Saint Martin's Basilica is beautiful. After Taal volcano erupted and drove the town back it was built to replace the older church. Started in the mid 1700's and not finished until 1865 roughly 100 years later it is considered young, after all it is 19th century by its completion date. All roads in Taal town seem to lead back towards the church, every time I got turned around I would find myself sighting it down the street. The original bells have since cracked and been replaced, but you can see the originals around the grounds and the newer bells ring loud and clear calling worshiper's to Sunday Mass.
With the Five o'clock church bells and morning light beckoning, we headed towards the basilica to take photos and investigate a rumour that the bell tower could be climbed. Upon our arrival at the visitor center we discovered that the bell tower climb was an option after morning mass was complete. We decided to find coffee and wander the market until 9 am rolled around. Our first stop was coffee and a chat with a delightful woman selling peanuts. Thanks to Tracey's (our plucky Canadian photographer) command of the Tagalog language we learned that she had been widowed some 20 years before and supported herself selling the peanuts, she had no other family. She is now eighty years old and is very sweet. We asked how many of her nuts she sold each day and she informed us that she would sell all that she had brought with her, her regular customers know where to find her.
As a tea drinker, I have had very little coffee in my thirty-two years, but Tracey forgot that and ordered me a coffee along with everyone else. I was concerned that if I didn't drink the coffee I might unintentionally insult the vendor, so I braced myself and took a sip- bitter as I expected (but sweetened to a point where I found it bearable) luckily it was a small cup and I managed to consume it all.
After we finished our coffee we bid the women goodbye and headed towards the market. It was fun, so many colors and things to see. We saw Beth's peanut brittle and I found some coffee that is grown and well known in the Taal area, Jonathan was pleased when I brought it home. There were fruit and vegetable stalls, meat stalls, fish stalls, clothing stalls, convenience stalls and drink stalls.
I opted for whole bean coffee, since it stays fresher and we have a grinder, but you could choose how fine of a grind you wanted to have. Once nine o'clock rolled around we meandered back towards the Basilica to see the bell tower. Once we had our tickets in hand we were shown the way to access the spiraling staircase of the tower. We carefully climbed the winding stone steps to find ourselves in the bell room. The new bells are fitted with a modern device to make easy ringing from below, but the stone surrounding them is old and beautiful. There was another set of steps heading outside the tower to take in the view. Wow. Every expectation had been exceeded and the best was yet to come.
Once we had our fill of the view above Taal town we headed back down to earth and decided to look at the antique area behind the 2nd story of the sanctuary. We wandered through and found ourselves at an open area with a table and kitchen. Bold, Tracey stepped forward and asked if it was a restaurant of staff eating area and to our surprise we discovered that we were talking to the head Father, and that this was the priest's living and eating area. Father Fred introduced himself and invited us to join him for coffee! We couldn't possibly turn him down. We sat at the table and were offered cups of coffee and a small cake of sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, once unwrapped it was eaten sprinkled with toasted coconut and was delicious. Of course, it would have been inconceivable to refuse a cup of coffee given to me by such a hospitable priest. By the end of the morning I had drunk more coffee that day than I had in my entire life previously.
The Father regaled us with stories and introduced us to the other two priests who worked with him as they came into the dining area. It was like a dream. He told us fishing stories and I told him how my mother-in-law always made chicken when my father-in-law went fishing, just in case. He laughed and decided to show us his koi pond, telling us how they had been so small and were now so big. After we finished our breakfast we followed him to the pond where he fed them for our amusement. The entire morning was unbelievable, I still can't quite believe it was real. Father Fred was so nice and so easy to converse with.
After parting with the Father we headed out of town... our next stop was Tagaytay. En route we ran into a castle that was rather out of place amongst the palm trees, I have since discovered that it was built to be part of an amusement park called Fantasy World that might have been akin to Disneyland. Unfortunately due to financial set backs it is unrealized and while you can tour the castle there is not yet anything else to do there. We stopped briefly in Tagaytay for lunch overlooking Taal lake and watched a storm roll in. A quick cup at Starbucks ended our excursion as the rains came in a torrent making it seem like a good idea to forgo any more photo stops. All in all, it was a splendid and nearly magical adventure.
