.

In Germany we were told that a single cross designates a church, but a cross with two crossbars designates a cathedral. Inside, the pulpit will be on the right if it is a church, on the left in a cathedral. Before people could read, monks had different floor tile designs so people would know where they were. Dom means dominate, to the highest power.

In Germany the expression tomcat means a hangover. The remedy is to eat salted fish followed by wine---so the fish can swim---From a docent with a very good sense of humor.   

Streets were crooked in medieval times because one can’t shoot around a corner. After the invention of the cannon, streets were straightened because fighting no longer took place in the streets.

Burg denotes a castle before the advent of artillery when the structure was primarily used as a fortification. Schloss refers to a castle after fortification when the structure was primarily a residence.

A good description of Rococo architecture is Baroque gone mad.

During the city walking tour of Regensburg I had kept an eye peeled for the Café Prinzess. Dating back to 1686, it is the oldest coffeehouse in Germany, and I wanted to stop there for at least a cold drink. It was a really hot day and after checking out the inside and upstairs of the café we elected to sit outside in the shade. We ordered iced coffee. Served with chocolate chip ice cream, it resembled a float rather than any iced coffee I’d ever had. It was different, but good and this ice creamaholic sure didn’t complain!

A few years later we stopped at an ice cream kiosk in Vienna one evening after dinner. I was trying to find out what the ice cream was with the tiny black flecks in it, but the language barrier was too much to cope with so thinking it was tiny bits of chocolate I bought it. A bit later the fellow behind us explained that it was opium ice cream—like from the poppies grown in Afghanistan. Then the light bulb went on in my head---I was eating poppy seed ice cream! I did get a lot of mileage out of the story though after  returning home.

SVENDBORG, DENMARK

                         A Lovely Small Danish  City

        Svendborg, a city of 43,000, was founded in the 11^th century by a Danish king. Much of the décor reflects its maritime history as one-half of all Danish ships were  built here. Once a major seaport, shipping today plays only a minor role, however over 300 ships are registered in Denmark. In the late 1800s, 593 people had shares in ships that sailed the world producing much wealth.

        A local guide told us, “There is almost zero tide in the southern part of Denmark, and  strangely enough, wind affects the tide most in Svendborg. We do not have the normal six hour tide; there are long spells when the wind does not create any tide for days.” An interesting phenomenon!

      Good clay in the area produced a brick-making industry in 1160. Nearly all of the buildings in the country are brick or half brick and wood, with the wood making diagonal designs which are known everywhere as uniquely Danish.

        Svendborg, like most ancient cities, was walled until 1535. A 1749 fire   convinced people that tile roofs were a better choice than the picturesque thatched ones. Thatched roofs are expensive to build and to insure, but it is a tradition many wish to maintain especially in the countryside’s small villages.

           Brothels were common when Svendborg was a major shipping harbor. They were done away with in 1902 and prostitution was declared illegal in 1907. In 1996 prostitution was again declared legal in Svendborg.

         St. Michael’s church, of Roman architecture, is one of the oldest in the country. Now below street level, the large church was beautiful in its simplicity. The pulpit dated to 1585 and the Lutheran bell to 1504. The bell tower was added in the 15^th century. St. Michael is the patron saint of sailors so ship models hang from the church ceilings ---- a common practice in Denmark churches.

        The well in the city center has been restored, but no longer used as the water is brackish. The water was once used to make local beer. The tide, when there is one, is reflected in the well. The water now is polluted with lead, cadmium, and mercury.

         We found neither A/C nor window screens. We left our windows open in the hotel at night but never had a bug problem. When eating outside sometimes we had to fight the bees for our food. They were plentiful and everywhere. They were elongated kind of skinny little devils. No one ever got stung though.

         Although the number of farms has decreased, the farms have become bigger and ¾ of the country is farmland. Wheat is a major crop. Kellogg’s is everywhere, we peddled by many many of their fields. Sugar beets and corn follow wheat as major crops. Farms, including the main house and barns are built  U shaped with a central court. Quite different from our farms.

         It is said there are twice as many pigs in Denmark as people. Danish ham is a big export item. Fishing, especially for herring, is also big. The national drink is beer. Tuborg and Carlsborg are well known. There are many local beers.

       I’ve visited Denmark several times and biked a good part of it over several islands. It is a delightful country with friendly people, and I have many fond memories.

A BIT ABOUT PERFUME

                          The Making of the Scent

Grasse is a sheltered retreat of pink villas and swaying palm trees in the alluring Cote d'Azur region of France. The gentle climate, rich soil, and a cradle of mountains protecting it from the north wind make Grasse ideal for flower production nearly year-round. We had a pleasant ride over the French countryside on RN 85 (national road) which happened to be the same route Napoleon took in 1815 enroute to Waterloo. 

