“Hey, let’s be quiet, we’re at the shrine to Rizal,” said Lindsay as we walked through old Intramuros after desk at the Hotel Manila Philippines suggested it. “He was executed here by the Spanish in 1896.” Lindsay had a head for trivia, you want her on your team for Trivial Pursuit. We had slowed down and come to find out that Rizal was Dr. Jose Rizal, who was imprisoned here too. He was quite an intellectual, and as artist, and wrote Mi Ultimo Adios, his last farewell, to his family, found after his death.We continued on the rest of the fort, a kind of European walled city built in the 16Th century, that once encompassed schools, churches an occupied palace. This place is huge. We left and had to get some food, of course. All that history makes you hungry. Lindsay and I discussed the long colonial history of the Philippines on our way to the great Salcedo Market, where stalls sell everything from fish alive to all kinds of delicious street food. WE found one place that had prawns cooked with the milk of coconut, fresh ginger and it was delicious. We hoped later that day to get some lechon, the famous pork dish, and it is said onne can order a whole suckling pig. Talk about a pig out. We wondered too about dim sum since there are a lot of Chinese here in the Phillippines. then of course there are the Spanish restaurants and their Paella and tapas. We really enjoyed the open air market, a parking lot all blocked off. We wandered around the market, taking in the smells and textures of this vibrant country and decided the best thing to do after our adventures was to hole up and have a beer.
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