A Day Away ... from Brigade

There are some very beautiful places in Honduras and on our day off we were able to take a break to see some of them.

We first went to the gardens within United Nations Park.

The gardens are quite nice and they are kept very well.

There are some lovely flowers ... like this beautiful double hibiscus!!

And then, of course, there were these two flowers! (tee-hee)

We climbed all of these steps up to the replica of a Mayan Temple ... from up there, we had a spectacular view of the city below and the Christ statue off to the right.

Tegucigalpa

Cristo de El Picacho

We took turns taking some nice photos of everyone ...

And then we headed over towards the statue.

I think it is breathtaking!

It depicts the ascension of Jesus into the heavens after he appeared to over 500 witnesses of his resurrection. There is an inscription at the base of the statue that shares this.

Luke 24:50-51

New International Version (NIV)

The Ascension of Jesus

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

The statue stands at the peak of the mountain (El Picacho-The Peak), 1,327 meters above sea level (that's 4,353 feet!).

The statue itself is 32 meters high (104 feet) and weighs 2,500 tons!

Also within the park was a garden dedicated to Confucius.

The statue of Confucius was a gift from the Tiawanese government which has been a big benefactor of Honduras.

There are a few other interesting views and sights within the park ...

... from one of the "look out" spots is this view.

In the lower center of the photo you can see the symbol of pride and joy in Honduras ... the Soccer Stadium.

And directly behind it a bit towards the top portion of the photo you might see the runway ... the VERY short and only runway at Toncontin International Airport. The single runway is listed as being 6,631 feet long. Runways at typical international airports are 10,000 to 12,000 feet long.

This archway is just before the Christ statue.

And this is the overlook at the base of the Christ statue.

For our lunch break, we rested upon this beautiful overlook spot.

So, of course, ... again we took turns taking some lovely photos

of one-another.

Mi hermana en Cristo, Deb, ... tu es muy bonita hermana!

**lo que es una foto extraordinaria**

(I said she is my beautiful sister and I think this is an extraordinary photo)

Yo y mi amiga, Jen - Awe!!

This is Joleen ~

The city looks quite beautiful from up there with the varied cloud formations, the mountainous skyline and the twinkle and shimmer of the sun reflecting off the tin roofs below.