Casco Viejo - WowConstructionOverload

Casco Viejo! Where to begin... 

It's an old (we're talking 1673 old) part of Panama City that had become pretty run down until declared a World Heritage Site/prime place to charge tourists too much money for things, and now is being gentrified with an intensity that I wasn't expecting.

I wish a photograph could express the inescapable construction noise.

I have a soft spot for gritty urban scenes and a lack of respect for Disney towns, so I took more photos of the bombed-out buildings than the renovated ones, as you can see below. 

Love that visual texture

Now, there's nothing wrong with fixing up an old building; it's certainly more interesting than knocking it down and putting in a shopping mall or condos (as we would do in the US). And some of them looked great. But this:

Happy Trash!

is far more interesting to me than this:

That plastic ice cream cone is larger than my friends. And it's a trash can.
(Yes, I think my friends are more interesting than a trash can! You're missing the point)

That's my opinion, anyway.

The view ain't too bad.

So without any further ado, I present to you:

Casco Viejo

Promenade-ing it up

Someone said this building was in some movies.
Seems I was impressed enough to take a photo
but not enough to remember the movies

Creepy dark alley created by a construction barrier.

I forgot to mention they post police officers around the edges of the neighborhood to keep tourists from wandering into a very bad part of town.

I think they're going to leave this one as is, thankfully

Don't mind my taste in photography

Have I mentioned it's warm here?

Couldn't figure out what was going on with this courtyard,
but I'd definitely live there

Or here. I'd live here

A fixer-upper

Ciao!