Pancakes and a Hike in Tagaytay

 Hi Everyone! 

It’s day 2 and I’m very excited to be going to the gardens today. We first stopped at this cute coffee shop called Bag of Beans. Tagaytay is the definition of not judging a book by its cover because on the outside everything looks a bit run down and questionable but on the inside are ultra modern, sleek spaces. Bag of beans was no different with their Parisian themed decor. I ordered two eggs with pancakes and finished my whole plate! Everyone at the table was shocked, including myself. What can I say? There’s something so comforting about safe and familiar food. 

Afterward breakfast we all drove to Caleruega, a famous church and garden. It is located in the mountains so what was meant to be a garden stroll turned into a hike up and down the mountain, including at least a hundred steps to get to what we thought was the entrance, only to find a chapel and a dead end. But we were having such a fun time exploring nature we hardly noticed until we were exhausted and still had to walk back up the hill in 85° sunny weather. The walk back down the 10 flights of stairs was way less jovial than the flight up so don’t be too fooled by the smiles on our faces on the stairs lol.

The whole space was beautiful and the views overlooked these farmlands. This blue flower was my absolute favorite in the forest and it was so cute because it looked like little fairies on the ground everywhere! I was most definitely enchanted by the space and could have spent hours more there had the sunshine and staircases not left me starving.

We had a special treat for lunch because we ate in another garden lined with Kubos. Kubos are like little huts for rest and meals and you’ll find them all around town. They helped us to stay cool while eating outside because the roof and the bamboo don’t retain heat as a metal or synthetic picnic table would. We had more traditional Filipino dishes including my favorite dessert, halo halo. It’s a milky ice cream dish that has ice, ube, ice cream, beans, jelly, coconut, and flan with condensed milk poured on top. It’s the best treat to beat the heat! 

With our bellies full and having gotten our workout of the day done, Issa and I opted to nap rather than continue exploring the town which was perfect because it gave us just enough time to recover before dinner! We went to a five star hotel which had this beautiful outdoor space. Unfortunately the wind was wild, and after walking around for 20 minutes we decided to opt for indoor dining. 

Tagaytay was lovely, but I feel like we’ve seen it all. I’m excited we made a last minute change to our plans and are going to visit another town tomorrow. 

Miss you all and sending lots of love,

Carolyn