This small village used to be known for leather tanning---and the aromas the process created. Ladies loved their leather gloves, but after awhile the aromas got a bit overwhelming, so they made little sachets of flower pedals to put inside their gloves.  Eventually the village moved from tanning into the perfume business, and now the village is home to 40 perfumeries, three of which are quite large.

At one of the larger perfumeries an English guide gave us the history of and explained the perfume process. It was interesting to learn about nose school. Located in Paris it takes three years plus an additional seven years of apprenticeship to become a nose. There are only 1000 in the world, and most all of them freelance. A nose can detect 3000 different scents!  When someone wants to create a perfume, he must hire a nose. Does that sound funny or what!

A surprise to all of us was to learn that perfume should be kept in a dark bottle or place, and if not after a year it will change color and aroma. I can neither confirm nor deny this gem of information as I have bought many a clear bottle of perfume and kept it a long time without any noticeable change of either color or scent. Maybe I could never be a nose, but my eyesight is pretty good.

 Perfumes are blends of different scents. Flowers, leaves and roots all can be used to extract the scent. Sources are imported from all over the world. In 1921 Chanel #5 was the first blended perfume.

The company copyrights the scent and renews that copyright every five years. Water and ingredients are distilled. Nothing is wasted; anything the perfumery cannot use is sold to companies to scent wipes, diapers, tissues, dryer sheets etc. Scents used to be derived from pressing ingredients with fat, but that process stopped in 1970 and now all perfumes are distilled.

ANTWERP, BELGIUM

                                            City Highlights
         Legend says that Antwerp comes from the Dutch "hand werpen" meaning "hand thrown". The story has it that a mean and nasty giant controlled the river traffic, demanding exorbitant tolls. Those who refused to pay had one hand cut off.  But one day, a young and brave Roman soldier named Silvius Brabo managed to kill the giant. He cut the giant's hand off and threw it in the Scheldt River, giving the city its name. Legends are fun but the name more probably comes from the word ‘aanwerp’ (alluvial mound’), which describes the first settlement's geographical feature. 

The Scheldt River, about 50-feet deep, is a tidal river that connects to the North Sea. The modern city is on one side of the river and the historic ancient city  on the other side. No bridges cross the river. Centuries ago the enemy was on the other side and why would you want to give them easy access? Then the French and German empires came along. As the city grew ferries came into service and as the boat and ship traffic grew bridges would have to be very high to accommodate them. In 1933 the first tunnel was built under the river. Later bike and pedestrian tunnels were built. The tunnels are 100-feet below the river.

Antwerp was inhabited as far back as Gallo-Roman times. The first fortification was built in the 7th century, but was destroyed by the Vikings in the 9th century.   In the 10th century, Antwerp became a margraviate (a border province) of the Holy Roman Empire---the Scheldt River marked the border with the County of Flanders, which belonged to the Kingdom of France.

 The city was annexed to the Duchy of Brabant, and by the mid-14th century its seaport and wool market made it Western Europe's leading center for trade and finance. In 1356 Antwerp became part of the County of Flanders and lost many of its privileges to Bruges benefit.  However, in the 15th century, Antwerp's economy boomed again turning it into a world-class metropolis.

The port of Antwerp is the most inland seaport and the second largest port in Europe, after Rotterdam. Belgian exports transit through the Flemish city. Antwerp is also the world's second petrochemical port, after Houston, Texas. Half of the world's top 20 chemical companies have offices in Antwerp.

The city received much damage during both WW I and II, but today remains a city with historical architecture dating back to the 16^th century. In 1993, Antwerp was nominated Cultural Capital of Europe. In 1920, Antwerp hosted the sixth Summer Olympic Games.

The city has been a bastion of Flemish nationalism for decades. Like Amsterdam, Antwerp is one of the world’s diamond trading centers. About 85% of the world's rough diamonds and half of the polished diamonds are negotiated in the city.

            The castle is known as the Steen, literally meaning stone, so called because when it was built in 1200-1235 most buildings were made of wood.   Charles V revamped the castle in 1520.  The statue in front of the castle gate was once endowed as a conspicuous virile male, but the prude 17th century Jesuits altered the statue to reflect their liking.

