Panamanian Good Friday
Yesterday, Jan 9th, was a Panamanian National day of mourning known as martyrs day. It commemorates protests in 1964 over the sovereignty of the canal zone. This was an area that was essentially American territory until 1999 and anyone born there was an American citizen. Interesting fact is that John McCain, one time presidential nominee, was born there. They are known as ‘zonians’. It’s interesting part of American history I was not aware of. Anyway, the protests started after an incident with the Panamanian flag and caused serious riots and many deaths. The protests led to the treaty in 1977 which agreed to return the canal zone to Panama on 31/Dec/1999. Because this was a holiday day there were not many places open yesterday and no alcohol is allowed to be sold so the bars are closed. It was like good Friday at home 😁 but not to worry, we had an emergency supply of Panamas finest rum in our hotel room so we were prepared for the eventuality 🍹🍷🍸
Excursion for Churros
Churros are a fried pastry that are eaten mostly in Spain but also parts of Latin America. We had them in Spain before but read that they are good in Panama also and there was one place that was known for them so we went off on a wander to find it. It was not too far away, about 20 minute walk, but in Panama with the hot humid weather it was a struggle. I went all out and got the Churros with ice cream and coffee. Top notch. You can dip them in your coffee or chocolate. Like a fancy rich tea 😀 Not sure why they have not caught on in Ireland. Think they would go great with tea ☕🍵
Hands of Stone
On our wander around we came across a statue of Mr Roberto Duran. One of the greatest and toughest boxers of all time. I just checked Wikipedia and he won titles in four separate weights. I didn’t even think it was that many. Wow 🥊I read four kings a few years ago about Duran, Hagler, Leonard and Hearns. Great book and great era in boxing so it was great to happen across the statue. Incidentally they are making a film about Duran starting Robert DeNiro which should be out soon I think.
Tres Leches Cake
Jennifer introduced me to Tres leches cake in Texas a while back and I have been on the look out for it since. It’s popular in central and south America and I have found it difficult to get elsewhere. It’s a cake that’s drowned in three types of milk (not just any milk, but double cream and condensed milk) I think it is the most sugar you can squeeze into a cake without breaking the laws of physics. You just can’t get more in there. It will create a black hole or something and collapse in on itself due to the gravity of its own sugar content 🍬🍬🍰🍥🎂 Anyway, we went for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and it was on the menu so I had to try it. The restaurant was a steak house and I wanted to try the local Panamanian steak. The good thing about restaurants here is that you get really good mojitos or margaritas most places since rum and tequila are so popular. The other good thing is they don’t measure the spirits here⛽😲🍹 so they are pretty powerful. So I went for medium Panamanian fillet steak and Jennifer went for fish. Jennifer said the fish was dekuviiys and I was very impressed with the quality of their steak. Judge for yourselves by the pictures…
And the tres Leches cake did not disappoint. I am not sure how many miles I would need to run to work off the calories but whatever it is it would be with it 🏃👟
