I visited my friend in L.A the prior weekend, so this weekend I decided to stay in Orange. Most of my roommates were either working or not home, so this weekend I was riding solo. I had heard that in downtown or "Old Town" Orange there is a farmers and artisans market by Chapman University every Saturday during the summer. From my house to the market i figured out was 2.6 miles, so I came up with the idea to run from my house to the market. Perfect combination of getting a workout in and taking an adventure to the farmers market. The run was a little difficult considering that I hadn't ran that far in awhile, but once I got there it was well worth it.
I had been to farmers markets before but this was my first farmers and artisans market in California. The main difference was in the variety of people, things, and produce there. The attitude and atmosphere of CA in general is very "chill" as the locals tend to say along with "rad" and "gnarly." This is not a stereotype because they actually say these words and phrases here, but I have also learned that dialects or slang varies from Northern and Southern California. Anyways I enjoyed walking around the market and immersing myself to the local community and meeting new people. It was here that I properly learned how to pick a ripe avocado and I ever purchased some locally grown avocados, which I was excited to eat.
The artisan part of the market included a couple bands playing live music. I grabbed some water sat down and enjoyed the music for awhile. It felt good to soak up the California sun which was starting to peak in the afternoon and breathe the fresh air. By fresh I mean I wasn't breathing in the smog and pollution that I witnessed in L.A. Right as I was about to head home the band started to play 'Houses of the Holy' by Led Zeppelin, so I had to stay for one more song before I headed on my run home.
San Juan Who?
Sunday morning began with walking to St. Norbert's for mass. After mass as I tend to do, I came home and cooked some breakfast. After breakfast and doing some research I discovered that a "must do" in Orange County is to visit some missions. You may be thinking missions? What is a mission? To sum it up a mission or at least the ones in California were "established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1833 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans.
One of the most popular missions according to the Internet is the San Juan Capistrano, so I decided to take a trip there not knowing much about the place. Arriving to the town of San Juan Capistrano was like a flashback to the past. The town had that old historic feel to it, which you don't see or find very much anymore. Arriving to the mission entrance I knew it was going to be a wise decision coming here. Let's just say it was so beautiful that I ended up taking 91 pictures there. One of my favorite things is learning about historical things and events and San Juan Capistrano was filled of both! I learned so much about the mission in Capistrano and had no idea that it was such a famous place.
Capistrano is known for swallows. Yes I said swallows and for those of you who didn't know swallows is a type of bird. Swallows fly 6,000 miles from their winter nesting grounds in Argentina and every year on March 19th they arrive to San Juan Capistrano. Back in 1940 Leon René wrote a song named after the tiny but beautiful birds called 'When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano.' See you learn something everyday and I hope you enjoyed that little fact.
The Serra's church at San Juan Capistrano is absolutely gorgeous and reminded me of the churches I saw in Rome. The reason why it reminded me of European style churches in Rome is because the sanctuary was created from over 200 pieces that was shipped over from Spain. Apparently the Serra church is one of the oldest churches in CA. In addition the side chapel called St. Peregrine gets many visitors from around the world because Peregrine Laziosi an Italian saint is the patron saint for persons suffering from cancer, AIDS, or other illness. So people from all around the world come to San Juan Capistrano to pray and seek healing.
Shortly after visiting the mission I wandered off to Los Rios. Los Rios is a historical street district and listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1983. Los Rios is the oldest settled\neighborhood in California. So it was nice being able to make a full Sunday walking around and learning about all these cool things in San Juan Capistrano. It is getting late and I could go on and on about San Juan Capistrano but this is where the tales of my journey shall end for now. If you happen to be in Southern California aka "socal" I would highly recommend making a trip to San Juan Capistrano and doing the mission and walking around to Los Rios.
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