1. 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
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.

2. May 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
June, 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.

3. October 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.
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.

4. March 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.
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.

5. 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.
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

6. 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
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.

7. 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.
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
August 1890

8. 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
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.

9. 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.
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
March 1889

10. 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 ophthalmology
He also joined Free Masonry and was impressed
with the freedom they enjoyed in openly
criticizing the government.
1883

11. 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 Mass
In 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
May 16, 1888 – June
1888

12. 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
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

13. 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

14. 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-

15. 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
February 3,
1888

16. 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

17. 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