Here is the Part I and II of Rizal’s Travel
In Biñan and Manila
•Paciano brought Jose to the nearby town, Biñan, to attend the school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino
Cruz.
*Except for occasional homecomings, he stayed in the town for a year and a half of schooling. He
lived in his aunt’s house, where his breakfasts generally consisted of “a plate of rice and two
dried sardines (‘tuyo’)”.
•Don Francisco sent Jose to Manila in June 1872 to enroll in Ateneo Municipal.
*Paciano found a boarding house for Jose in Intramuros but later on he transferred to Calle Carballo in
Sta. Cruz. He transferred again the following year in Calle Magallanes and then two years after, he
became an intern in Ateneo and stayed there until his graduation.
•From 1877 to 1882, Rizal studied in University of Santo Tomas, enrolling in the course on Philosophy in
Letters, but shifted to Medicine a year after.
*This was after knowing that her mother will become blind. So, he boarded in the house of a certain
Concha Leyva in Intramuros, and later in “Casa Tomasina,” at Calle 6, Santo Tomas,
Intramuros.
•And his landlord-uncle in Casa Tomasina was Antonio Rivera who had a daughter named Leonor that
became Jose's sweetheart.
In Europe
•Rizal stopped attending class at UST in 1882.
*This was because of being sick and tired of the discriminatory and oppressive Dominican
professors
•On May3 of that year, he left for Spain to complete his studies. It is considered as 'secret departure'.
*There were at least ten sure people—including his three siblings, an uncle, ‘jesuit priests' and
intimate friends—collaborated in his going away.
•On his way to Madrid, he had many stop-overs:
-He visited the town of Singapore
-He passed through Punta de Gales, Colombo, and Aden
-He also went across the waterway of Suez Canal and visited the Italian city of Naples, and went to
Barcelona
•Rizal left Barcelona for Madrid and enrolled Medicine and Philosophy & Letters at Universidad Central
de Madrid on November 3, 1882
•In Rizal’s letter dated February 13, 1883, he informed Paciano of his meeting with other Filipinos: “The
Tuesday of the Carnival we had a Filipino luncheon and dinner in the house of the Paternos, each one
contributing one ‘duro’. We ate with our hands, boiled rice, chicken adobo, fried fish and roast pig.”
•Rizal became penniless as his family encountered economic regression.
*But still, on a day in June 1884, Rizal won a gold medal in a contest despite of not having his
breakfast.
•He attended the feast held in honor of two award-winning Filipino painters, Juan Luna and Felix
Resurreccion Hidalgo. In the occasion, he delivered a daring liberal speech which became so
controversial.
*And it even caused sickness to his worrying mother.
•Perhaps, being broke and hungry could really make one braver and more impulsive.
*As one student commented, “Hayop man, ‘pag gutom, tumatapang.”
•In 1885, Rizal who had finished his two courses in Madrid went to Paris, France. From November, 1885
to February, 1886, he worked as an assistant to the celebrated ophthalmologist, Dr. Louis de Weckert.
•In February 3, 1886, he left Paris for Heidelberg, Germany. He attended lectures and training at the
University of Heidelberg where he is said to have completed his eye specialization.
•Afterward, Rizal settled for three months in the nearby village, Wilhemsfeld, at the pastoral house of a
Protestant pastor, Dr. Karl Ullmer.
*This was also the time when the long-distance friendship between Jose and Ferdinand
Blumentritt began. Rizal wrote a letter in German and sent it with a bilingual (Spanish and
Tagalog) book ‘Aritmiteca’ to Blumentritt.
•Jose traveled next to Leipzig and attended some lectures at its university.
•Having reached Dresden afterward, he met and befriended Dr. Adolph B. Meyer, the Director of the
Anthropological and Ethnological Museum.
•In November 1886, he went to Berlin and further enhanced his skills and knowledge in ophthalmology.
*He learned other languages and also became member of various scientific communities.
•On February 21, 1887, he finished his first novel and it came off the press a month later.