On a theme of seeing Los Angeles by public transport, we visited the mission os San Juan Capistrano on Saturday - MetroLink train from LA's Union Station and back later in the day - an infrequent service by UK standards, but a good one by American ones.
Continuing on my theme, alas, from previous posts ... the Spanish came in, established their way of doing things with soldiers and missionaries and created these wonderful missions up and down the coast where they lived - with the natives living outside. Of the 21 missions, this one claims it's the best - I suspect they all do; it is beautiful, but I find myself going away with thoughts and sadnesses that perhaps I wasn't supposed to.
The great stone church was completed in 1806, but fell during an earthquake in 1812, the tower toppling on the building and killing 40. They celebrate, but I would suggest a bit of a bull-in-a-china-shop experiment in construction beyond their knowledge which resulted in a huge loss of life after just 6 years.
There' a famous song (they tell me) about the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano ... well, I heard it played and didn't recognise it, but never mind. Apparently, swallows were regarded by the indigenous population as dirty birds and were unwelcome, but the Father told them they could come up to the mission and live there. Sure, they did for a couple of centuries, but in the last 20 years or so there's been such a major reconstruction work done that they've been driven away .... sad really, and it makes you wonder how much of what you see on the tour is real.
Perhaps I'm picking up my cynicism from the guide, who was heard to complain of boredom to one of her colleagues. Perhaps I'm cynical because the exit is through the shop. Or perhaps it's because of the tacky souvenir places around , represented in my picture by the cut out of The Pope.
I did enjoy the visit, the rides down and back, and the company. We ate where the Nixons had eaten "regularly" ... and we learned more of how this land developed over the past 300 years.
(written 2016-11-23)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z200 - Places [66] A Taste of Ireland - (2004-09-28)
[70] Red Luas - early life and times - (2004-10-02)
[92] Hard work, Hard sell - (2004-10-18)
[186] Lull - (2005-01-22)
[218] Golden Nugget - (2005-02-17)
[403] Full circle - made it back to an old haunt - (2005-08-05)
[670] Architectural Heritage - Devizes - (2006-04-04)
[685] A couple of days away - (2006-04-15)
[713] Pictures from my travels - (2006-05-07)
[727] A journey, an arrival, a people - (2006-05-21)
[730] Reading the newspaper and working with other restrictions - (2006-05-23)
[740] Finishing up in Dhahran - (2006-06-01)
[778] Weekend in Ireland - (2006-06-26)
[886] Signs of Leek - (2006-10-04)
[1147] A picture (mostly in words) of Helsinki - (2007-04-14)
[1204] Spot the difference - (2007-05-25)
[1229] Where am I? - (2007-06-11)
[1244] FolksFest Bristol - German beer, Bratwurst and music - (2007-06-24)
[1298] From Leeds - (2007-08-10)
[1307] Troy, up state New York - (2007-08-17)
[1425] Melksham v Ely - (2007-11-09)
[1456] Right up to the top of the City - (2007-12-03)
[1457] A day in Ljubljana - (2007-12-04)
[1460] Christmas fare in Ljubljana - (2007-12-05)
[1524] Nottingham - just text! - (2008-01-30)
[1536] A Weekend in Liverpool - (2008-02-10)
[1537] To Wales - where theres still a toll on the bridge - (2008-02-11)
[1590] All Change, Portsmouth Harbour - (2008-03-23)
[1617] Steam Engines at Bressingham - (2008-04-20)
[1624] From Freddie the fallow - (2008-04-27)
[1638] Pictures far apart - (2008-05-10)
[1639] Minehead Marauder - (2008-05-11)
[1652] Old Sarum airfield brings back fond memories - (2008-05-24)
[1714] Hillier Gardens, Hampshire - (2008-07-20)
[1715] Pictures from South Hampshire - (2008-07-21)
[1730] Punting on the Cam - (2008-07-31)
[1755] Istanbul - (2008-08-15)
[1804] Colvin and Carlisle - (2008-09-20)
[1807] A sad town in the sunlight - (2008-09-22)
[1837] Alfred the Great - (2008-10-13)
