New Years Eve

After seeing the Old City ("Casco Antiguo") last year I promised myself that we would be there for the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve. Now for starters, I generally don't care a bit about New Years Eve so this was totally out of character for me. I also didn't really do any research about it: For all I knew the place could be a ghost town. But I didn't think so. We actually almost blew it. We were slow getting out the door and then had trouble getting a taxi from Gamboa into the City.We had dinner reservations for 9:00 pm at Madrigal, this lovely restaurant right in the center of Casco Antiguo. We got there at ten of 10:00, just in time for the last seating for the Prixe-fixe dinner. Appetizer was seafood dim sum and a cake of eggplant paste in hoison sauce, followed by lentil soup. This was followed by a dish of brown rice and vegetables and then the entrees: mixed seafood in tomato "syroup" and a beef burgiognon. Desert was a sampler of chocolate mousse, ice cream and a banana-rum torte. We finished our meal and made it down the side streets, past the beautiful parks down to the seawall just as midnight struck and all hell broke loose. These folks know how to throw a party...or a revolution...or both! New Years Eve in Old Panama City!

 

 

 

Suffice to say, it did not disappoint. Wishing all who read this a happy, prosperous and serene 2017.