Sunday, April 05, 2009

Pampanga: Visita iglesia to Pampanga churches

When I was still City Tourism Officer of San Fernando, Pampanga, I lamented the fact that the beautiful churches of Pampanga were not given the attention they truly deserve during the Holy Thursday visita iglesia tours. Well, I can say that today that Pampanga is hot on the visita iglesia map!

On top of the list is the Betis Church in Guagua. A National Cultural Treasure, the church is called the Sistine Chapel of the Philippines because of its wall to ceiling mural paintings and its ornate wooden retablo.

You can start your visita iglesia in Lubao Church, the oldest church in Pampanga. From the San Fernando Exit of the NLEX, just drive westward to Lubao. After Lubao, drive eastward along the Jose Abad Santos Highway (Gapan-Olongapo Road) and look for the junction to Sta. Rita town on the left to visit the Sta. Rita Church. After there, you can drive to the Guagua Church, and then to Betis Church.

After Betis, drive along the old National Highway until you reach Bacolor Church. Once the biggest church in Pampanga, it is now half-buried under lahar. But that did not damped the pride of the town in their heritage since they dug up the wonderful retablos and restored them.

After Bacolor, continue your drive along the old National Highway until you reach San Fernando. You'll know you're in San Fernando when you see the chimneys of PASUDECO, the Pampanga Provincial Capitol, and the wonderful ancestral mansions along Consunji Street. Since Holy Thursday is also Araw ng Kagitingan, you might want to make a stopover at the San Fernando Train Station, an important Death March landmark.

Anyway, you'll be able to find the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando really easily. The current interior of the Cathedral was designed by Architect Fernando Ocampo after the church burned down a second time in 1939.

Since you are already in San Fernando, you can have your lunch stop there and try out the great restaurants that serve some of the best Kapampangan fare.

From San Fernando, drive south along MacArthur Highway to the Minalin Church and Apalit Church. Then at the San Simon Interchange, cross above the NLEX eastward to get to the San Luis Church and further on, the Arayat Church. Along the way, you'll see the old facade of the Sta. Ana Church. However, its interior is heavily renovated.

If there's not enough time, you can go straight to Angeles Church north of San Fernando. From there, you could drive to Porac which has two old chapels worth visiting, the Pio Chapel and Hacienda Dolores Chapel. Pio is a bit more accessible. But it's quite a drive to Hacienda Dolores.

You can end your day with dinner in the Clark Freeport area which has a wonderful selection of international cuisine for all. Well, if your stomach is up to it, you can keep on eating in between churches since every town has its own specialty! A visita iglesia in Pampanga is definitely a feast for mind, body and soul!

Related entries
Visita iglesia to our heritage churches
Pisamban... the churches of Pampanga
Holy Week practices in the Philippines
Visita iglesia and more Holy Week practices in the Philippines
Visita iglesia routes for Holy Thursday

Visita iglesia and more Holy Week practices in the Philippines

Visita iglesia to our Philippine churches has been a part of our lives as Catholic Filipinos. Every Holy Thursday, we visit seven churches, some fourteen, as we reflect on Christ's passion and death. I've done a whole lot of articles on Holy Week including Holy Week practices in the Philippines, which discusses Holy Week practices you could witness if you're at the right place at the right time.

Anyway, below are even more articles I had previously written on Holy Week. I'll be in San Fernando again this Good Friday.

Holy Thursday
Visita iglesia routes for Holy Thursday - In this article, I gave suggestions on churches to visit in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon. I also suggested some popular routes including Pampanga Day Trip, Laguna de Bay Loop and the Mount Banahaw Loop.
Visita iglesia to our heritage churches - In this article, I focused on heritage churches, including those up north.
Visita iglesia to Metro Manila churches
- This is a fairly comprehensive list of heritage churches in Metro Manila which you can visit.
Visita iglesia to Makati City churches
Visita iglesia to Batangas churches
Visita iglesia to Pampanga churches
Visita iglesia around Laguna de Bay churches
Visita iglesia to Southern Cebu churches
Visita iglesia to Northern Cebu churches

Visita iglesia in Leyte and Southern Leyte

Visita iglesia to Western Pangasinan churches


Good Friday
Good Friday in San Fernando, Pampanga
Crucifixion rites held in San Pedro Cutud every Good Friday

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Around Clark: C' Italian Dining and Azur Bistro & Bar

When in Clark Freeport, make sure to try out the many wonderful restaurants that offer a fine selection of international cuisine. After our visits to El Kabayo and Puning Hot Spring, I brought the Qtube crew to C' Italian Dining for lunch. No doubt, this is the best Italian restaurant, if not the best restaurant in town!

Of course, Chef Chris Locher served us their world famous panizza (these are pizza strips you roll with alfalfa and arugula), their homemade sausages, wood fire roasted chicken and pasta. Great selection indeed! If you want to taste the best of C' Italian Dining, join our Mothers' Day tour on May 9!

Anyway, for dinner we trooped to Azur Bistro and Bar, an up and coming restaurant and bar at Enclave along Friendship Highway. With me was Claude Tayag and Meng Tayag-McTavish who also wanted to try it out. Pampanga is really home to so many good restaurants!

Each of us had something different. We ordered (1) Meat Pie Salad, (2) 6-hour Slow Cooked Pork, (3) U.S. Certified Angus Beef Onglet, (4) Lamb Sausage, Mushroom and Tomato Pasta, (5) Corned Pork, Sausage, Black Pudding and Cannellini Beans, (6) Chilean Sea Bass, and (7) Braised Ox Tongue, Mushrooms a Jillo. What a feast!

Part 1: Around Clark: El Kabayo & Puning Hot Spring
Related Posts with Thumbnails