[2205] An evening walk in Carrickfergus - (2009-05-29)
[2207] North Antrim Coast - a jewel thats well worth a visit - (2009-05-29)
[2316] Guadalajara - a special tour of a lovely city - (2009-08-01)
[2387] to Clifton Down and Avonmouth - (2009-08-30)
[2392] Lymington, New Forest - some pictures - (2009-09-03)
[2411] Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside - (2009-09-19)
[2624] Skyline and looking up in London - (2010-02-04)
[2733] Travel Troubles and Jesus again - (2010-04-21)
[2754] At Arlington and the Pentagon - (2010-05-07)
[2799] Nuremberg - some pictures - (2010-06-08)
[2802] After the Perl course in Nurnberg - (2010-06-11)
[2808] From home to Nurnberg - journey pictures - (2010-06-13)
[2809] Frankfurt in 90 minutes - (2010-06-13)
[2897] The Land of the Black Labrador - (2010-08-01)
[2907] Dartmouth, Kingswear and Torbay - (2010-08-07)
[2985] Right place, right season - (2010-10-04)
[3064] On the way to the course this week - (2010-11-22)
[3070] Belfast, on a cold November evening - (2010-11-25)
[3175] The Rhine in winter - (2011-02-19)
[3185] Day Trip to Hereford, in pictures - (2011-02-26)
[3204] Two views of a war memorial - (2011-03-17)
[3297] A long day, a long journey, and families and similarities the world over - (2011-05-22)
[3330] A lot of exercise this week - (2011-06-21)
[3353] Off the beaten track - non-quite-so-tourist spots - (2011-07-10)
[3393] Rodwell Trail, Weymouth - (2011-08-15)
[3529] Sharpness, Gloucestershire - a place in transport history - (2011-11-25)
[3595] Looking up - (2012-01-27)
[3603] Another cold night - (2012-02-03)
[3631] Getting around Dublin by public transport - some observations - (2012-03-01)
[3654] On a sunny afternoon in London - (2012-03-15)
[3667] A modern area of Cambridge - some thoughts provoked? - (2012-03-22)
[3803] A Walk on the South Bank - (2012-07-13)
[3854] Busmans Holiday - I like being a busman - (2012-09-02)
[4011] From Salford - (2013-02-19)
[4052] The PHP course this week is in... Salford - (2013-03-26)
[4125] The first Luas of the morning - (2013-06-29)
[4182] Welcome to Salford and Oldham - (2013-09-30)
[4184] A fond memory - (2013-10-02)
[4203] A weekend away - Four in a Bed returns to Happy Donkey Hill - (2013-11-09)
[4214] A busy week, and a long flight - (2013-11-24)
[4220] Thun, Switzerland - (2013-12-14)
[4331] Musings on a Welsh town - (2014-11-28)
[4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
[4411] Location, location location. And a chance of a giggle! - (2015-02-01)
[4477] Yesterday - off on leg one of our holiday - (2015-04-29)
[4479] Pictures from around Rekjavik - (2015-04-29)
[4480] Crossing between continents - (2015-04-30)
[4486] Newark to New York - the PATH suburban railway - (2015-05-05)
[4488] Election day, 2015 - (2015-05-07)
[4490] What and where are the Azores? - (2015-05-09)
[4497] Around the world from Melksham - (2015-05-25)
[4643] From last July (2015) - (2016-02-08)
[4671] Ruby training, half a world away - (2016-05-14)
[4683] Saudi Arabia or Weymouth? - (2016-05-22)
[4729] The oldest part of Los Angeles - (2016-11-23)
Z600 - History [33] 10 Years of experience - (2004-08-30)
[102] The Romans got it right - (2004-10-28)
[2037] The Interview and The Lift - (2009-02-12)
[3484] A Melksham Timeline - Domesday to present day - (2011-10-17)
[3510] The skull above the door in Melksham Town Hall - (2011-11-06)
[3726] Press Release - Museum to explore the story of Melksham - (2012-05-11)
[3731] Now Open - A Museum for Melksham. Come in and see us. - (2012-05-13)
[4285] Pictures of Melksham Heritage Discovery Fair - (2014-07-11)
[4739] A year of changes for Lisa and Graham Ellis, and Well House - (2017-05-27)
Some other Articles
Thoughts on the new Blackmore Ward of Melksham Without ParishPython examples - updates under wayReviewing TransWilts performance 2015-16To Oceanside and San Clemente PierSan Juan CapistranoVisiting Los Alamitos Bay Yacht ClubLearning from travelling further afieldTransWilts Partner Update for Melksham Area BoardWriting Python 2 such that Python 3 is easy