| |
| | San Juan Bautista, California |
 | | San Juan, as locals call it, is a living monument to colliding layers of California history. |
 | | California's grandest mission church was founded and built here, brick by clay-and-straw brick, between 1803 and 1812 with Catholic resolve and with the sweat, tears, and talent of native workers. |
 | | During the 19th century, San Juan's plaza, now a grassy common, saw its share of military drills, fiestas, and cockfights, plus the occasional showdown between a bull and a tethered grizzly bear captured in the surrounding hills. |
| www.viamagazine.com /top_stories/articles/sweet_spot05.asp (938 words) |
|