Having a European Tour might be one of your wishes like me. However, I have this question on my mind, “Why Europe?” Yes, I know we want to take a glimpse of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa kept on a bulletproof glass. Yes, I know everyone wants to have a taste of the finest wine on earth and have a taste of Europe’s exquisite culture.

Europe is one of the historical places on Earth and I think that is the reason why many people would want to go to Europe – to rediscover History. It would surely be a priceless experience for us to see historical artifacts, which can only be seen in Europe – paintings, relics of some famous people, and others. YES, I want to tour Louvre even if it would take me weeks just to tour the whole museum.

I do not know if you will agree with me but Manila is somewhat similar to Europe. You might ask, “In what way?” Simple, they are both historical. If only the local government of Manila would take the preservation of historical places seriously, we might have good places wherein we could take a glimpse of history through the old buildings, houses of famous people, museums, art galleries and others. The sad truth, historical places within Metro Manila are being neglected not only the local government but also its visitors. Historical places are abandoned. YES, there are actually plans to preserve these historical places but are not implemented because of the lack of funds. How many old buildings were demolished to give way for new condominiums, shopping mall and others?

If only the authorities preserved our local museums, we might have a museum similar to Louvre. Did you know that National Museum of the Philippines houses one of the most popular paintings in the Philippines, the Spolarium by Juan Luna? Have you been to our National Museum? Juan Luna submitted the painting in 1884 to the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes, where it garnered a gold medal. Moreover, Spolarium is much much larger than Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. The Spoliarium measures four meters in height and seven meters in width while Mona Lisa only measures 30 × 21 in. Best of all, Spolarium depicts a story. Yes, I have been to the National Museum of the Philippines and you will definitely love the details of the painting. I was actually fascinated with the painting. Best of all, the painting is not kept behind a bulletproof glass so you will see the full glory of the painting. The museum has an art gallery also. Beside the art gallery, the museum has different divisions like the anthropology and archaeology division.

YES, Louvre is a lot bigger than National Museum of the Philippines. But, did you know that National Museum of the Philippines has branches across the country? And, the Manila Branch of the National Museum is composed of two buildings which are adjacent with each other (Building 1 - National Museum of the Philippines, Building 2 - National Museum of the Filipino People). There are many things to discover about Manila from the fascinating local museums and art galleries to the ill-minded robbers. So, I advice you to drop by Intramuros and rediscover our history. Who’s George Lindemann Jr, by the way?