Singing Men of Texas
Spain Journal
Tuesday, April 20
After many months of planning and preparation, the Singing Men of North Central Texas have arrived in Spain. Our entourage includes 54 singers, plus wives, missionaries and distinguished guests - for a total of 94.
We met at DFW airport and began the process of checking in our luggage, plus 45-50 other pieces of equipment! The Delta ticket agents were very helpful, and were rewarded with a rousing rendition of "I'm Gonna Sing." (At first we were told that some of our equipment would have to travel to Spain on another plane, because there was not enough cargo space, but God fit it all in!)
An on-time arrival at JFK allowed us to have a couple of hours before boarding our 767 to Madrid. The men used part of the time to rehearse. One very nice Spanish lady said that she understood every word. This is a good sign. The plane was 100% full, and we actually arrived in Madrid an hour early, due to strong tail winds (60+mph). It was quite interesting fitting in appetizers, dinner and breakfast in 6 hours flying time. Our "night" was about 2 hours long.
We attracted a LOT of attention in Madrid with our cowboy hats, boots and Western belts. After reclaiming all our stuff, we were joined by our travel agent, tour guides, bus drivers, plus the Borgan family and Sarah Malpass who had driven up from Cáceres to meet us.
We loaded up and drove 3 hours to Trujillo, a small town known for the number of conquistadors it has produced. The most notable of these was Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Incas. Here, we ate our first Spanish meal at a lovely restaurant, La Troya, on the plaza. The head of the Department of Tourism brought us official greetings from the mayor, then took us on a walking tour of the town.
Loading up our buses again at 3 p.m., we drove an hour to the Residencia León Leal, the Retreat center in Montanchez, that will be our home for the next five days. It is a beautiful center in a lovely area, with a view of mountains and a castle. We unloaded our things, and had a meeting and prayer time from 5-6 p.m. Then the men started a short rehearsal. We finally went to bed after having been up for about 30 hours. We are so thankful for the safe trip and wonderful blessings that we have seen today. We look forward with anticipation to tomorrow.
Click on a picture to see the larger version.
Al Collier at JFK airport
Singing Men in the air
Ed and Terri Miller
Statue of Pizarro in Trujillo
A group of singing Texans taking a rest at Trujillo
Restaurant in Trujillo where we had such delicacies as black foot ham, tortillas de patata, and flan
Inside the restaurant
Walking tour of Trujillo
Overlooking the plaza at Trujillo
View of castle from retreat center at Montánchez
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