Calle Crisologo Chronicles

This is not in the Philippines. Right?

After a well-deserved and much-needed sleep the night before, the warm sunlight seeping through the high curtains welcomed the lovebirds to the touristy phase of this Northern adventure: a stroll around the infamous Calle Crisologo and the hunt for the crunchy Vigan empanada. After a homey breakfast, consisting of Vigan longganisa, fish bacon (remember these two dishes) and leftover Felicitas rice, preluded by the two Cs bumping into a hotel staff meeting along the staircase, the best-couple-ever, hands clasped together, happily hopped out of the hotel and into the heritage-themed streets.

Relying mainly on their undeniably accurate navigation skillz and unmatched sense of direction, the geeky lovers marched along the Vigan-text-engraved sidewalk, turned around a corner, strode for a couple of steps, and voila, found Calle Crisologo, replete with Spanish-era designed houses and horse-drawn carriages! No wonder Hotel Felicidad had such good reviews. Location was absolutely perfect!

Clever sidewalk design.

First order of business was to get a bite of the popular Ilocos delicacy, the empanada *insert glorious background sound here*. After a couple of minutes wandering around, the true romancers stumbled upon a local empanada seller and ordered an all meat + egg variant. Needless to say, the empanada got utterly destroyed just a good minute later, which only further solidified the myth and greatness of this native cuisine. Hungry carnivores. (More empanada goodness would be bought later on, albeit on a different shop.)

Define goodness.

The zombie killers proceeded along the cobblestone road basking in the combined vibe of modern living fused with the glory days of the 1800's. Occasionally, the LanniStark (a made-up GoT reference!) pair would stop to record such pleasant memories in the form of selfies (a norm for this trip) while at the same time, be stopped in their tracks by casual travel offers from the resident calesa and trike drivers. The leisurely walk ended with the purchase of two Vigan ref magnets and a good amount of sweat which hopefully burned all the calories from the empanada feeding frenzy earlier.

Seeing that the town plaza was just a 5-minute walk away, the princess and the knight (a.k.a. the medieval pair love affair) decided to snap some awesome photos within the vicinity. These included:

A number of calesas properly lined up along the side of the road:

Horses. Horses everywhere.

A random selfie in the middle of the park:

Town plaza selfies!

And lastly, a Jollibee store designed the Vigan way!

Yes! That's me on the red shirt.

The Middle-earth loveteam (he, of the Human race and she, of the Elven one) ended the lovely Vigan tour with a quick stop at a nearby store to buy Ilocano goods such as bagnet, longganisa, and chichacorn. Oh, and cans of Coke too! A trip would not be complete without the Cokecravers purchasing at least one can or bottle. With their bags packed and ready to go *hums "Leaving on a Jet Plane"*, the passionate Sessionistas *wink* checked out, got on a Laoag-bound bus, and were well on their way to the last destination of this northern excursion. 

Next: the last chapter, "Bagnet, Birthday, and Bliss."

P.S. By the way, we are fond of monickers and aliases. #lovebirds #thetwoCs #bestcoupleever #geekylovers #trueromancers #zombiekillers #LanniStark #medievalpairloveaffair #Middleearthloveteam #Cokecravers #Sessionistas