Since, our planned Panagbenga
Festival didn’t go out well, instead of being sober of the incident, we decided
to go to the Strawberry Farm in La Trinidad and the Lourdes Grotto.
All of my friends are eager to
bring home some fresh strawberries, so we went to the Strawberry Farm in La
Trinidad, Benguet. This is one of the activities that we failed to do last year
when we went to Baguio. The farm is a 30 minutes drive from Baguio City,
approximately 10km from the center of Baguio City.
We arrived at the farm at 3:00 in
the afternoon. According to one of the farmers there are only few fresh
strawberries left for picking. Luckily, the farmer is kind enough to pick-up
some strawberries for us and gave it free of charge so we can taste it.
According to the farmer the ideal time for harvesting is in the morning. Aside
from the strawberry, the farm also has lettuce, broccoli and Malaysian mumps.
This is where the tourist usually buys the fresh strawberry and vegetable
wherein they harvest the crop and are weighed in by the farmers.
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the strawberry farm |
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Malaysian Mumps at the farm |
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Lettuce |
After almost an hour at the farm
we, decided to head back to Baguio and went to Lourdes Grotto. The grotto is
located in a high hill in the western part of Baguio wherein at the top you
will see the image of Our Lady of Lourdes; but reaching the top is not that
easy for you have to climb 252 steps of stairs.
Upon reaching the site, you will
be welcomed by vendors selling multi-colored candles, each color representing
different personal intentions. There is an altar below the image wherein you
can light up your candle and pray. Aside from the image of Our Lady of Lourdes,
you will also find an image of Jesus Christ just before reaching the top of the
stairs. Upon reaching the top, I and my
friend decided to light up three candles for our personal wishes. It is just
sad that there are people coming in the grotto that are not paying any respect
and are vandalizing the place.
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going down the 252 steps |
After saying our prayers and being a
photoholic we decided to go Burnham Park. Burnham Park is considered as the
heart of Baguio, since can be accessed by the different roads in Baguio namely Harrison,
Kisad, Governor Park and Magsaysay road; and it is surrounded by the other prominent
landmarks of Baguio, like the Session road, Baguio Cathedral and Baguio City Market.
It is around 6:00 pm when we
reached Burnham Park which is already filled by people watching a concert. We directly
went to the man-made lake to have a boat ride. When darkness came upon the
park, we were fascinated when all the lights from the lamp posts and rope
lights hanging from the trees came to life simultaneously creating a Disney –
fairy tale effect. Our boat ride lasted around 30 minutes.
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Burnham Park |
When we finished our boat ride we
decided to have dinner along Session Road before buying pasalubongs at the
Baguio City Market. And since we also planned to watch the float parade the
next morning, we decided to retreat early to our hotel.