Where I Wander

IGLESIA DEL SALVADOR, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (December 24, 2023) After visiting El Ateneo on Christmas Eve and while heading toward the subway station to get back to my hotel, I chanced upon the Iglesia del Salvador, Buenos Aires’s second Jesuit church, which began construction in 1872. Within were statues of familiar Jesuit saints (I recognized the names from our beloved classrooms at the Ateneo Grade School), including of course Ignatius de Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. I'm glad I stopped by. Though I was running a tad late for Christmas Eve dinner.

EL ATENEO GRAND SPLENDID, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (December 24, 2023) One Big Fight! How could I resist passing by and taking snaps in this famed bookstore that carries the same name as my alma mater? The day prior, Paul Pasco took me brought me to the wrong branch; and so today, while he was in Uruguay, I took the subway and relied on my instincts to find in another part of the city this picturesque store. In 2019, the National Geographic named it “the world’s most beautiful bookstore.” Originally the Teatro Gran Splendid of Buenos Aires, it was an auditorium designed in 1919 to pay homage to the Paris Opera with its ceiling mural, marble columns, and elaborately decorated balconies. Today, the stage is a cafe, the orchestra and first balcony are brimming with bookshelves, and the upper floors have been converted into reading rooms for this bookstore, which is just one in a chain of others called El Ateneo.

An odd place to start my first day in South America. But why not? Once the garden of the Recollect monks in Buenos Aires, the cemetery is the final resting place of Argentina’s who’s who, including several presidents, a Nobel Prize laureate, prominent artists and writers, and of course Eva Peron, whose family vault is the most visited there. But the Recoleta Cemetery is a veritable open air museum too, with its 5.5 hectares of elaborate mausoleums and sculptures in Art Noveau, Neo-Gothic, and every style in between. And then there are the stories of those who lie within its tombs. My favorite is of the young lady whose mother was in a hurry to bury her, not realizing that she was still alive. As I write this, the theme music of HBO's Six Feet under is playing in my head.

MISSION SAN CARLOS BORROMEO DEL RIO CARMELO, CARMEL, CALIFORNIA, USA (December 25, 2022) Christmas this year found me at the mouth of the Carmel Valley, in one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California. Founded in 1770 by Spanish Franciscan priest, explorer and colonist, Saint Junípero Serra, the mission is named for Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Italy, and was the site of the first Christian confirmation in Alta California. I was here maybe in the late 2000s with my niece Selene, but because we had arrived at dusk, the basilica was no longer open and we had time only for snaps at the courtyard. This year though, I was happy to have attended Christmas Mass with my sister Monique and her two sons Chris and Gab. There is much to see here--the spacious courtyard with its inviting fountain and a statue of the beloved saint; the basilica itself, its dissimilar bell towers, and its magnificent retablo; the museum, sanctuary, and cenotaph. I ought to come back.

CIRCUS MAXIMUS, ROME, ITALY (September 9, 2010)  Our tour van parked momentarily on one side of the street so we could get a distant view of what is often referred to as the Roman Colosseum’s more gargantuan brother. Built hundreds of years prior to the more famous stadium, the Circus Maximus was home to many chariot races, gladiatorial displays, animal hunts and other spectacles. It is said that during the formation of Rome, the followers of Romulus were mainly men who needed women to increase their population. Following failed talks with the Sabines who lived in the ancient Italian peninsula between the Aventine and Palatine Hills, Romulus staged chariot races to distract the Sabine men while the Romans stole their women. It was precisely in the area that the Circus Maximus was eventually built.

PLAZA DE ESPAÑA, SEVILLE, SPAIN (October 24, 2017) It must have been 6:30am and my mind was half asleep. But our tour guide insisted that this was the best time to walk toward the plaza, just as the sun had risen. She was right. Bathed in a warm glow, the semi-circle space presents many picturesque nooks for eager tourists to admire. Of particular interest are the 52 elaborately tiled alcoves around the plaza--each with a fresco representing one of Spain’s 52 provinces, a canal of over 500 meters along the plaza’s perimeter, 4 quaint bridges decorated with blue ceramic that cross the canal, terracotta-colored north and south towers, a magnificent fountain at the center, and horse-drawn carriages all about. We took snaps everywhere. And we were all energized for the next part of our tour.

BAHIA PALACE, MARRAKESH, MOROCCO (October 21, 2017) Originally built for the personal use of Si Moussa, a former slave who climbed the ranks to become Grand Vizir of the Sultan, the palace functioned in part as a harem--its vast court decorated with a central basin and surrounded by rooms intended for concubines. Today, however, it counts among Marrakech’s most beautiful and most-visited attractions, reflecting both Andalusian and Moorish influences throughout the complex. Feast your eyes on elaborately carved cedar ceilings, gracefully applied stucco, and ornate mosaics. Weave through horseshoe-arch doorways, richly adorned galleries, and impressive courtyards. The decors are dazzling and the colors brilliant; after all, that’s what Bahia means--named after one of Si Moussa‘s wives, Bahia is “brilliance” in Arabic.

POINT LOBOS STATE NATURAL RESERVE, MONTEREY, CA, USA (December 23, 2022) Maybe just a 5-minute drive away from Monique’s home at Carmel-by-the-sea, the state park features glorious hiking trails, many alongside the ocean, and a handful of beaches. Our 3-hour trek took us to the California coastline where we could view rocky cliff fingers jutting into the ocean, herds of sea lions and flocks of birds frolicking in the waters, ancient Monterey cypresses towering in the landscape and other inspiring sights. Impossible to take in everything in one trip. We will be back. Maybe we’ll spot a few whales then.

