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• On my way to the Panama Canal, I squeeze in the Mercado de Mariscos, Panama City’s fish market near the Casco Viejo district. Legend has it “Panama” means “an abundance of fish” — without doubt in this market. Corvina, a meaty white fish that resembles sea bass, is plentiful. Despite early morning, I check out the ceviche. Fried chicken, plantains, beans and rice are a stone’s throw for non-fish lovers. I slip into a nearby marketplace for tropical fruits and vegetables I miss during Chicago’s long winters. What an array of root vegetables like yucca (aka cassava), otoe (aka taro) and ñamé root (aka yam), with nutty flavor and chewy texture. Hard to miss the Frank Gehry Biomuseo (The Biodiversity Museum: Panama Bridge of Life) brightly situated on the Amador Causeway. It boldly celebrates the Panamanian isthmus and its powerful impact on our earth’s biodiversity. On to the Bridge of the Americas that rejoins the continents split by the canal. My destination is The Miraflores Locks, with their 700-ton gates, 50-foot concrete walls and 26 million gallons of surging water that fill in just eight minutes! Bright and early I take my spot on the observation deck and watch the stream of ships seamlessly elevate and descend through the waters of the Panama Canal. I found it pretty mesmerizing. Enough that I needed another meal at the nearby La Taberna del Canal to meditate on this display of mechanical genius. There were clams from the fish market bathed in luxurious garlic sauce, paella brimming with mysterious seafood and crispy corvina fish fritters. On the return, a ride along a narrow beach (much of the shoreline is quite sludgy) and a look at quiet towns with local residents dressed in native Kuna Panamanian attire: hand-made blouses or “molas” with skirts, sewn in reverse appliqué. Always hard to return home after bombarded by cuisine, history and culture. Glad that Morocco is in my near future!
• Finally made it to Panama City—another 5½ hour flight from Chicago! Coincidently PC is the cover story in UNITED Hemispheres’ January 2016 issue “Three Perfect Days in Panama City”. It was! Gallup-Healthways deemed Panama the “happiest place in the world”. That’s exactly how I felt. Community, invention, optimism, physical well-being, possibility, pride, satisfaction–I deeply breathe it all. The Panama City skyline rivals other vistas with its skinny, architecturally awe-inspiring towers surrounded by water, water everywhere. I start my journey along the Cinta Costera, a path that runs along the bay; then head to Cerro Ancon, a guarded forested mound where the Panamanian flag proudly flies. Lunch is at Bistro Paula Nani with its picturesque Panamanian twist on Mediterranean food. Dinner moves Maito in the San Francisco District, executed by chef Mario Castrellon. Everything (including the wait staff) is in Panamanian. Boy, am I out of luck. I manage to order spicy guacamole on plantains and tacos (hold the lamb and bacon) with tzatziki. What a confluence of cultures! Second day I meander around Casco Viejo, the old Colonial-style town–a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I’m told that I must have a cup of Geisha coffee. Strange that Geisha coffee is made from coveted Panamanian beans. Another study of contrasts. Crafts abound proudly “Made in Panama”, from vibrant stitchery to what else? classic Panama hats. Tonight’s dinner is at The Dining Room at the American Trade Hotel, followed by jazz at Danilo’s, opened by legendary jazz pianist Danilo Perez. This elegant colonial-style hotel once housed gangs during Panama City’s rougher days. Tomorrow brings the fish market, fruits and vegetables in all their Central American shapes and sizes, Frank Gehry’s The Biodiversity Museum: Panama Bridge of Life and, of course, THE CANAL. Stay afloat.
