Going to Singapore On May 3, 1882.

Rizal departed boarding Salvadora bound for Singapore

On May 9, it docked Singapore

He saw Botanical Garden, Buddhist temples and the statue of Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (founder of Singapore)

From Singapore, he transferred to another ship Djemnah on May 11

On May 17, it reached Ceylon (Sri-Lanka)

The following day, they reached Colombo, capital of Ceylon

Then it took them 5 days to traverse the Suez Canal

On June 11, Rizal reached Naples, Italian City

June 12, it reached the Marseilles

On June 16, 1882, they reached Barcelona

His first impression was unfavorable because he happened to stay in the town’s most ugly side but later changed his mind

While in Barcelona, Rizal wrote “Amor Patrio” (Love of Country) using his pen name Laong Laan

While in Barcelona he received sad news Cholera was ravaging Manila Leonor Rivera was getting thinner

because of his absence

Heeding the advice of his brother Paciano to finish his Medicine, he left Barcelona

On November 3, he went and enrolled in Madrid Unibersidad Central de Madrid taking Medicine and Philosophy and Letters

He also studied painting, French, German and English

Rizal lived a Spartan Life He lived frugally, never

wasting any peseta on wines and women

His only extravagance was investing in lottery

He spent his leisure time reading and writing

On Saturday evenings, he visited the home of Pablo Ortiga y Rey with his sone and daughter (Consuelo)

Rizal was not a handsome man but he possessed a charisma that made him attractive to women

Rizal being lonely in a foreign country, was attracted by Consuelo’s beauty

He found solace and joy in her company

But he suddenly backed out for 2 reasons

He was still engaged to Leonor Rivera

His friend and co-worker Eduardo de Lete was madly in love with Consuelo

During his first summer in Madrid , he visited Paris

At first he lived in Hotel de Paris but it was expensive so he transferred to a cheaper hotel

He visited the Opera house, Madelaine church, Column of Vendome

Church of Notre Dame and Versailles

In Spain, Rizal was in close contact with Spanish liberal and republicans who were members of Masons like Miguel Morayta

He joined the Masonic lodge called Acacia, to secure aid in his fight against the Spaniards in the Philippines

Later he transferred to Lodge Solidaridad and became a Master mason but he played a lukewarm role

Financial worries Due to locust and

drought in Calamba affecting their harvests

Increased of rentals by the Dominicans

At one time Paciano was forced to sell the pony of Rizal to send money to Madrid

One time , he was brole he was unable to take breakfast, he attended his class and participated in the contest in Greek Langauage and won gold medal

He was able only to eat dinner because he was invited as guest speaker in a banquet held in honor of Juan Luna (Spolarium, 1st prize)and Felix Hidalgo (2nd prize)

Rizal was involved in the students’ bloody riots in Madrid

It was due to the excommunication of Mr. Miguel Morayta , who proclaimed the freedom of science and the teacher

Rizal completed his Medical course in Spain in 1884

But he was not awarded the diploma because he was not able to pass his thesis nor paid the corresponding fees

He obtained the degree of Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters and qualified to be a professor

Being a man of intelligence and foresight, he knew that with his color brown and Asian racial ancestry, no friar owned school will accept his as a faculty member