Blog Archives - Wandering With William

Jazz & Blues Fest

2/29/2016

Friday's afternoon venue for the Boquete Jazz and Blues Fest is a garden party at the Panamonte Hotel on the north side of Boquete. By 11:30am we have donned our garden party apparel (a.k.a. a flowered shirt for William) and begin our 30 minute walk through town. Just as we leave Valle Escondido the light mist known as bajareque begins. It varies in intensity, but think about the misters setup in Disney to cool people off as an approximation. It continues throughout our walk and the entire day.

We arrive early and are lucky to grab a table in the covered patio area of the hotel bar. Sophie and Terry join us and the six of us decide that lunch and drinks on the patio where we can clearly hear the band is a good choice over standing in the mist. The grounds of the hotel are lovely and the band is decent, but doesn't wow us.

Friday evening there is a jam session at the Sabor Restaurant just down the hill from our villa in Valle Escondido. There had been outdoor tables setup, but due to bajareque everyone crams into the restaurant. We are happy to sit on our patio and sip wine listening to the music. No cover charge. :-)

Saturday and Sunday are the main event is in the Amphitheater at Valle Escondido, 100 yards from our villa. There are food and beverage stations setup on the grass and along the road above the amphitheater. The amphitheater holds 800 people, and we are told that all tickets have been sold. The event runs from 1:30 to 7:00pm with four groups each day. Once again we are able to sit on our patio and hear perfectly. Saturday's first two groups do not impress, but Ronnie Baker Brooks and Curtis Salgado are very good. There is some humor in knowing Ronnie Baker Brooks is billed as "Chicago's own blues soul guitarist and vocalist".

Sunday starts with the Rigoberto Coba Big Brass Band, Panama's 18 piece big band. We laugh as at times they remind us of some of the groups we have heard in Ecuador - straining to remain on key. We miss Marshall Keys performance. Instead William and I choose to walk to Mike's Global Grill for lunch of a really good burger. Tommy Castro, a blues guitarist is enjoyable. The finale All Star Band, which is lead by Lee Oscar on harmonica, is quite good as the show ends after nightfall.

The profits from the festival goes to local schools to support and improve musical education and to develop musical talents. It is a worthwhile cause and a fun event.

Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival Parade

2/28/2016

We have timed our visit to coincide with the Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival. This is the 10th anniversary of the festival, which runs from Thursday through Sunday at various venue's around town.

The festival kicks off on this Thursday with a New Orleans style jazz parade. The parade starts on the grounds where the BCP Tuesday Market is held, proceeds across the bridge then around the center of town ending in the main park. It's a very small parade, but fun. There's a good mix of Panamanian's and expats in both the parade and the along the parade route.

Following the parade we are entertained with a free concert in the park. A highlight for me is a local teenager who sings the blues with one of the expat bands. This is her first time singing in public and she does a heck of a job. She reminds me a little of Elisabeth Shue in the movie Adventures in Babysitting.

el Volcan Baru

2/27/2016

From our patio at Casa Serena we can see Volcan Baru which, at 3,475 meters (11,400 feet) is the highest point in Panama. There is a 13.5 km hike up to the top of the crater along a forest road, but we are not silly enough to think about making that trek. Instead we hire a 4 wheel jeep tour for Wednesday through A1 Tours in Boquete to get us there.

We enjoy cocktails with our upstairs neighbors Terry and Sofie, have a simple dinner at Casa Serena, then head to bed early on Tuesday. As we are on our way to bed we note the clear night sky lit up by a full moon and beautiful stars.

The alarms go off at 3 am. We are lucky - the sky is still as brilliant as when we went to bed. We dress, have a quick cup of coffee then walk to the Valle Escondido restaurant to meet our driver at 4am. Alex is waiting for us in his highly modified 4x4. 20 minutes later he had driven through town and up past the coffee plantations to the start of the trail. This is part 1 of the trip - very easy on the paved roads. Alex explains that part 2 will be rough and parts 3 and 4 will be very rough.

