La Espada Mission, San Antonio

Here is where we were at on yesterday´s post.

I showed pics of the inside of the church because of bad weather.
But when I came out, things had changed and took some pics there.

Here is what it looked like in the early days.

They have the foundation of the original church building, 
but, here is the newer one (the one I photographed).

 It´s still pretty old.

 I like the watered effect those buildings.

Their doors and windows seem particularly attractive.

But, do you know which is my favorite pic of them all? 
It´s this one.

It´s the patio off the rectory or the priest´s office.
I can imagine that fellow coming out and sitting on that chair in the afternoon or early evening.

Don´t know if things would have looked so green then. 
But with the recent rains, it certainly was now.

There are 5 missions which are part of the National Park Service here in SA. 
You can walk or ride your bike from this one in the south all the way to the one at the Alamo.
They have nice cement sidewalks or pathways and it sure seems like a great way to spend a day.

Of course they have posters and rangers to explain life in the old days.
I hear each mission specializes on description of different aspects of life in that period.

On the way out, I thought I´d take this last shot.
I was pretending I was a Comanche indian, ready to kidnap a young woman for a wife,
or maybe  a child, to increase the numbers of the tribe.

The ranger told that was wrong. Indians never attacked the mission.
They did kidnap a few women and kids going to, or while working in the fields.
But, they never attacked or tried to forcefully enter the walls. 

Anyway.... if you find yourself in SA one day, 
with time off from your business meetings, 
or perhaps tired of all the activities at Fiesta Texas and Sea World, 
just take a stroll to see what life was like here, more than 2 centuries ago.