Austin

Last stop before I fly back home, welcome to Austin, the capital of Texas.

(Yes, there are lots of squirrels in the pictures below, it is because I just can't help watching them when I get a chance to see them, and in Austin, there are plenty of them, so I spent about as much time watching those tiny flurry things as visiting monuments...)

Must have for the dinner: the Hopdoddy Burger Bar.

To finish this trip, small riddle: what are those people waiting for, on the bridge above the Colorado River, on its banks and under the bridge?

Are we all waiting for the full moon? For the sunset?

Not at all, here is what we were waiting for: dinner time for the bat colony which lives under the bridge (not my pictures, because on that day they decided to take off a long time after sunset, it was fully dark)

San Antonio

1836 found the Texians struggling to organize a provisional government as a confident Santa Anna marched into San Antonio and demanded that the Alamo garrison surrender. On March 6, Mexican troops attacked the Alamo, stormed its walls, and slew the defenders.
Three weeks later, Santa Anna ordered the execution of the prisoners and pursued the Texian army which had retreated eastward.
On April 21st, the Texians attacked the Mexican encampment as they shouted "Remember the Alamo!". In a battle lasting 18 minutes, the Texian army defeated the Mexicans. With the capture of Santa Anna, the independence of Texas was won, the Republic of Texas was born.

The missions of San Antonio were far more than just churches, they were communities. Each of them was a fortified village. Here, Franciscan brothers gathered native peoples, converted them to Catholicism and taught them to live as "good Spaniards".
They established 6 missions along the river in the early 1700s.

San Juan

 

La Espada

San José

 

 

Concepcion

 

Let's come back downtown, to enjoy the River Walk, a city park and network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets.

The River Walk is a successful special-case pedestrian street, one level down from the automobile street. It winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops.

 

Also a few nice buildings in the city center, reflecting the rich history of this part of Texas.