When I need to relax after traveling for a bit, I make a stopover in Amsterdam and visit with good friends. There is no itinerary to follow, no places to go, just days spent relaxing and enjoying the view of trees lining the entrance to Vondel Park. I love the new spring foliage, so fresh and delicate. But fall foliage is just as enchanting with its golden hues. While summer’s green is a welcome backdrop, winter’s naked branches give me a view of my neighbors’ 17th century homes across the park. All the seasons have a magic of its own and I’m just here to soak it all in. My friends and I often go out to dinner. This is usually the only item on my agenda. On this particular evening, we decided to eat at the Café Amsterdam in Watertorenplein. We like this place because apart from the good food, there is an outdoor terrace that borders a canal, perfect for long summer evenings. The indoor seating area is just as atmospheric with its high ceiling. This evening’s added attraction is the lig
San Sebastian Minor Basilica Following the destruction of its three churches due to fire and earthquakes, the parish priest of San Sebastián in the 1880s, Esteban Martinez, sought the help of a Spanish architect named Genaro Palacios to build a church that could withstand an earthquake. Palacios’ idea was to use steel to construct the new church and make it both earthquake and fire resistant. To this end, prefabricated steel sections were ordered from Belgium which were then sent to the Philippines in 1888 in eight separate shipments. Belgian workers traveled to Manila to put together all these sections on-site. Pope Leo XIII raised the status of San Sebastián to Minor Basilica in 1890, a year before the new church was consecrated in August 1891. Steel is not without its share of problems. Rust and corrosion are expected of a structure that is over a century old especially when it is close to Manila Bay. Interventions have been undertaken throughout the years to preserve the Basilica a