Dia Del Galeon 10.07.2010

The Philippines hosted the International Dia del Galeon Festival 2010 from Sept 20 to Oct 9 .Highlight of which was the docking of the replica of 17th century Galeon from Spain at Pier 13, Port of Manila.

The vessel departed last March 21 from Seville Spain and has crossed the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans. It docked in China in time for the Shanghai International Expo before heading to Manila.

The Galleon is 51 meters long and can hold up to 5,000 people! It weighs 495 tons and has ten cast iron cannons reminiscent of days gone by.


My current photo buddy and I braved the hot weather and went to Pier 13 to see the visiting vessel.


We arrived at the port at around 1130am and the queue for registration was quite long. Luckily we were able to register before the staff totally went off to lunch. After the break, a brief orientation on the history of galeon trade was conducted. The moderator was entertaining as he injected humorous lines. He was a public school teacher and he definitely researched for this event.

After the orientation , our batch was escorted to the gates of the pier leading to the galeon. It was our first time to enter Pier 13 and any of the ports in Manila so we're like ignorants.

After about 300meter walk, we saw the galeon and we were awed . Even though it is a replica, the sheer size and built was amazing to behold as if we were transported back to the Spanish era.

Here are some of the items we saw inside the galeon:



There were also cultural presentation on the pier just before the stairs leading to the galeon.



These beautiful students were from a public school whose name i forgot. Their costumes were very colorful and they were game to pose for the photographers present.