Friday, March 30, 2007
PANAMA CANAL
For my grandmother, who came to America (from Europe) aboard a banana boat, the Panama Canal:
locks must have been like seeing The Statue of Liberty.
We have just gone through the first set (3?) of locks, and have entered one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Most people on our ship were busy stuffing their faces with pancakes and donuts and had little interest in watching the actual mechanics of this amazing canal.
Our Princess ship fit through the locks fairly easily, however, across the way the Celebrity Infinity squeaked through with only a foot on either side. It was really something! The ships rise at a phenomenal rate of 3ft a minute. Not quite the speed of sound, but much of this marvel was dug out with dynamite, shovels and Jamaican? laborers around 1910. And, the engineering of this was remarkable for that era.
locks must have been like seeing The Statue of Liberty.
We have just gone through the first set (3?) of locks, and have entered one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Most people on our ship were busy stuffing their faces with pancakes and donuts and had little interest in watching the actual mechanics of this amazing canal.
Our Princess ship fit through the locks fairly easily, however, across the way the Celebrity Infinity squeaked through with only a foot on either side. It was really something! The ships rise at a phenomenal rate of 3ft a minute. Not quite the speed of sound, but much of this marvel was dug out with dynamite, shovels and Jamaican? laborers around 1910. And, the engineering of this was remarkable for that era.
# posted by Ray and Tina Gregoire @ 1:48 PM 
