A Morning in the Park...

I went to breakfast with Brenda and Adam today.  La Princesita.  For baleadas.  On our way home, we were passing the park and there were a few open parking spaces.  That almost never happens at 10:30 in the morning, so I told Adam to pull in to one.

We took the opportunity to go into the cathedral.  There was some kind of service just finishing and people were leaving.  I don't know if it was Mass, because I never saw a priest in the front.  But I did see a gentleman that many people were greeting.  It looked like the way you would greet a visiting family member.  Lots of hugs and lot of laughs.  In the side chapel, there were several people kneeling and praying.

Back outside, we knocked on the door to the bell tower.  It was quickly opened and Brenda and Adam went up.  I decided not to go up the tower since I was in flip flops.  Flip flops and four flights of uneven, stone stairs don't mix real well.  So, I waited for them outside.

Sitting on the steps of the cathedral, I settled in for one of my favorite activities: people watching. 

I watched the two men nearby selling ice cream cones with their competing appeals of "¡Conos! ¡Conos!"  They didn't seem pleased at all when a third ice cream vendor showed up with his little cart.  I thought it was a little chilly to be eating ice cream.

A minute later, a woman and young boy, maybe three years old, walked by me carrying ice cream they had purchased at the nearby ice cream shop.  They brought an ice cream to another woman who was also sitting on the cathedral steps and soon all three of them were enjoying their treats.  I wondered how long it would be before the little boy would be wearing more of the ice cream than he was eating. I was surprised when they were joined by another woman, maybe Grandma, and she whipped out a wash cloth from her purse and gave it to the boy.  Instant napkin!

More people were going in and out of the cathedral.  Some people just crossed themselves as they walked by.  I saw the usual photographers in the park, the guys who set up tiny little rocking horses for kids to sit on while their pictures are taken.

What I didn't see were the guys who normally sell cotton candy.  They're usually as plentiful as the ice cream guys.

Oh, well.  Perhaps another day...