William is seated in shot-gun while Vic, Nanci and I are cozy in the back seat with me in the middle. We all hold on. We laugh and there's some "yee-ha" calls as we get jostled about. William's head reminds us of a bobble doll. The trail has sections which are gravel, dried river bed, rocks and boulders and often the trail was just wide enough for the 4x4. At about the third kilometer Alex pauses the jeep as it is tilted going over a large rock and comments with a twinkle in his eye and in his voice "Not bad for my first trip up here, hey". Later he tells us this is his 518th drive along the trail.

There are points in the journey where the jeep is on a 35-40 degree angle. We pass by three different groups of hikers on our way up. I can't imagine hiking the trail in broad daylight much less at night. It takes us only 1 hour 25 minutes to reach the summit. Alex explains we made very good time - the ground is dry, and that sometimes the trip up takes 2 hours.

Alex explains that we can see both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. We peer out in the directions he points aided by the moonlit sky. We have some coffee and hot chocolate then break out the sandwiches we packed while we wait for the sunrise. It is cold and windy but not unbearable. A little after 6am the first glimmers of light appear on the horizon. By 6:30am we are viewing a beautiful full sunrise. The countryside around Volcan Baru are lush and green and also provide great views.

The trip down is along the same path, but feels rougher. Alex stops on the way down for us to spot quetzal's, Panama's national bird. While we are stopped a flock of sheep make their way down the trail followed by a shepherd. We have fun posing with the sheep.

Further down the road we stop at the park office to register our visit and pay the $5 per person admission fee. The gardener at Casa Serena told Nanci that his father is a ranger at the park office and we are lucky enough to meet him.

After a couple of other short stops we arrive back at Casa Serena by 9 am. We are tired but everyone is happy we took the trip.

Boquete & Valle Escondido

2/27/2016

Sunday and Monday we settle in and do a little exploring of the town and resort. The main square of Boquete is located 1.5 km from Casa Serena in Valle Escondido. The walk takes 15-25 minutes (depending upon who is walking :-) ). The town has many hostels, some hotels and many local restaurants and shops. There are also 15+ outfitters and tour operators covering motorcycle and 4x4 rentals, kayak and whitewater tours, jeep tours, walking tours and everything in-between.

Valle Escondido is a gem. In addition to the 9-hole golf course there are tennis courts, mini-golf, exercise facility, billiards room, a spa and pools to help people keep busy. There's also a bar, restaurant and outdoor amphitheater. Nanci takes Zumba and water aerobics classes three days a week and Vic enjoys a good work-out in the exercise facility. William and I stroll around the resort enjoying the beautiful flowers and plants while eyeing some incredible villa's and nicely-done condo's. I sign up for an amenities pass and Monday afternoon enjoy swimming in the heated indoor pool. I am not sure if the outdoor pool is heated, but regardless it is too cool for my taste.

Panama ... Come See Why

2/27/2016

We are off to Panama early on Saturday morning. The car service picks us up at 5 am for our 8 am flight to Panama City where we will connect to David.

Our flight on Copa Airlines is fully booked. It turns out that there are two different tour groups on this same flight. Everyone is cheerful and the flight is without issues. When we arrive at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City we head to Immigration. The queue is quite long and William becomes concerned that we may not have enough time to go through Immigration, retrieve our bags, go through Customs, recheck our bags and then find our domestic flight to David. We slowly snake forward, but it becomes clear within 20 minutes that as long as the queue maintains the pace we should be able to make our flight.

After Customs a Copa Airlines representative takes our bags and provides guidance on how to find the Domestic Terminal. We walk to the end of the International Terminal, go outside, make a right at the end of the building and proceed to the door of another building. The Domestic Terminal turns out to be one small waiting area where busses can pull up to transport us back to a specially roped off gate in the International Terminal. How funny!

When we arrive in David our driver José is waiting with a sign that says "Miss Anne". He piles our suitcases into the bed of his crew club pickup and we're off. He tries to provide commentary along the route to Boquete, but soon realizes that even basic Spanish is a bit of a stretch for us to comprehend. But, he cheerfully continues to try.

José deposits us into the hugging arms of our friends Nanci and Vic at Casa Serena in Valle Escondido around 8pm. We chat on the back patio until 10 pm then crawl into bed for a well deserved nights sleep.

