Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2016-11-23 19:17:04 - Graham Ellis
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.
