Ilocos December 2016: Luna Shrine in Badoc, Ilocos Norte

Hi everyone and happy new year! 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday - I sure did and I'm more than excited to share it with you all! At this point you're all probably familiar with my family's year-end trip to Baguio, but this time we decided to visit Ilocos before making that final trip. I haven't gone further north than that, and I really didn't know what to expect. 

I took a truckload of pictures while I was up there so I divided this series into a number of posts. I decided to start with the first site that holds a special place in my heart - the Luna Shrine.

I was particularly excited to visit this as I became a huge fan of the movie 'Heneral Luna', a local historical biopic about a Philippine general, that came out in September 2015. This movie in particular was in cinemas for a stunning 8 weeks, and was shown in several cities overseas. To be able to see the house where he and his brother grew up was a huge treat for me!

To give a short background, the Luna Shrine is the ancestral house of brothers Juan and Antonio Luna, who played significant roles in the revolution in the late 1800s. Juan was an internationally renown painter while Antonio was a brilliant military general for the Philippine Revolutionary Government. They were a big family actually, but Juan and Antonio were particularly close even as adults.

What struck me the most was how quiet the town was. Barely any cars, and even less tricycles and motorcycles. You wouldn't have known that this shrine was here as it was around the corner, tucked away from the town entrance. Was it also a quiet town during that time? 

Before you get excited, the shrine was closed! :( They were doing renovations and fixing the exhibits inside. Perhaps to add more articles about Antonio? They still allowed people to visit and take pictures from the outside though, which was a relief.

I would say it was better that this was closed, though. It makes it look a little more serene, and lets you appreciate the house more.

It's only recently that Antonio Luna is getting more attention, which is why it is Juan's name on the information marker. Maybe in a few years time, they will have Antonio's up? I'd love to see what they'd write about him in his marker!

The entire time I was there I couldn't help but think about how it must have been like for these heroes to live there. Did they stargaze by the balcony often? Meet their friends by the steps? You could feel the history just by walking around and taking a look. I got this feeling by being in Ilocos in general, actually!

And that's it! I know it's quite short but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Stay tuned for the succeeding posts in this series and some beauty posts (namely my 2016 favourites and a cheeky haul)!