The Heart of Vigan.

Here's my En route to North part 2. I couldn't apologize for having so much to say about my Ilocos trip. It was my first time and I fell in love with the place. It's like 'Love at First Sight'. I know I'm not the only one who feels that, anyone of you who came from Ilocos and felt the same? The place was filled with tourists spots and historical places. I am amazed how I was able to recall my History subject back in Elementary. Anyway, on our Day 2 in Ilocos, we toured ourselves within Vigan.

DAY 2

Baluarte

Hidden Garden

Pagburnayan

Bell Tower

Cafe Uno

Calle Crisologo

Vigan Fountain Show

We woke up early and went to the market then had early breakfast at the house since Cj parents just came from Manila. Right passed lunch time, we prepared for our Vigan Day. We went first to Baluarte. 

The place is owned by Mr. Chavit Singson, a former Ilocos Sur Governor. It is a zoo where you can see a variety of animals. 

I am not fond of animals so the part that I enjoyed well here was the Butterfly Garden. 

Next stop was Hidden Garden

Everything was green. You'll appreciate the beauty of nature here. It is a wonderland of greenery. There was a mini-restaurant located in the middle of the garden but we didn't tried it. Cj had a bad experience from it. 

We had a relaxing visit at the Hidden Garden. Who would've been relaxed after getting in touch with nature? We went to Pagburnayan after. Pagburnayan is the famous place for pot making. Tourists get the chance to sit on the pottery stool I guess? Hahaha. Here's a photo of me trying to make a pot. 

We stayed for like 15minutes because it was passed 4pm already and we are in a hurry to Syquia Mansion that is going to closed by 430pm. But unfortunately, we arrived on time but it was closed already. :(

So we headed to Calle Crisologo to get a Kalesa.

We didn't stay that much in Calle Crisologo because we planned to stay during nightime. We just took this photo to have a comparison of how it looks like in day time and night time. 

We rode the Kalesa going to Father Burgos' Residence and Bell Tower.

Padre Burgos was part of the three martyrs (GOMBURZA). The house was his birthplace and it houses some Ilocano artifacts. 

This two young man was our tourist guide inside the Burgos' Residence. They were Tourism students in Vigan and they're having an internship at the place. I salute the Vigan Government for doing this. They are using their own human resources to promote Tourism in Vigan, at the same time these young people will be able to practice what they learned without spending a lot of money for internship. The guys name are Arvin Jay and Edmar Jun. We are now beki friends in Facebook. They were good tourism students. The whole tour was comedy bar like but they provided us a lot of facts. :) 

I can't believe this Bell Tower was born 1951. And it is still standing strong. I am just amazed how strong the architechtural structures made during the Spanish period. 

I asked the tourist guide in the place why the bell tower was away from the church. He said, the bell tower was not just used as bell tower but was used as a viewing point for Spaniards also. On the top of the tower you can see the South China Sea. 

Sun was still up by the time we ended at Bell Tower so Cj asked me to dropped by at his favorite cafe in Vigan. He was boasting how it has the yummiest Quesadillas. So the Manong Kalesa dropped at us Cafe Uno. 

We ordered Cookies n Cream and Mocha Frappuccino plus Cheese and Beef Quesadillas. And take note we spent less than 400pesos for all of it. I swear we ordered it and that awesome moment when I realized right after eating the Quesadilla, I never took a photo of it. Blame the quesadilla. It was heaven. Sure I'm going back to that place.

It was night time already so we then walked to Calle Crisologo and here is the ambience at night. 

We strolled around Calle until 7pm. Imagined we went back and forth the street. Hahaha. We walked ourselves to the Empanadahan but this time not eating because tummy is still full from Cafe Uno. Had to pass, sorry. Haha! We went to the boutique in the plaza to eye some jacket or sweatshirts because the parentals planned to have a side trip to Baguio and we don't have much clothes for the weather there. 

We passed by Vigan Cathedral.

Strolled ended up by 730pm, just in time for the Vigan Fountain Show. 

Here's a video link for you to watch the whole show. (Vigan Fountain Show Part 1 - Part 2) It was great. I was taking photos and recording a video the whole time. It was a 30minutes fountain show. Twas amazing! The brother went to fetch us at the plaza and headed straight home. I thought I can summed up day 2 and day 3 in this post but I just realized we had a long day 2. Went staight to bed after dinner and calling it a day. We were supposed to go home that night but was cancelled due to the Baguio plans of the Navarro's. Yehey to us for an extended vacation. Heading to Baguio on the next post..