dr. jose rizal's travels
TRANSCRIPT
Jose Protacio Realonda Alonso Rizal Mercado
Jose Rizal is the most traveled Filipino hero in history. The travel and adventure of Jose Rizal are an important facet of his education and sophistication through which he learned the culture and politics of other countries. Rizal’s first trip abroad was on 1882 bound for Spain. The travel story of Jose Rizal constitutes part of his struggle to bring changes in his native land.
Dr. Jose Rizal was died on December 30, 1896. In Bagumbayan (Luneta), a city promenade that also served as a killing field for those who opposed Spanish colonial
rule in the 19th century Philippines.
SPAINMay 3, 1882
He arrived Barcelona, Spain where he met some Filipinos. He also made his first nationalistic essay he wrote abroad, “Amor Patrio” which was later published in Diarong Tagalog.To complete his studies and widen his political knowledge through exposure to European governments. It’s funny that his departure for Spain had gone down to history as a ‘secret departure’ .
PHILIPPININESJune, 1892
Back in the Philippines, Rizal’s travel destinations in the Philippines included a visit to Bulacan and Pampanga before he was finally exiled in Dapitan, in the province of Zamboanga del Norte.Rizal was brought back to Fort Santiago where he spent his last days until his execution.
HONGKONGOctober
1891
Rizal left Europe for Hong Kong onboard the ship ‘Melbourne’ on which he began writing his third (but unfinished) novel. He arrived in Hong Kong on November 20 and resided at No. 5 D’ Aguilar Street, No. 2 Rednaxela Terrace. (In case you did not notice, ‘Rednaxela’ is ‘Alexander’ spelled reversely).In Hong Kong, Jose opened a medical clinic. A Portuguese friend, Dr. Lorenzo P. Marques helped him to have plentiful patrons of various nationalities. His successful operation on his mother’s left eye allowed her to read again.
SINGAPORE
The first stop over of Rizal on his way to Spain is Singapore, which he spent for sightseeing the city including its famed Botanical Garden, Buddhist temples, the monument of Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles, the founder of Singapore.
SANDAKANMarch 1892
He went to Sandakan (East Malaysia) aboard ‘Menon’ to negotiate with British authorities concerning the founding of a Filipino colony in North Borneo (now called Sabah). On March 21, Rizal asked Governor General EulogioDespujol through a letter to allow the landless Filipinos, especially the deported Calamba tenants, to establish themselves in North Borneo. Rizal was back in Hon Kong in April, 1892.
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
It was Rizal’s journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka that was important for him to improve his knowledge of the French language while on board a French ship, Djemnah.
EGYPT
In Marseilles, En route through the Suez Canal, Rizal got off at the Red Sea terminal and was amazed by the impressive moonlight scenery in Suez and was engrossed with the multicultural people and language of the place. And he visited the Italian City of Naples.
GHENT
July 1891
Rizal went to Ghent in July 1891 because the cost of printing in the place was cheaper. He lived in a low-cost boarding house where he had as roommate Jose Alejandro, an engineering student in the University of Ghent. Tightening their belts, they rented a room exclusive of breakfast. They bought a box of biscuit, counted the contents, and computed for their daily ration for a month. In just 15 days, Alejandro had eaten up all his shares whereas Rizal frugally limited himself to his daily allocation. The publisher F. Meyer-Van Loo Press, No. 66 Viaanderen Street agreed to print the ‘El Fili’ on installment basis.
BIARRITZ, PARIS AND BRUSSELS
Rizal proceeded to take a more than a month vacation in Biarritz, a tourist town in southwestern France noted for its mild climate and sand beaches. Arriving there in February 1891, Rizal was welcomed as a family guest in the house of the Bousteds, especially by Nellie whom he had a serious (but failed) romantic relationship. In Biarritz, he continued to worked on his ‘El Fili’ and completed its manuscript on March 29, the eve of his departure for Paris. Valentine Ventura hosted his short stay in Paris, and the Jacobies, especially Petite Suzanne, cordially welcomed his arrival in Brussels in April 1891. In Brussels, Rizal revised and prepared for printing his second novel until the end of May. By June 1891, he was already looking for a printing firm to print the ‘El Filibusterismo.’
FRANCE
Rizal arrived at France for the first time at Marseilles, where he visited the Chateau d’lf, the fortress famous as the setting for Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo.