The morning arrives and provides an opportunity to appreciate our location. The Valle Escondido development includes a resort with a hotel, condo's and free-standing villa's. The villa we are in is very nice and Vic and Nanci have rented the two bedroom walk-out apartment (Casa Serena) on the lower level. The patio overlooks part of the golf course and two swimming pools below while straight ahead is a small mountain covered in trees. We soon see why the patio is the right spot for enjoying meals and cocktails.

Malta - Istanbul - Chicago

2/19/2016

The bittersweet time has come for us to leave Malta. We have truly enjoyed our time in the county and our stay at the aqua penthouse flat in St. Paul's Bay. We have had good conversation over wonderful meals - everything from pizza and pasta to rabbit stew and rib eyes. The dining spots have ranged from outside patio's beneath towering palm trees to vaulted stone rooms below street level.

We have found plenty to see and do during our 33 days in Malta, yet we took it at a relaxed pace. We noticed that churches are to Malta as pubs are to Ireland - there's one (or two) on seemingly every block. As Paul drives us to the airport he explains that there are well over 300 churches in Malta - it's said that there is one for every day of the year. We certainly have seen at least 33 churches during our stay!

Our flight to Istanbul arrives in the afternoon. We have a 23 hour layover so we have booked a room at the Renaissance hotel overlooking the Sea of Marmara and located just 10 minutes from the airport. After checking in we catch a taxi to the Sultanahmet district. We stroll around the Hippodrome - viewing Sultan Ahmet (also known as the Blue Mosque), the obelisks, and the German Fountain. Just a few steps away is Hagia Sophia which from 537 until 1453, served as an Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

By now it is time for dinner. We stop in a local restaurant. We order the cheese pide and the Turkish meatballs for our meals and share them. The waiter brings us a freshly baked flat bread, followed by cups of puréed lentil soup, then the main courses and lastly small pieces of baklava for dinner. Each of the meals are each priced at 15 Turkish Lira ($5.07 / €4.54) and the food is very good! Of course, the cost of our beer and wine doubles the bill.

After dinner we stroll around a while longer then, despite the warning from our taxi driver to wait until 9 pm when the traffic will be better, decide to catch a taxi back to the hotel. Oh my! This is India level traffic jams. 14 million people call Istanbul home and most of them seem to be on the roads. It takes us an hour to get back to the Renaissance.

On Friday after a relaxing full breakfast we take the hotel shuttle to the airport at 11:30am. Once again we are lucky and the middle seat between us on our Turkish Airways flight is empty. The flight is delayed on take-off but arrives on-time and I use the 9 1/2 hours to watch five movies - a good way to catch up on some more recently released films.

Fat Tuesday in Malta

2/19/2016

Today is the last day of Carnival so we decide to participate in the closing activities in Valletta. We have planned to have an early dinner then check out the festivities along Triq Anne (Anne Street). We catch the #41 bus to Valletta and it takes us through some towns we have not seen before - a bonus.

Our search for restaurants takes us along Republic Street, the main pedestrian walkway. Along the way we encounter many people in costumes. Some are clearly part of the dancing groups associated with the floats. Others seem to be people who just wanted to participate and have fun in costume.

We meander over near Strait Street. There's a gentleman eating a pasta dish at cafe with outside tables and a few counters inside. It's a little cool to sit outside and the counters don't really appeal to us. The waitress quickly explains that they have additional seating downstairs. After climbing the stairs we soon find out that this restaurant is the same as the Whisky Bar we have previously visited. They must have the full corner building and market the bar on one street and the restaurant on another street. How funny!

In honor of Fat Tuesday we both order pasta - Spaghetti Carbonara for William and Pappadelle Pulled Pork for me (made with whisky jus, garlic, and truffle paste). Both are delicious. We have an opportunity to chat with one of the owners. He gently admonishes William for having one small ice cube in his whisky; the owner saying his grandmother who is Scottish would not approve. We discuss various whiskies and we decide to try one of his favorites from Isay - Ardbeg. It's quite smoky, but smooth. Very nice.

