Destinations:

• Bantay Church
• Bantay Bell Tower
• Calle Crisologo
• Baluarte Open Zoo
• Hidden Garden
• Paburnayan Jar Making
• Quirino Bridge
• Grape Farm, La Union

It was our last day in Ilocos, so there were only a few places left in our itinerary. After devouring some Vigan longganisas for breakfast at the accommodation, we went to Bantay Church and Bantay Bell Tower. It was such a refreshing sight to see, the Bell Tower. I’m not sure why, but it reminded me of vacations at home when I was a child. Maybe because most of the cartoons that I watch back then has a likely setting as the tower. We also allotted a couple of minutes to pray inside the Bantay Church.

Then, we went back to Calle Crisologo. I was so happy I got to see the place in both day and night. You may have already figured it out, but I’m going to say it anyway, I like vintage-looking places and old structures and Calle Crisologo in Vigan is one of the places I really liked to visit for so long and I’m glad that I was finally able to.

This time, since we’ve already bought pasalubong from last night’s visit, we just used the time to take photos and, actually, just took in the view. We also had some milk tea from the Moonleaf. I got to say, their branch there was so beautiful and IG-worthy.

Since it was still too early for us to eat lunch, we went to the Baluarte Open Zoo. It was really hot given that we went there at around 11 a.m., but we managed to take a quick stroll around the place. We also bought a cute Vigan shirt at one of the souvenir shops.

We had lunch at Hidden Garden – I really enjoyed the ambiance of this place (they also have very clean restrooms which is a +++ for me). So since we’re down to our last day in Ilocos, I had an empanada for lunch while the others ordered food of their. My boyfriend ordered this eggplant dish called Poqui-Poqui which tasted really good.

Then, we headed to the Paburnayan Jar Making where there was this scramble vendor that offers his customers to make their own scramble. Of course, I happily obliged to the scramble-making madness. We also stuck around to watch some pottery demonstrations.

Before going to our final stop which is the Grape Farm in La Union, we stopped by the Quirino Bridge. It traverses the Abra River which is one of the largest river system in the Philippines. The view was stunning and I don’t think any of my photos could suffice the feeling of actually setting foot at that bridge.

Before heading back to Manila, we went to one of La Union’s grape farms. It’s not really grape season, so picking grapes is not allowed. I did get to taste the grape wine that they offer, and it was delicious! I could’ve bought a bottle if we still have space inside the van.