• Finally arrived in London after a nine-hour flight from Delhi. Stopped a few days to rest, eat, visit some favorite markets and tour some notable spots, like the National Gallery and the British Museum with its Indian artifacts. Ah … to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and to have ice cubes and tap water again. Funny how taken-for-granted items are now indispensable since their omission in India. Before theater, a fresh green pea soup with hearty brown bread. After, a late-night dinner at NOPI, the Soho eatery by famed chef Yotam Ottolenghi and head chef Ramael Scully. Since hearing them speak in Chicago, not to be missed. Dinner began with mixed seed lavosh and spicy feta dip paired with orange (!)* wine, followed by tempting buffet starters featuring roast aubergine with almond yogurt and spiced almond flakes and burrata with clementines, coriander seeds and plum wine. *Discovered orange wines are white made like red with “prolonged maceration of crushed skins and seeds”. Glad that Rules, the oldest, traditional London restaurant with classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings had a vegetarian menu. I was very content amid all of the animal heads. Among the many dishes I savored, here’s my beet and Stilton salad with candied walnuts and Guinness in a silver tankard. Now I’m off to Panama for another round of jet lag and some hot, hot, hot temperature, food and music. Oh, and did I mention a canal?
• Finally arrived in London after a nine-hour flight from Delhi. Stopped a few days to rest, eat, visit some favorite markets and tour some notable spots, like the National Gallery and the British Museum with its Indian artifacts. Ah … to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and to have ice cubes and tap water again. Funny how taken-for-granted items are now indispensable since their omission in India. Before theater, a fresh green pea soup with hearty brown bread. After, a late-night dinner at NOPI, the Soho eatery by famed chef Yotam Ottolenghi and head chef Ramael Scully. Since hearing them speak in Chicago, not to be missed. Dinner began with mixed seed lavosh and spicy feta dip paired with orange (!)* wine, followed by tempting buffet starters featuring roast aubergine with almond yogurt and spiced almond flakes and burrata with clementines, coriander seeds and plum wine. *Discovered orange wines are white made like red with “prolonged maceration of crushed skins and seeds”. Glad that Rules, the oldest, traditional London restaurant with classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings had a vegetarian menu. I was very content amid all of the animal heads. Among the many dishes I savored, here’s my beet and Stilton salad with candied walnuts and Guinness in a silver tanker. Now I’m off to Panama for another round of jet lag and some hot, hot, hot temperature, food and music. Oh, and did I mention a canal?
• Four hours by bus from Agra to Delhi. First, via overcrowded roads alongside a sea of humankind and animals; then, by a state-of-the-art highway that leads to the city center. Contrasts abound from ultra-flashy metropolitan mayhem in New Delhi to tangles of carts, shops and stalls networked into the pulsating Chandni Chowk bazaar in Old Delhi. Bicycle rickshaws are a must. I visit the daunting and symbolic Mughal-era Red Fort, the sprawling Jama Masjid mosque, the India Gate (inspired by the Arc de Triomphe) and the Rajpath (a ceremonial boulevard similar to the Champs-Élysées). Then on to the Rajghat, the final resting place of Mahatma Gandhi and Jantar Mantar in Connaught Place, with fantastic astronomic instruments that predict times and movements of celestial bodies. Ah, the food … the colors, aromas, textures and options among Old Delhi street food are overwhelming. The smell of fresh fish, flavorsome kebabs and fried chicken is everywhere. My conscience steered me to avoid street food for fear of the evil GI bug. Four of my travel companions succumbed to the devil. I kept on the food prowl. I found parantha, stuffed with cauliflower, peas and potatoes, fried in pure ghee and served with mint and banana-tamarind chutney. There was chaat, a snack-like mixture of crispy fried bread, garbanzo beans, potato pieces and salty-tangy spices, garnished with sour chilies and saunth (dried ginger and tamarind sauce), fresh coriander leaves and yogurt. And the sweets! Kulfi, a flavored frozen dessert made of milk, was flavored with banana, mango, pistachios, pomegranate or rose. Hot jalebis, a popular sweet made by deep frying wheat batter into pretzel shapes, was soaked in sugar syrup and served warm or cold. Sadly, my historic, cultural, food and more food journey to India had to end with a blast—literally from the roof of my hotel. On to London to the British Museum to see where all the Indian artifacts I learned about now reside. And to some non-Indian food! Come fly with me.