The Hills are Alive in Caleruega!!: Nasugbu's Hilltop Piece of Spain

- Sept. 2, 2017, Saturday.

- It's been a while since I wrote here and it's also been a while since I had an adventure to nourish my soul. Thankfully, I had the perfect opportunity to feed the travel bug in me when my college carpool friends decided to go on a road trip. After all, we've been carpoolmates since a decade ago and for some of us, good friends for more than that, so a road trip was the perfect way to celebrate.

- Going to Tagaytay is the usual suspect of quick out-of-Manila day trips, since it's only around 1.5 hours away from Manila, with mild traffic. Since I personally think that Tagaytay isn't too touristy apart from the view of the Taal Lake+Volcano and a few sites, I didn't expect anything apart from endless eating - another thing Tagaytay is famous for. Right after lunch, Mich suggested that we go see the Caleruega Church in Nasugbu, a municipality of Batangas right beside Tagaytay. It took around 30 minutes by car to go from where we had lunch (Balay Dako) to the church.

I was too entertained by my decision to dress up as a hippie that day. I didn't really know why I decided to do so too.

Passenger seatttttt. Oh look, my first time to wear aviators (and my first time ever to wear shades as part of my getup.)

- The Caleruega Church has its Spanish-rustic charm despite being built only in 1995. Today, it is a popular wedding/pre-nuptial photoshoot venue, retreat center, and of course, tourist spot. Despite not being one of the historical churches of the country, I liked the church so much that I decided to blog about it, even though I wasn't supposed to in the first place.

- Those who will visit the church as tourists need to pay a small fee of 30PHP per person. Another thing to remember is to wear good walking shoes - unless you're there for a wedding - because the church compound is located on a hill; be prepared for a lot of climbing.

- The first structure that will greet visitors if the Cenaculum, and silly me thought it was the already the church. this welcoming hall has a back door the leads to all the main chapel. (More on the main chapel later.)

Hippie in the church.

"WALANGGGGG HIMALAAAAAA!!!! ANG HIMALA AY NASA PUSOOOO, NASA PUSO NATING LAHAAAATTTT!!!!" - Nora Aumor as Elisa in the movie "Himala" (1982).

- Going down the side of the Cenaculum leads to what I call the mini-forest of the church compound. It was a good place to just walk around, and somehow it reminded me of the gardens of Kuala Lumpur's Thean Hou Temple (click here to see). Apart from the trees, there were numerous koi ponds too. I liked how this church really devoted some parts of it just for nature, after all, Caleruega's motto is "close to nature, closer to God." The best part about the green area? The hanging bridge!

It started to drizzle, but still had to pose. This is the mini-forest area of the compound.

Hanging bridge. Peace yo.

Spot me in a sea of faces; at the hanging bridge.

- The name "Caleruega" was derived from a place in Spain where St. Dominic was born; yes, the church is Dominican. However, the main church that people refer to is the one at the top of the hill. The main church's real name is actually the "Transfirguration Chapel," where wedding ceremonies and other main rituals are being held. Sadly, I wasn't able to see much of the chapel's interior because the entrance was being crowded by the people participating in an on-going wedding. However, the facade of the church was good enough for me. Also, it was also raining, so we weren't able to look around, and we also missed the incredible view of the valley that other visitors talk about.

The main church/chapel.

Candid shot by Mich. Beyond those trees are supposed good views of the valley, but it was raining so we weren't able to explore much.

Taking pictures the Asian way. (You're the best, Mich!!)

Finally, a photo with friends. <3 <3 <3 <3

- It is said that the main church/chapel was a replica of the church in Spain's Caleruega. To be honest, one of the reasons why the church has a soft spot in my heart is because it reminded me of the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey of Montserrat, Spain - one of the special churches that I visited in Spain last year. (This is the church where St. Ignatius of Loyola surrendered his sword; click here to see.) Both the abbey and the church are located on top of an elevated land form overlooking the valley, and both churches are made of red bricks. The abbey in Montserrat, however, is higher, bigger, and has carvings on its walls. Brownie points also go to both churches' ambiance for reminding me of one of my favorite musicals, "The Sound of Music" (though I know that "The Sound of Music" was set in Austria.)

Necessary photoshoot in front of the main church/chapel. Most of my photoshoots are all thanks to my awesome neighbor-friend-photographer, Charmaine.  

A final shot at the cenaculum before leaving Caleruega.

- I would have wanted to go around more and appreciate all the spaces in the compound, if it weren't

for the stubborn rain and other plans back in Tagaytay. At the very least, I was able to go around this church while singing songs from "The Sound of Music" pretending to be all the characters from Maria to the Captain to the seven children (and the more I sang, the more the rain fell. Oops, sorry friends.) In hindsight, I think I shouldn't have disrupted Caleruega's peace that much. Oh well, I'd still like to thank Caleruega for fueling my joyful spirit, as I needed a bit of that boosting during these stressful days.