Palindromes, or letter-by-letter reversible writing, weren't even known to me when I travelled through the Panama Canal in 1965 aboard MV FLAVIA on my way to Australia.
And, just as the freshwater flushes through the locks of the Panama Canal in one direction only, I have never been through the Canal again in the opposite direction, as Australia has remained my home for all those fifty-five years, right into retirement which now gives me plenty of time to read about these things.
Go to Wikipedia for more on the historical and technical details of this gigantic engineering feat, as well as such snippets as the lowest canal toll of 36 cents (paid by the American Richard Halliburton who swam the Panama Canal in 1928) and the origin of the expression "Another Day, Another Dollar" (coined by the Panama Canal construction workers who were paid a dollar a day for their labour).
If you've been reading this far, you don't suffer from aibohphobia. Isn't that worth knowing?
