Off to Manila

Saturday afternoon was a lovely, (relatively) cool day for an outing, which worked out well, since Jim and I had plans to visit downtown Manila with Edwin, operations manager at one of Shelly's plants.

Our first stop was Intramuros -- old Manila, a city-within-a-city, the seat of Spanish colonial government and site of most of Manila's top tourist destinations, including a shrine to medical doctor, writer, revolutionary and national hero José Rizal, who was executed by the Spanish in 1896 for his outspoken criticism of colonialism.

Intramuros

Inside the Rizal Museum

You might say this rings true today in America...

The old walls and crumbling buildings of Intramuros reminded me again of how short history is in America. Work on the walled city was begun in the 1570s and, while buildings inside have been destroyed countless times by fires, typhoons, earthquakes and war, the wall remains.

We took a drive past the U.S. Embassy, and then strolled along Manila Bay, until we found a shady spot to sit and drink a beer or two before having a seafood buffet (with some fantastic squid) and heading home.

Edwin made an excellent driver and tour guide, and I paid close attention to where we were in anticipation of, some day soon, driving downtown myself.