The three “C’s” – Cervantes, Columbus and the Ceremony

We started today walking around Alcala de Henares. We toured Cervantes’ birth home and then we think we saw the building where Columbus was sent off to discover America.

Statue of Cervantes in Plaza de Cervantes

We came back to the hotel to rest for a while.

The entrance to our hotel

We then went to the Monasterio de Bernardo’s for the ceremony. The church was beautiful. The Bishop of the Madrid area did the ceremony. The sister’s choir was wonderful to hear. There were eleven women taking their final vows and one man. There were at least 400 in attendance. The whole event was very moving. You could see the emotion in the faces of the parents as well as the young women. We were very honored to attend. After the ceremony we all went back to the monastery where the sisters stay when they are in this area. There was dinner for well over 300 people. We snagged a bottle of champagne and drank it from our Burger King cups!

The Bishop

Taking the vows

The new Sister Miriam

The Loveland family

Just the usual folks

Sister Miriam, Bob and Sister Bailey

Champagne!

We enjoyed this experience.

Now we are off to Barcelona.