Stuck in the city for the Holy Week? Here are tips on how to pass the time
Don’t be bummed if you have nowhere to go over the long weekend, unlike some lucky dudes. Here are our suggested activities that can help you pass time and even enjoy the city when it’s at its quietest and least congested. Disclaimer, though: They’re not in the least religiously inclined.
Go plane watching
There’s a good spot along the C5 extension near the airport road where you can just park your butt and watch planes as they land and take off. It might get difficult to put your phone down once you’ve settled into a nice spot because the place has plenty of ‘Gram-worthy corners and moments, but try not to get too distracted by your need to document everything for social media; it is still Lent, after all. Spend at least 15 minutes or so just observing your surroundings and being. You might be surprised what being in a wide open space and the sounds and sights of planes can do for you on your time alone.
Embark on an artistic Visita Iglesia
No, we don’t mean putting on theatrics whenever you enter a church. If you’re the type who hasn’t been inside one for quite a while, the upcoming Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday provide a good, non-religious reason to visit the village church again. Why not bring along a sketch pad and do some sketches of the people praying or attending mass, and of the interesting details to be found in your local church’s architecture? If you have friends or family members planning to complete the Visita Iglesia this holy week, tag along so you’ll have more subjects to draw. It might sound obtrusive to observe people so closely while they’re practicing their faith, but drawing can be an actively meditative experience.
Get creative in the kitchen
Making your own meals can be therapeutic, especially if you’re cooking simply for yourself and don’t have to worry about hungry and hard-to-please family members. If you’re city-bound this holy week, prepare a menu of dishes you can whip up for yourself, especially during the days when malls and most restaurants, and cafés are closed. Find recipes online and make a grocery list of ingredients that you’ll need for three to four days’ worth of dishes; to make it even more challenging, look for recipes that will have you making dishes from scratch. You can even try making vegetarian or vegan ones if you haven’t made them before, then plan something really special for Easter Sunday. Just remember to finalize your list well before mid-week so you can make that trip to the grocery or market before they close down for the holidays.
Do some Kondo-ing
Spring equinox happened already last week, and the loooong weekend is sufficient time for you to go into spring cleaning mode. Clean out the clutter in your room or apartment, sort out the stuff that you no longer need, or to quote Marie Kondo, no longer gives you joy, and if they’re still in serviceable shape, pack them up for donation. Organize your closet and your bookshelves, scrub down your bathroom, wipe down your windows, and basically look after the corners of your living space that you tend to overlook when you’re caught up in the daily grind.
Walk anywhere
With gyms and studios also going on a break later this week, keep up your fitness routine by taking 10,000 steps for each day that you skip your regular workout. Walk toward where, you ask? To the local park. Around the block (or five). Down the street and back again. Walk your dog, if you have one, and let your pet lead the way. It doesn’t really matter that you have no particular destination to go to; there would hardly be anyone around anyway, so you’ll probably have the streets mostly to yourself. Just get your muscles warm and your blood moving so that when the whole world goes back to regular programming on April 2, you won’t feel so rusty getting back into your fitness groove.
