It was on October 16, 2010,a Saturday night where I was invited for a privilege dinner and tour with the crew of the Galeon Andalucia, an impressive ship on display with lights and all at Cebu harbour docking the waterfront of Malacanang of Sugbu for days.
Amidst the impending drizzle and chill on that night, the spectacle and the buffet that highlighted the event never failed to feature the ship in which its ancestors once sailed and landed on the shores of Cebu almost five hundred years ago. The galleon, which unofficially symbolizes Spain’s might on the sea during its colonial years and centuries, is not just a floating structure that moves when its sails set (this time, the galleon is engine-powered). It has become a floating museum; much like a memorabilia of what it once was before the steel-fabricated naval machine became the prototype of the modern ship known and frequently seen in these contemporary times.
Culturally, Galeon Andalucia is indeed a museum, a floating one that integrates antiquity and modernity in design and structure. Apart from it, it is a sea carrier conveying Spain’s cultural richness. For me, I consider it a symbol of Spain’s might. Its voyage around the world could somehow be taken as a sign of Iberian country’s attempt to showcase its cultural pride to reminisce (and flaunt) its navigational power.
Nevertheless, with the tour from the deck to the inside of the galleon, the ship includes friendship and education on its cultural display.
Galleon Andalucia is more than impressive. Yes, I made a mistake when I told Jose of that word for that definition is an understatement. If I could take that back, maybe the term “Awesome” would be the best reply.
Marvellous. Mighty. Beautiful. Those words are other descriptions I can best say about the colonial ship Spain has built for centuries.
It is really a great experience to see a ship of that size and beauty. And I will never forget that night when four of us bloggers from Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc. were invited for a dinner buffet and tour of the ship’s interior. The press and other civic and religious organizations of Cebu as well as the ship’s captain and crew were also with us on that night.
I haven’t asked a colleague about the men and women behind that event, but if judgment favors me, I would think that the group from Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) conveyed us the best opportunity and a privilege for me and other Cebu bloggers to witness a colonial ship we admire (and abhor) for centuries.
Although the tour inside the ship could take less than an hour, picture takings and an interview with the crew plus the real canons and chitchats on the galleon’s deck prolonged our time to wander, venture and scrutinize almost every detail of the ship (save for the crew’s cabins, which I failed to take a peek).
I am not quite sure but with the success of that night, maybe Galleon Andalucia will still find its way and let the sea current and the wind manoeuvre its sails back in the harbour of Cebu.