            Old Town was built around the Town Square (Grote Markt) as was the  common practice at that time. The magnificent Guild houses are richly decorated with golden statues, The Stadhuis (town hall) completed in 1564 was built in Renaissance style, with a touch of Flemish Gothic to blend  with the surrounding buildings.   In the middle of the square stands an 1887 statue of Brabo, the legendary slayer of the giant.  The water in the fountain is recycled but not drinkable.

We walked through an alley to see the old meat market and some new city housing as well as part of the old city wall.

The busiest shopping street in Antwerp is known as the 'Meir'. In 1531, a New Stock Exchange was built on the Meir and was the first building in the world designed as a stock and a trade exchange. After an 1858 fire it was reconstructed in Neo-Gothic style. Lined with historic buildings, but at the western end of the Meir is the Art-Deco tower building (Torengebouw), which was Europe's first skyscraper when completed in 1932. It just seems so out of place among all the ancient buildings. Screening covers statuary on the building façades to protect them from pigeons.

The 17^th century artist Peter Paul Rubens lived in Antwerp from 1616 to 1640 in a Renaissance-Baroque house and. painted most of his masterpieces here. He received his guests and patrons at his home in the heart of the city. Subsequent occupants altered the home, but it was restored to its original state after the City of Antwerp purchased it in 1937.

The Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady with its impressive 134-foot high tower dominates the square. It is the highest tower in the low lands. A chapel has existed at the location of the cathedral since the 12th century, and the current structure was built between 1352 to 1481.  Most of the original furniture was destroyed or plundered by the Spaniards or the French, The church contains two Rubens paintings: The Descent from the Cross’ and the Elevation of the Cross.  Contrary to most churches in Belgium, or Europe, this cathedral charges an admission fee.

We received a detailed pamphlet telling us about all the paintings. Several other artists’ works were also displayed. The museum was closed and under renovation so many painting had been moved to the church. The church had lovely brilliant stained glass windows on one side only.  A modern stained glass piece was over the door leading to the gift shop.

Antwerp is an easy city to walk and our city tour was a long and interesting one.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

                                           A Full Morning

         Zurich is the Switzerland’s largest city with 360,000 inhabitants, but this figure swells to a million when the surrounding areas are included. Zurich is a city of many faces; educational with the university and tech schools, and banking, industrial, and financial with the banks and stock exchange. The Limmat River running through the city divides it into almost two equal parts.

   In 1100 the Grossmunster (large church) was started, but it took one hundred years to complete. It is a major church in the city and is the site of the beginning of the Reformation movement. The style is Romanesque

In the old city one of the finest facades is the Fraumunster. This church contains stain glass windows by the famous artist Chagall. The church’s christening font dates to 1598 and the pulpit to 1853. In the cellar (crypt) are old paintings from the 1500s, but they are in poor condition and in much need of restoration. A large bronze statue of Charlemagne looks after the paintings. A huge 1950 bronze plated door depicting many bible scenes including the Ten Commandments and the Lord ’s Prayer makes for a spectacular entrance to the church.

         The city is full of towers and old churches. Steeples can be seen everywhere. St. Peter’s church tower boasts the largest clock face in the world. It is over 8 meters (26’) in diameter!

         When the city walking tour was over we strolled down the famous Bahnhofstrasse, a wide boulevard which runs from the train station about 1½ kilometers to the edge of Lake Zurich. The wide sidewalks allow for lots of window shopping in the many high price specialty shops. Sidewalk cafes with dining tables spilling outside are nestled between the shops.

To be certain to be in the train station on time to catch our train we opted to eat a late lunch there. Since I mostly see the inside of European airports I’m not too familiar with train stations. But, this one was like one I’ve never seen! Both the upper and lower levels are lined with shops, cafes, and kiosks.

On the lower level is a very clean restroom (WC or water closet). After depositing 1½ francs in the turn-style one can buy any toilet article one might need including shampoo. There are nice private showering facilities. The sink faucets produced both cold and hot running water. It was a restroom to be proud of. Also on the lower level were hundreds of lockers in different sizes.(I wonder if these remain today in our terrorist oriented world?)

         In the center of the upper level stands the equivalent of a farmer’s market with just about anything one might desire, vegetables, sausage, cheese, tea, flowers, and the list goes on. Since the city was hosting the first Cow Parade, cows even were suspended from the high ceiling as well as one rather fat ugly colorful maiden with gold wings.

         We chose a large restaurant for lunch with a table outside so we could people watch. Our ham was a large oval piece of spam-like meat and a potato salad, which was really sliced cooked potato slathered and swimming in mayonnaise but the ice tea was great.

         It was a full interesting morning on a warm sunny day. Of course it whet my appetite to return another day, which I did a few years later.