After dinner we waddle the 8 blocks to Triq Anne. The vendors are setup offering sweets, a range of foods and beverages. Unlike our first trip to Carnival alcohol is now frequently offered by the vendors. However there's no rowdiness. Perhaps it is early in the night or people are tired from 6 days of fun. We've also been told that Valletta's Carnival is much more tame than Carnival on Gozo.

The floats are now lit and the parade moves very slowly down the street. The music is blasting and there are dance groups coordinated with many of the floats. Along with the rest of the crowd we enjoy Fat Tuesday.

Carnival in Malta

2/7/2016

Carnival in Valletta, Malta runs from 6pm on Thursday, February 4th to 9:30pm on Tuesday, February 9th. Each day there are planned events.

On Friday afternoon we take the bus to Valletta to see what's happening. We find an increase in police and temporary fencing in the city as well as a good number of porta-potty's dotting the city. St. George's Square has been transformed into a huge stage with temporary seating. We learn that advance tickets are necessary for the program, which will include a dance competition. We opt not to try to get tickets.

Booths have been setup selling sweets - mostly cookies. We are drawn to sample cookies from a couple of different stands. We don't notice any vendors selling beer, wine or soda, that's interesting, as we have heard that the evening crowds are sometimes a bit inebriated. We pop into a restaurant for some chicken wings and beverages.

Per the official Carnival website there will be a costume parade starting at 5:30pm. We find a number of floats in the area at the start of the parade. Some are clearly satirical with what appear to be local politicians. However, we don't have an appreciation for the satire. We would probably need to be here a little longer to catch on.

There are children and young adults in costumes streaming through Republic Street with their parents.

At 5:00pm it does not appear that the parade is anywhere near ready to start in 30 minutes. We stop by a cafe and ask the waiter about the time. He indicates the parade may start around 6:30pm or maybe later. This causes me to think about last year when we attended Carnival in Ambato, Ecuador. In that case we had reserved seats along the parade route and even went back to our room for a while waiting for the (delayed) parade to approach. That was a great way to attend a parade!

We enjoy the floats and the people in the streets of Valletta, but ultimately decide not to hang around waiting for the parade. We catch a bus back to St. Paul's Bay and stop at Damiano's to share a pizza for dinner.

Lascaris War Rooms

2/7/2016

I've mentioned that Malta was pummeled with bombs during WWII. In Valletta we have the opportunity to visit the Lascaris War Rooms, which were one of Malta's best kept secrets during WWII. The rooms are located 40 meters underground.

Our visit starts with a 30 minute period documentary 'Malta G.C.' which was narrated by Lawrence Olivier (before he was knighted). The film used film footage taken during the actual air strikes as well as the result on Malta.

We then use audio guides as we walk through the war rooms to hear about their use and the events of the period. With today's 3-D computerized capabilities it is hard to image coordinating defense and attacks using just static maps and figures/symbols to indicate air, land and sea positions. All Allied offensive operations in the Mediterranean were waged from these rooms, including Eisenhower's Invasion of Sicily. Amazing!

It is interesting to learn that the British continued to use the War Rooms until 1977. We emerge from the War Rooms with a much better appreciation for the role of Malta in WWII and WWII overall.

Sleima and St. Julian's

2/4/2016

We liked the area of St. Julian's and Sleima when we took the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus so we decide to return to walk around the area and have lunch. We start out a little late, so lunch becomes the first priority. As the bus rambles along St. Julian's Bay we keep our eyes out for an interesting area. As we pass the smaller bays we see a number of them with seaside restaurants. I push the stop button for the bus in Exiles Bay and we find ourselves having a pasta lunch overlooking the bay. While we are dining I notice someone swimming laps the length of the bay - probably 400 meters across at this point. He's much more adventurous than me!

After lunch we stroll along the seaside walkway and take in the view of the town of St. Julian's. The number of cranes strikes me. Everywhere we have gone on these islands we see construction. There's even four projects within one block of our flat in St. Paul's Bay. It appears that the Maltese economy is doing well, or at least the real estate market is strong. The prices for flats in St. Julian's look like they are three to four times what we have seen in St. Paul's Bay, but it's all about location, location, location.