Intramuros: Historic Manila

This past weekend, I had the chance to go down to the city of Manila to check out some of the history here. It was incredible! The name of the area is "Intramuros" which literally means "within the walls". The area is just that. Along the outside is a wall that used to serve the purpose of protecting the city, like a fortress. It's the oldest district of the city of Manila, and it was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century.

That's all for the history lesson! But it was really cool. Of course, the coolest thing about this place is the tunnel-like Starbucks. I am pretty sure this is my favorite Starbucks in the world. And I must say, I've been to quite a few of them across the globe.

It's funny, because Metro Manila is not geographically that far from where I live. Maybe between 5 to 10 miles. It took us about 2 hours to get there! Traffic in Manila is unlike anything I have ever seen. Hence, the first stop was Starbucks! After that, we headed over to Fort Santiago, where we learned about a famous Filipino, Jose Rizal, who is considered a national hero of the Philippines. He fought for Philippine freedom, and was executed in 1896. Here is a picture of a replica of his holding cell.

This is the entrance to the dungeons where many Filipino and American soldiers were held captive and eventually drowned. They were chained to the walls, and when the tide from the Pasig River came up, over 600 soldiers were killed.

Classic Manila. They all really wanted us to take a ride.


The Manila Cathedral

It was great to see some of the amazing history of this place and to realize how hard the people of the Philippines had to fight to become an independent nation. It was an awesome day; however, there are 23 points of interest, and we only made it to 2 of them! I may need to make another trip back there!

And, just for fun....