Cebu City, Cebu | A Food Lover's Retreat with a Touch of History

For many of his travels, the stokedtraveler would create schedules and plot out activities. Which places should he visit and what things should he do are usually on top of his itinerary for his trips. That was his only way of travel. That was until his recent Cebu trip.

Travelling without any travel plans can also be fun. Never expecting what to expect and doing what you feel doing for that day can free you of worries and keeps you amazed of things that come. This may not always be the best way to travel but for as long as you are with good company then everything is going to turn out alright.

Read through the stokedtraveler's day-to-day highlights in Cebu as he joins two of his great friends on their first time in the queen city of the south.

Day 1. Failed flight, Apt accommodation and a well-deserved authentic Filipino dinner!

Day 2. A bit of history, indulging in Cebu's lechon and some R&R
Day 3. Greatest ribs, Sky experience and Pasalubong shopping

Cebu City, Cebu | Day 2. A bit of history, indulging in Cebu's lechon and some R&R

Magellan's cross

It was only a 6-minute walk from their hotel to the historic site were Magellan's cross was first erected. While the walk didn't take very long, it was a painful one because of the sun. Remember to bring an umbrella if you plan to walk around the city. People used to living in the northern Philippines and even in Manila may find walking under the sun in Cebu challenging.

The endless supply of candles bought for Php 100 only to be offered back to the altar. Probably only to be resold the next day :)

Magellan's cross had a lot of wooden support all around it that time. 

The aged women dancing the sinulog and offering prayers for tourists (for a fee) said that wood was to strengthen the structure and secure the cross while it was still uncertain if the aftershocks from the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit cebu-bohol just a month or so ago was already over.

Chanting in the local dialect and dancing the sinulog dance

In his previous travel the stokedtraveler learned that the cross here is no longer the original cross but instead is just a replica. While the sign at the foot of the cross reads that the tindalo wooden cross encases the original cross that Magellan erected, there is no historical evidence that the original cross survived after Magellan's death. There was also no record of it ever being recovered by the succeeding spanish expeditions to the island of Cebu.

Praise!