I remember this post that I did a couple of years back about the traditional Glogg party at the Panamonte Inn. This year the owners Inga and her son Charlie hosted a great party and we all had a wonderful time. They are truly great people and really know how to throw great Christmas party.
The Panamonte Inn is one of my favorite places to go for drinks, eats and good cheer. My parents stayed there back in the 50s and it has been host to many famous people over the years. It has a fireplace inside and outside the bar area and at Christmas, there is nothing like it. Here is an example of just another way we celebrate here in Boquete.
Christmas in Boquete, Panama…where the sun is shining, the coffee is being harvested, the temperature outside is a perfect 70 degrees…and the traditions of Sweden blend seemlessly with those of Latin America.
Wait? Did you say Sweden? We were talking about Panama!
Yes. Sweden meets Panama at the Panamonte Inn & Spa, in the cloud forest heaven of Boquete. The Panamonte, a Small Luxury Hotel, is family owned and has its roots in Sweden. Each year the Collins family celebrates Christmas with a Nordic flair. Or perhaps, it is more accurate to say, a Nordic flame!
Glögg, the Swedish version of mulled wine, is made nightly in the Panamonte Lounge. The red wine is warmed, the spices are simmered. A cauldron of aquavit is flamed to melt the sugar. An exotic aroma fills the room as the bartender pours the wine through the melting sugar into the flames, which leap higher. Guests hold their breath, waiting for the last flames to subside, because then come the part where everyone gets a glass filled with the steaming brew. Toasts, laughter, and conviviality accompany the sipping of this ancient Swedish recipe which is traditionally enjoyed during the Christmas holidays.
The evening glögg-fest is a spectacular ritual set in the coziest and most comfortable lounge area you can imagine. Fires dance in the stone hearths. The teak bar gleams. Huge vases of tropical heliconias and gingers are completely at home next to traditional evergreens. The sofas and cushioned arm chairs invite one and all to settle in, sip a cup, share a story, sip another cup.
In addition, The Panamonte Inn & Spa features a magnificent Christmas Eve banquet and a Christmas Day buffet that hearken back to the groaning boards of the Old World. Award winning Executive Chef and owner Charlie Collins and his amazing rising-star sous chef, Paola Solis, create cuisine that is as beautiful to behold as it is delicious to eat.
Christmas Past
My friend Mark Heyer also remembers Christmas past and present and in his special way he tells of another time and venue here in Boquete. In Mark’s wonderful words and with his wonderful pictures…
In 2010 our good friend, Donna O’Toole, unexpectedly lost her husband Bill. Rather than wallow in self-pity, Donna determined to create Christmas pleasure for the children of her small community of el Banco.
Donna recruited Dean Neptune as Santa and Frank Lugo as his peripatetic and mischievous elf – the roles of a lifetime. The rest of the story tells itself in pictures.
With great pleasure, I am pleased to reprise this event of Christmas past, no less enjoyable today or for that matter, as long as there is Christmas.
Thank you Donna, for your wonderful and eternal Christmas gift to all of us,
Mark Heyer