Walking the Streets of Iloilo City (2 of 3)

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From Muelle Loney, I walked my way back to J.M. Basa Street along an alley near the freedom grandstand, where I went up to imagine how it felt like to watch the live performances of the ati tribes during Dinagyang from there. It felt wrong, it felt too small. Perhaps magic indeed happens during Dinagyang.  

I crossed and continued walking along Mapa Street, looking up here and there, feeling like a tourist while admiring peculiar sites busy citygoers don't have time to see. I reached the street's end and turned left to Rizal Street. There is this old mansion along it that I certainly know of, I remembered. What sets apart this mansion, and what makes it very memorable to me, is its unique fence on which a lot of eagles are perching. A total of nine if I counted right. 

Ledesma Mansion, also known as the "Eagle House"

Owned by one Don Celso Ledesma in the 1920s, the mansion looks very imposing of its gothic renaissance architecture and design. Some says that there actually is a real Philippine Eagle perched on its balcony sometimes. I did not catch it when I passed by the "Eagle House" though, but I would have died in delight if I did. 

I continued my way down the street back to Plaza Libertad then straight to Muzones Street to reach Fort San Pedro. I heard the fort has been undergoing some rehabilitation, too, so I went to see. The sidewalks are well done and the streetlamps are fancy-fit for a bay view park. More beautification efforts still needs to be done here. Though the heat was hotter in this part of the city, the breeze was strong and cool. 

From the island's end (that is Fort San Pedro) all the way to the other end of Calle Real (J.M. Basa), I walked my way back again to the busy street to meet some company, my little sister. But I took my time very well, I made sure to myself never to hurry when walking. So instead of walking along Calle Real straight, I took some left and right turns along its way. I passed by Guanco Street, which very known to me as the street where the other Gaisano mall is located. Though a funny thing about this street that I noticed was that it was lined by many carinderia (in English, "local eatery") from end to end. The whole time I was passing by Guanco Street, usual Ilonggo lunchtime viands (e.g dinuguan, fried fish, KBL or kadios-baboy-langka, utan na monggo, fried chicken) among others were displayed. The whole time, my stomach started to growl at me, too. 

Surprisingly after, seeing that I managed to end myself up in the city's central public market (as I started seeing a line of shops of native Ilonggo products and souvenirs), I felt a sudden excitement to shop. I did. 

Turning right to Aldeguer Street, where a mass of peanut brittles (locally called bandi) and other bandi-like delicacies are being sold, I continued walking straight back to J.M. Basa to meet up with my little sister under the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch. The beauty of Calle Real is slowly emerging again, I thought to myself. The design and architecture of the restored structures were kept the same, I'm glad. Their colors were made pastel.

Here, look at some photos I took of the already rehabilitated buildings along Calle Real.

I made it to Iloilo City's kilometer zero and I pigged out on one nine-inch mozzarella pizza! If you wanna know where, continue reading the next page here.