Vist to El Escorial with Single Adults

On New Year's Day 2013, Scott and Beverly joined with the Single Adults of Madrid (along with single adults from other places, including Granada, Great Britain, and Russia!) on an outing to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, the location of the famous monastery:

We rode from Madrid to El Escorial on a chartered bus, about an hour and a half ride. Three of Beverly's adult piano students were part of the group, including Josefa, who hugged Beverly when she saw her get off the bus:

The group stopped in a park to eat the lunches they brought. Here Miriam and Beverly pose with a group of Latin American members who live in Madrid:

This is a picture of the park with the young single adults sitting at various tables:

Our first stop was the monastery of El Escorial to get pictures of the exterior (the monastery itself was closed). It was freezing cold:

The main purpose of the visit to the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial was to visit the life-sized Bélen (a depiction of the city of Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth) which covered several city blocks. The central feature of the Bélen, of course, was this nativity scene:

The huge Belén included a wide range of characters, including this "Bethlehem farmer" who was depicted as wearing glasses!

Beverly stands by a camel being led through the desert:

And Scott stands by one of the three "Wise Men":

The shepherds have a look of surprise and awe at the appearance of an angel announcing the birth of Christ:

The single-adult group, along with the two temple missionary sisters (front and left) posed in front of a huge "elephant":

The group also posed in front of the Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial:

Here Scott befriends a "horseman" in the Roman army:

We had an enjoyable New Year's Day with the Single Adults at El Escorial.