You just have a few days... don´t miss this great play in Anita Villalaz Teather until May 30th.

Four new hotels in Panama from the Hilton chain, tourism grows 6.4% and banking system announces that they won´t be needing the credit incentive package after all... too much optimism? is this the beginning of recovery?

Yesterday, I sneaked into San Francisco de Asis Church, as someone sent me a tip that they where providing maintenance to the tower. Fabulous! the views from there are unbelievable. Here a small show of my best pictures!

Casco Antiguo Panama
Casco Viejo Panama

Starting this week on May 21th until June 7th on La Casona you will be able to enjoy the beauty of art with the Exposition named "Escaramujo y el Angel en la Ciudad" by Fernanda Vargas and King Chay.

 

With "The Angel in the City" he wants to express how the artist can be in either place at the same time, without the need to be physically there.

With "Escaramujo, El Universo es mi Casa" and the metaphor of Silvio Rodriguez she realized that the universe is her home and that She is a citizen in the world. The Escaramujo is her way to live the moment, a creation, something that constantly change.

     "The Angel in the City"   

 

 "Escaramujo, El Universo es mi Casa"

 

King Chay and Fernanda Vargas

Together they show their art, in the same place and at the same time. King Chay, in his city is Fernanda´s Angel; and Fernanda is the Escaramujo, she lead us to believe that we all are citizens of the Universe.

The Iglesia de la Merced was built in 1680 and is one of the oldest churches in Casco Antiguo.For the last eight months, its external chapel has been under restoration by the architect Raul Murillo.

By means of Executive Decree No. 26 of March 2, 2009, the Government of Panama significantly reduced from US$615,000 to US$260,000 the bank time deposit at the National Bank of Panama required to qualify for a Second Passport.

Welcome to the first Casco Viejo Professional Golf Tournament! Yesterday, a group of Casconians had the most original of weekends.

Drums and murga songs ... come quick! San Pancracio is here...

For such a small country, Panama has been known internationally by legends such as Roberto Duran (boxing), Lafitte Pincay (horse riding), Mariano Rivera (Yankees) and more recently Irving Saladino who won the first gold medal at an Olimpic Game for the country ever. Their common denominators have not only been the country where they where born in (Panama) but the fact that most of them come from very humble origins. Many of them lived at some stage in Casco Viejo.

The Music Festival Alfredo Saint Malo is coming! This year will be held from May 28th to June 7th in Casco Viejo. See the events calendar here

By Friday, Plaza Catedral (known also as Plaza Independencia) had "new residents"... tents started to pop out, artists and hippies Woodstock style camped along with the Naso to support their cause. By Sunday, they had a small concert organized taking advantage that the Flea Market was going on.

The king is coming! The naso tribe has been camping for a while now at Plaza Catedral asking for a hearing with the President to talk about their relocation. The government is building a hydroelectric plant for which they have to be relocated... something that somehow they still haven´t figured out. So their king, Valentin Santana is coming this sunday to push the issue and create awareness on their cause.

This past month, we have seen two iconic cases gone to the papers provoking scandal among all who care and love our Cathedral Plaza: the overbuilding of PH Independencia and the falling of Hotel Central´s lateral calicanto wall. On both cases, the chapter of ICOMOS in Panama (a technical advisor to the UNESCO) has gone out to demand attention and to make sure political corruption won´t be an obstacle in the process.

Casco Viejo For Rent, updated list of apartments for rent in Casco Antiguo and commercial space

Weekend is coming! here are the upcoming eco adventures and cultural events.