ITALY
Rizal reached Naples, Italy and was briefly astounded by its dynamic citizens and the picturesque wonders of the municipality particularly the Mount Vesuvius and the Castle of St. Telmo.
MADRID
Rizal traveled to Madrid in August 1890. Along with his lawyer, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, he tried to seek justice for his family but could not find anyone who could help him. In Madrid, Rizal also heard the news of Leonor Rivera's marriage with an Englishman Henry Kipping who was the choice of Leonor’s mother. As if ‘misfortunes’ were not enough, there emerged the Del Pilar-Rizal rivalry for leadership in the Asociacion Hispano Filipino. The supposedly healthy election for a leader (‘Responsible’) produced divisive unpleasant split among the Filipinos in Madrid (the Rizalistas vs. the Pilaristas). Rizal thus decided to leave Madrid, lest his presence results in more serious faction among Filipinos in Madrid.
August 1890
BELGUIM
In Belgium, Rizal busied himself with writing the ‘Fili’ and contributing for La Solidaridad using the pen names Dimas Alang and LaongLaan. When he heard the news that the Calamba agrarian trouble was getting worse, Rizal decided to go home. But Paciano told him through a letter that they lost the court case against the Dominicans in the Philippines and they intended to bring the case to Madrid. This prompted Jose to go to Madrid instead to look for a lawyer and influential people who would defend the Calamba tenants
BARCELONA
He arrived Barcelona, Spain where he met some Filipinos. He also made his first nationalistic essay he wrote abroad, “Amor Patrio” which was later published in Diarong Tagalog.
MADRID
He left Barcelona for Madrid, to pursue his medical studies in the Universidad Central de Madrid. He also took courses in Philosophy and Letters and took French, German, and English lessons from private tutors.
FRANCE
In Paris, Rizal frequented the BibliothequeNationale, working on his annotation of the ‘Sucesos’. Rizal witnessed the Universal Exposition of Paris, having as its greatest attraction the Eiffel Tower.He formed the ‘Kidlat Club’, a temporary social club which brought together Filipinos witnessing the exposition. He also organized the ‘Indios Bravos’, an association which envisioned Filipinos being recognized for being admirable in many fields, and the mysterious Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the Malays) which aimed to propagate useful knowledge. In Paris, Rizal also finished and published his annotation of the ‘Sucesos.’
March 1889
PARIS FRANCE
LONDON
In London, Rizal manually copied and annotated Morga’s ‘Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas’, a rare book available in the British Museum. He also became the honorary president of the patriotic society Asociacion La Solidaridad (Solidaridad Association) and wrote articles for the ‘La Solidaridad’. In his 10-month stay in London, he had short visits in Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona. In Spain, he met Marcelo H. delPilar for the first time.
On 1883, Rizal visited the French capital of France, where he was fascinated by its architectural wonders (e.g. Place de la Concorde and the Arch of Triumph).He visited the Leannec Hospital to observe and became an apprentice of Dr. Louis de Weckert to specialized in ophthalmologyHe also joined Free Masonry and was impressed with the freedom they enjoyed in openly criticizing the government.
1883
CITY OF ROME
GERMANY
In Heidelberg, Rizal worked as apprentice of Dr. Otto Becker and was able to visit picturesque spots in the historical city including the Heidelberg Castle and the ancient churches.In Leipzig, he attended lectures in the University of Leipzig and worked on with his mission of enlightening his Filipino brethren with inspiring stories by translating the story of the Swiss independence and some of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales to Filipino.
In Dresden, he met Dr. Adolph Meyer and was impressed for the first time of the spirituality of a Catholic Holy MassIn Berlin, Rizal was captivated by its scientific atmosphere and absence of racial discrimination. He wrote the Tagalog Metrical Art (TaglischeVerkunst) and published Noli Me Tangere.In Leitmeritz, Bohemia, Rizal bonded with his close friend and professor, Ferdinand Blumentritt
On May 16, 1888 on the ship ‘City of Rome’ Rizal sailed for Liverpool and arrived on May 24. A day after, he reached London and stayed briefly at Dr. Antonio Ma.Regidor's home. He then boarded at the Beckett family where he fell in love with Gertrude, the oldest daughter of his landlord.In June 1888, Rizal made friends with Dr. Reinhold Rost and his family. Expert in Malayan language, Rost had in his house a good Filipiniana library. Our national hero was described by Rost as “a pearl of a man” (‘unaperla de hombre’).
