A door in Vigan/Monday Doorways

One of the doorways along the historic Calle Crisologo in Vigan.

Linking to Louis la Vache's Monday Doorways

Dark [Photo Hunt]

@ mirandablue

Dark clouds hovering over the full moon.  I hear bats flapping nearby.

Never fear the shadows.

They simply mean

that there's a light

somewhere

nearby.

~ Ruth Renkai

@ mirandablue

The dusky night rides down the sky
and ushers in the moon.... 

Posted for Photo-Hunt

Miniature [Photo Hunt]

@ mirandablue

A miniature "calesa" or horse-drawn carriage 

Calesa was one of the modes of transportation introduced by the Spaniards in the Philippines in the 18th century that only ilustrados or rich Filipinos and high ranked officials could afford.  They are rarely used in the streets nowadays except in places frequented by tourists and in some century-old preserved cities like Vigan. The miniature horse is carved from wood and the carriage was crafted from metal. I took these photos in Granpa's Inn and Calle Crisologo at the Heritage Village in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.  

@ mirandablue                             Grandpa's Inn, Vigan

 My sister with the real calesa at Calle Crisologo.

@ mirandablue                                                                                                        at Calle Crisologo, Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Posted for Photo Hunt

Calle Crisologo [My World]

No visit to Vigan would be complete until you walked through this street---Calle Crisologo at the Kamestizoan District.  It is a half-kilometer stretch of cobblestoned street lined with 18th century Filipino-Spanish architecture and replete with an old world charm.   While strolling at Calle Crisologo, look up and see the azoteas, capiz windows, ornamental ironwork and imagine young mestizas in  Maria Clara dresses giggling behind their abaniko (a hand-held fan).  The clacking noise of horse-driven carriage we call kalesa completes the ambiance of Vigan more than a century ago.

kalesas along Calle Crisologo

The old mansions at Calle Crisologo now house handicraft and curio shops, some furniture and antique dealers, pension houses and restaurants---I even spied a funeral parlor. We purchased a few touristy items here, also bought Abel-Iloko blankets---handwoven blankets known as Abel-weaving, one of the surviving traditional crafts in Vigan;  browsed through second-hand books, and had coffee at The Perfect Cup, Vigan's version of Starbucks.

Vigan City, the capital of Ilocos Sur and 407 kilometers north of Manila, has the most extensive surviving ancestral houses that dates back to the 15th century Spanish colonial period.  West of the city is the South China Sea, it is accessible by land and by air from Manila, Baguio, Laoag and other parts of Luzon.

old world charm

the most photographed street in Vigan

Calle Crisologo at dusk

This post is linked to My World-Tuesday