MyPictureDay: Quick Tour Before Take Off

This is the first time that I will be using the tags #mypictureday #travelfeed and #swmchallenge because this is my first travel post for this year.

I've been wanting to join @timsaid's #mypictureday challenge - finally here I am making my entry.

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Our friend from other region visited Tacloban for few days. Yesterday, before she head back home, we did a quick tour on some of the famous landmarks and tourist spots here in Leyte.

Though, I am a local here this is the first time that I get to capture photos of this magnificent Palo Metropolitan Cathedral.

Constructed in 1596

This was one of the churches visited by Pope Francis when he went to the Philippines last January 2015. It was overwhelming to see him. It was raining that time but the people where waiting on the street just to witness that very rare chance. Never did I expect that I'd get to see the leader of the whole Catholic Church in my existence. It was just few seconds because his vehicle was moving a little bit fast, but I was so happy. Its hard to really describe how I felt that time.

Despite being heavily damaged by super typhoon Yolanda, its now fully restored.

We also went to the $21.9 million and the longest bridge in the Philippines that is connecting two provinces, Leyte and Samar - San Juanico Bridge

So after 26 years of living in Leyte, I learned that the bridge was L and S shaped to symbolize the two provinces it connects. Manong driver told us about it and we were laughing because we really had no idea. We were probably absent when it was discussed in class. Haha.

Here's a group shot on the bridge. It was very quick because its not allowed to stop there anytime. As you can see, one of our friends is still on her uniform. She just got out from the morning shift and we decided to pick her up - yas that's how random things are. Haha.

We also visited two of seven Yolanda Memorial Markers built to commemorate the devastation of the world's strongest typhoon and to signify the resilience of the Leyteños and Samarnons.

M/V Eva Jocelyn washed ashore by a 7-meter high storm surge that killed some residents of that barangay.

And for our last stop, we went to McArthur Park - a memorial of fulfilled promise. This is the spot where General Douglas McArthur returned to the Philippines on October 20, 1944.

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If you ever visit Leyte, those are some of the things you should probably include in your list. The province is not only rich with historical stories and beautiful islands, but also a home of resilient people.

Let me know if you need a tour guide, I'd volunteer myself for free. But we'll leave the historical details to Google, okay? Read in advance or do your research after the tour, for you won't be getting so much information from me because history is really not my thing. Haha

Its 1:18AM here in the Philippines now, its late and I'm already sleepy. Goodnight steemitverse! 🤗💚