Mission San Juan Capistrano is probably the most-visited mission of all, and for that
reason it's probably my least favorite.  It's quite beautiful and very well maintained, but after
the solitude and quiet of other missions, it's kind of hard to get into the spirit of the place
while an overweight couple from Bakersfield, dressed in matching track suits, complains
about having to walk across the courtyard without hats. 

Mission San Juan Capistrano is also famous for the "Return of the Swallows."  Each Spring
thousands of swallows migrate from their homes in Argentina to the mission, where they
spend the summer, earning San Juan Capistrano the nickname "The Bird Shit Mission."
Their return is so well known that it inspired a famous hit song from the 1940s, "When the
Swallows Come Back to Capistrano," by the composer Leon René, who quickly changed
it from its original name, "When the Rats Chew the Ears Off a Dead Sea Lion."