Retired Nomads Part 4: Tagaytay Ridge, American Cemetery Memorial & Intramuros

February 21

Tourist Driver Arnold was the tour company I used. touristdrivermanila@gmail.com Our guide was Jonathan and went by Jon. The company was very responsive and did have different tours to offer.

Today we are joined by Bobby & Shera and Celia & Charles. Stu and Esta had to cancel the cruise due to health issues and Celia & Charles from Malta took their place. Celia had fallen on arrival at the Hong Kong airport and broke 4 ribs and was in quite a bit of pain. Yikes!

port from our balcony

drive to Tagaytay Ridge

Weather was not our friend again today and we had rain and clouds/mist at Tagaytay. We skipped the Palace in the Sky Jeepney ride and viewpoint due to the rain and zero visibility.

We were to stop at Starbucks for the viewpoint, but the group wanted to go someplace more local, and Jon took us to a place that has the best hot chocolate ever. It was a big production at the table where the guy with both hands mulled the chocolate with a wooden dowel before pouring it for us. It came with some whipped cream. As we drank our hot chocolate the rain stopped, and it cleared up enough to get a few photos of Taal lake and Taal volcano.

Hot Chocolate break

now that the rain stopped, we went out on the patio

Celia kept saying that couldn't be the volcano as she was comparing it to Etna which she can see from their home, until the guide came out and confirmed that was it in the distance

Since the weather cleared, we made the stop at Starbucks for the viewpoint and got a photo op.

still not great, but it was a total white-out before

So, we drove the 1.5 hours back to Manila. I said it was quite a long way to drive for a hot chocolate, but it was worth it!

By the time we got to Manila Jon decided to add in the American Cemetery and Memorial since we didn’t see much at the top and skipped the Jeepney ride. It is always interesting in these types of stops in that they are sad and thought-provoking but always a beautiful site with the crosses. There was a nice museum there and a short film.

street in the city

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

We could have spent another hour at the Memorial, but we had more to see today.

It was almost 3:00 by the time we got back to Manila, and he wanted us to see the Church 1^st and then have lunch and then go to the Walled City. We opted to skip lunch since it was so late.

The “Walled City” of Intramuros. showcases the Philippines’ colonial past. We saw church ruins, ancient walls, Casa Manila and other relics of time during the Spanish occupation. We walked on cobbled streets to San Agustin Baroque Church. There was a wedding going on so we couldn’t go inside.

on the way to the city

San Agustin Church

wedding

short walk to look for snacks

Our last stop was at Fort Santiago, a Spanish fortress that once guarded the entrance to the Pasig River, where our national hero Dr. Joseph Rizal spent his last days and where he wrote his famous “My Last Farewell”.

We should have had a guided tour here but the parking lot was full, so he gave us 45 minutes to wander on our own. One lady was worried we would miss the ship, but it was a 10 minute drive from where we were. The guide felt he needed to rush things due to her distress, and we missed a few things because of this. We arrived over an hour before it was all aboard.

entry to Fort Santiago

"Kitty Litter"

Plaza de Armas

Shrine of Jose Rizal

Prison cell of Jose Rizal

souvenir shop

back at the plaza

My casualty today was that I left my sweater in the vehicle and didn’t notice until it was too late for Jon to come back before we sailed. Our only complaint with today’s tour was that the vehicle was too small for 6 people. 3 regular seats and then a small back seat that should have only held 2 but 3 of us were crammed back there. I also bruised my left butt cheek when the armrest gave way and I slammed into the door frame, getting out.

We had some Philippine Pesos left over so we did some shopping at the pier. (and some leftover for Scott’s treasure chest and a coin for our collector where we put a coin from countries we have visited)