BOU INANIA MADRASA, MEKNES, MOROCCO (October 19, 2017) A madrasa is an Islamic learning institution, and this one built from 1331-1351, is the biggest in the city of Meknes. Central to the madrasa’s 315 square meter space is the courtyard with its marble fountain. It is richly decorated, with the floor and lower walls covered in striking tile work and inscriptions while the upper walls are bedecked with elaborate carvings in stucco and wood.  One could get easily lost in all that dazzling detail.

QUELUZ NATIONAL PALACE, PORTUGAL (October 26, 2017) The palace was the official residence of Queen Maria I and her husband, the prince regent, Dom Pedro--who was also her father’s younger brother and with whom she had six children. It is said that the queen’s hysterical screaming echoed throughout the palace halls, following the death of her husband in 1786, and of her eldest son two years later, earning for herself the monicker, Maria the Mad. But despite the dark and twisted history of the residence’s main inhabitant, the palace and its surrounding gardens are quite enchanting. Combining Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical design, the palace interiors are ornate and opulent. The Throne Room, Music Hall, Princess’s Apartments, Chapel and other State Rooms are rich with intricate detail from floor to ceiling. The French-inspired gardens, meanwhile, are lavish with sprawling greens, majestic sculptures, and the remarkable fountain of Neptune.

WESTERN WALL, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (September 16, 2010) Even from afar, the wall appeared massive and imposing. Its exposed section is 19 meters tall and composed of 29 layers of stone from various time periods; however, it also reaches deep into the ground with 17 more layers of stone (and 13 more meters) to the bottom of its foundation. The Western Wall is what remains of that which surrounded the Temple Mount, the site of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem, the most sacred place for Jewish people. It is nicknamed the Wailing Wall due to the lamentations of pilgrims who consider it a source of inspiration that has, for may generations, moved them to pray. It has kept the memory of their Temple alive. Today, the air about the Prayer Plaza, where one views the Wall, was thick with the sound of yearning.

FLINDERS STREET RAILWAY STATION & ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (October 13, 2018) The intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets is among the busiest in Melbourne’s central business district. Daphne and I would find ourselves in the area during our daily commute, so we decided to check out the two imposing clay-colored structures there that faced each other from opposite corners. The Flinders Street Railway Station is Australia’s oldest train station and its 708-meter main platform is the fourth longest in the world. Easily one of Melbourne’s most recognizable landmarks, it is marked by its orange facade and copper green dome. Approximately 110,000 commuters pass through the station each day. On the other hand, St. Paul’s Cathedral is an Anglican church built in neo-Gothic style. Distinct to it are the church’s checkerboard brickwork, intricate patterned floor tiles and mosaics, and fine timbered roof. It is Victoria’s most frequented sacred space, with over 400,000 visitors a year.

ST. PETER’S BASILICA, ROME, ITALY (April 7, 2018) It was our second to the last day in Rome. And because Leilah, Barok, Palan and I didn’t enter when we visited St. Peter’s Square on the day we arrived, we made sure to set foot in the basilica--the largest church in all of Christendom until 1989. The interior of St. Peter’s is filled with so many masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque art. There is the bronze baldachin by Bernini, which rests over the basilica’s high altar, and Michelangelo’s spectacular dome, which he designed without pay as a gift to the Church. There are the splendid statues--Michelangelo’s Pieta, the figures of the founder saints (naturally, I was drawn to St. Ignatius of Loyola), the monuments to the popes (I like Pope Gregory’s), and many more. I bet I could stay a whole day. But there were too many people. And we needed to pack soon for our flight back to Manila.

A humongous fossil, I said to myself as I entered the Colosseum. One can only imagine the sights and sounds that accompanied the gladiatorial combats, wild animal fights, and even public executions that took place at the center of the gigantic structure.

CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA (April 3, 2011) On our last day in L.A. before proceeding to the next stops in Bukas Palad’s U.S. concert tour, our Fil-Am hosts took us to the 11-story Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. I knew it to be the church where Lea Salonga was married. Beyond that, I had no idea how beautiful and majestic the cathedral is. Designed by Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo to have virtually no right angles, the cathedral is a vibrant and dynamic reflection of the 21st century Catholic peoples of L.A. Complementing its contemporary vibe, modern tapestries inside by John Nava have a dual purpose--to enhance the church’s acoustics and to showcase the Communion of Saints. I instantly spotted St. Lorenzo Ruiz inn the roster.

We had more sights to appreciate outside. Ooh, a garden!

CALLE REAL, ILOILO, PHILIPPINES (May 18, 2022) I was invited to Iloilo to deliver a talk during the graduation of Senior High School students of Ateneo de Iloilo, but decided to come two days sooner to enjoy some sights there that I had never seen. And I’m glad I did. Not even the cab driver knew where Calle Real was. I guess that’s because the street is officially named J.M. Basa even if Calle Real better suits it. It is, after all, located in the old downtown district of the city and is likened to Manila’s Escolta. I alighted at the one end of the road and walked the rest. Famous during the Spanish era, the street was recently given more life by the Iloilo Cultural Foundation, which initiated the restoration of several buildings in the area. These building once belonged to the elite of Iloilo, who took residence on the upper floors while their businesses flourished on the first. It is easy to imagine how bustling the area must have been then. Calle Real and Escolta are the only two heritage central business districts in the Philippines that still stand.