May 16, 1888 – June 1888
OAKLAND
CZECH REPUBLIC
On May 6, he went to Oakland. Onboard a train, he took his evening meal at Sacramento and woke up at Reno, Nevada. He had visited also the states of Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and finally reached New York on May 13. On Bedloe Island, he had seen the Statue of Liberty symbolizing freedom and democracy. Inconsistently, Rizal observed that there was racial inequality in the land and real freedom was only for the whites. But if Rizal were alive today, he would be surprised that the Americans have already allowed a black guy to become their president for two terms.
May 6
In Prague, he met Dr. Willkomm from the University of Prague who toured him to the city’s historic spots including the tomb of Copernicus and the National History Museum
AUSTRIA
SAN FRANCISCO
In Vienna, Rizal was met by a famous European novelist, Norfenfals, who toured him to the churches, art galleries, and other tourists spots in the city especially along the Danube Rivera.In Salzburg, Rizal enjoyed the baroque architecture of the old town
The ship arrived in San Francisco on April 28. For a week, they were however quarantined, allegedly because of the cholera outbreak in the Far East. In reality, some politicians were just questioning the arrival of the Chinese coolies in the ship who would displace white laborers in railroad construction projects.
April 28
YOKOHA AND TOKYO JAPAN
BAVARIA
Rizal went to Munich and enjoyed its famous beer, to Nuremberg to see its doll factory and Ulm to see the biggest cathedral in all of Germany.
From Hong Kong, he reached Yokohama, Japan on February 28 and proceeded to Tokyo the next day. He lived in the Spanish legation in Tokyo upon the invitation of its secretary, Juan Perez Caballero. In March 1888, he heard a Tokyo band nicely playing a European music and was astonished to find out after the gig that some of its members were Filipinos (Zaide&Zaide, p. 130). We can surmise from this that even during Rizal’s time, some Filipinos were already entertainers in Japan (‘Japayuki’ or ‘Japayuko’).But if there were a person who was truly entertained at the time, it was Rizal himself who was amused by the Japanese girl who used to pass by the legation everyday. The 23-year old Seiko Usui whom he fondly called ‘O-Sei-San’became his tour guide and sweetheart rolled into one.
MACAO, HONGKONG
NUREMBERGE
They saw the infamous torture machines used in the so-called Catholic Inquisition. Afterward, they went to Ulm and climbed Germany’s tallest cathedral there.
On February 3, 1888, Rizal sailed to Hongkong onboard ‘Zafiro’ and just stayed inside the ship during its short stop at Amoy. He stayed at Victoria Hotel in Hongkong (not in Sta. Mesa) and visited the nearby city Macao for two days along with a friend, Jose Maria Basa. Among other things, Rizal experienced in Hong Kong the noisy firecracker-laden Chinese New Year and the marathon lauriat party characterized by numerous dishes being served. (The ‘lauriat’ combo meal in ‘Chowking’ originated from this Chinese party.)
February 3, 1888
CALAMBASWITZERLAND
Rizal saw Rhein falls, the largest plain waterfall in Europe and head towards other Swiss cities Basel, Bern, and Lausanne.Rizal was particularly fascinated with Geneva where the people speak French, German, and Italian.
Restoring his mother’s eyesight, he began to be dubbed as “German doctor” or “Doctor Uliman” and made a lot of money because people from different places flocked him for a better vision. Because of his enemies’ allegation that ‘Noli’ contained subversive ideas, Rizal was summoned by the Governor General Emilio Terrero. Seeing no problem in the book, Terrero nonetheless assigned to Rizal a body guard, Don Jose Taviel de Andrade, to protect the ‘balikbayan’ from his adversaries. In December 1887, the Calamba
folks asked Rizal’s assistance in collecting information as regards Dominican hacienda management. It was in compliance to the order of the government to investigate the way friar estates were run. So Rizal had reported, among others, that the Dominican Order had arbitrarily increased the land rent and charged the tenants for nonexistent agricultural services. The enraged friars pressured the governor general to ‘advise’ the author of the ‘Noli’ to leave the country. (In other words, “napunonatalagasakanyaangngapari”)
ITALY
Rizal toured the Italy’s famous cities namely Milan, Venice and Florence, known for their arts and culture.He also visited the Vatican in Rome and was particularly overwhelmed by St. Peter’s Church.
