Calesa tour of Intramuros

One of the highlights of our very brief stay in Manila was the calesa ride.  Again, to quote Wikipedia...

The earlier carriage type, called calash or calèche, was also a light carriage with small wheels, inside seats for four passengers, a separate driver's seat and a folding top.  In Quebec, Canada, calèche refers to a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle with or without a folding top and with a driver's seat on the splashboard. In the Philippines, a small two-wheeled calash is called a kalesa or calesa.

 Ours had four wheels, so it was really a caleche.

We had a great tour guide, who was very knowledgeable about Manila's history.  Our first stop was Intramuros, which is an old but beautifully preserved Spanish fort.

We visited the museum of Jose Rizal, and had to explain to Katy the concept of national heros.  We had to ask our guide to tone down the Martyrdom and graphic descriptions of Jose Rizal's death.  The museum was very moving though.

 From the fort, you can see across the river to Manila's Chinatown district.

 

We then visited Casa Manila, which is an old, beautifully preserved example of a house owned by a wealthy Filipino family in colonial times.  It's an interesting mix of Spanish architecture on the outside, with Filipino architecture on the inside, and reminded me a lot of the beautiful, wealthy, historic homes in Southern Spain.

 

As in southern Spain, the house is built around a beautiful courtyard with a fountain.

 

The girls were quite tempted to jump in for a splash - it was very very hot! 

Coming out of Casa Manila, we were treated to a traditional bridal party riding by in another horse drawn carriage.  They wore the most beautiful handmade lace dresses.