Kaikoura's VirtualTourist Home Page

10 July 2008

I was a young girl when I first saw a picture of Neuschwanstein Castle. For a child who hasn't seen any, not to mention not having travelled farther than Manila, I grew up thinking Neuschwanstein will always be just a dream, something unattainable, almost impossible. A dream that will never come true.

It might seem odd for others to find there are people like me who would think this way. Yet I am just one of the many millions of people who grew up in far flung provinces where the news in the main city today will not be heard for at least a week or so in my village. That was, by the way, during my time as a child. The advent of electricity and soon the proliferation of TV sets in villages (or barangays in my dialect) brought the villages into the current scene.

Going to the city was one of the biggest thrills in my life as a child ignoring the very ardous day or two of rough, I mean very rough, and accident prone roads. There were times we had to ride on a truck (full of sacks of newly harvested rice) all the way from my village to Ilocos and then finally to Manila. Yet that to me was such an adventure and I thought I must be one of the luckiest people on earth for I have travelled that long at that early age. How little did I know then.

My aunt, who unfortunately passed away last week, had a collection of pocketbooks that I use to pinch and hide so I could read them. I wasn't supposed to read them I was instructed. I guess the more you are told you can't; the more you want to find out why you can't.

That was how I became acquainted with the existence of Castles, of Royalties, and of places I could only imagine.

I still have not seen Neuschwanstein Castle and I am now almost a grandmother. The only difference I guess is that I now know it is not going to be just a dream but one that can come true.

A very big part of my life was spent in relationships that did not allow me to be my own person nor travel to places I longed to see. I guess I have finally learnt one or two of life's greatest lessons: "we can't change people but we can change ourselves"...and "if you want something badly, you'll find a way and you'll make it happen".

Two years ago I turned my life around. I gave up a comfortable life in exchange for my independence. And though I have less, much much less now (material stuffs), I feel I am doubly blessed! Doubly blessed by the changes I have seen in me, the courage I have mustered, the experiences, the people and new friends I have met, the lessons I have learned...

God created such a beautiful world out there for us to see, to admire, to enjoy, to learn from. Sometimes we only need to hear one word, see one gesture, or meet one person.

In my case, one picture to open the doors to the corners of our beautiful world! Yes, it was my Neuschwanstein picture that captured my heart as a child. I thought it died with my childhood. But more than two years ago I came to know a dear friend from that land of castles and great palaces and reminded me there is a child in us...maybe the child in me still longs to see Neuchswanstein... It's never too late...