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Published: February 18th 2009
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Tex-Mex War reenactment
A Reenactment of the Texas war of independence from Mexico It was a cold sunday evening on the 7th of this month when Pavi and I thought about taking a break from the boring work-rest-work routine and get back on the road. Since Valentine's day was around the corner we decided that San Antonio, TX would be the ideal place to visit and spend some romantic time. It was a long weekend with the President's day on the 16th, so we can take off on Sat-Sun-Mon-day. I looked up the places of interest in San Antonio, means of travel and accomodation. We rented a car from Enterprise (We got a free upgrade to Honda Civic 2008 car, for being a charming couple) and booked accomodation at Rodeway Inn (the cheapest).
We started in the early hours of the 14th at 5 in the morning to beat the morning outbound traffic. Pavi was quite fast on the wheel and we put 100 miles in 90 mins when I realised to my dismay that I (normally the cautious guy) had forgotten my wallet and phone. I was gloomy for a minute and at that moment came the realization that I was about to spend a weekend without worries, calls and cards. I
was FREE. FREE as in feeling the oneness with nature. Nobody could disturb me from getting the most of my freedom. We made good speed and reached San Marcos by about 9 in the morning. We had some donuts and coffee there and proceeded to San Antonio. We reached SA at about 10 AM and parked the car about 1 km from downtown (Alamo) at a $2/day parking. Normally parking in downtown is hellish as they might tow away if you pick the wrong spot and also a bit expensive and parking a little away (not too difficult to walk though) can save $. We headed to the Alamo and saw the Alamo war (1845) reenactment with city volunteers dressed in 1845 war and civilian attire. The Alamo was part of the Spanish missionary which was also an important landmark of San Antonio. The Texas war of independence took place there where Texan soldiers died defending the Mexican army inspiring the Texans to fight and finally win the war.
We went inside the Alamo and had a look at the history of Texas - Spanish invasion and colonization of the native Indians, the role of Spanish missionaries and conquistadors
El Mariachis
The Mexcian mariachis playing guitar and violin on the streets in converting the nomadic natives and settling the plains, Mexican war of independence from Spain, Texan independence and the US-Mexican war, the cowboy culture that is associated with Texas and so on. After the history we went to explore the geography of the city. We bought some VIA day passes from the Visitor Information Center and proceeded to catch the VIA streetcar. I should mention at this point that the VIA trolley system is the best way to see and experience the city. It connects the various attractions in Downtown SA and also adjacent spots around a 5 mile radius. We traveled to the Mexican market "El Mercado" where you can find - handicrafts made by local and international artisans (and inevitably the mass produced Made in Chinas), an open air arena showcasing local singers, caricaturists, glass blowers and potters. We got ourselves a caricature and generally window shopped till it was getting a bit late to head to the hotel to confirm our reservation. We got the purple line that took us back to the other end of downtown on commerce street from where we walked back to the car (~15 mins) and headed to the hotel. We confirmed
Horse-drawn carriages
These carriages can be seen all over downtown offering rides our reservation, freshened up and headed back to the riverwalk area at dusk.
San Antonio riverwalk is manmade by building structures around the course of the river. The river was probably about 10 metres wide - enough to let 2 small barges cruise side by side. The cruise operators take people on boats (~20 per boat) and show them around the riverwalk while narrating the history of the city. There are themed restaurants catering to guests on either side of the river, some posh apartments and the La Villita, which is a market selling handicrafts. Since it was Valentine's day, we dined at the "Casa Rio" Mexican restaurant after waiting on the line for nearly 40 mins. The reservation was interesting - they give you a beeper and you can go for a walk. When a table is free they will buzz to let you know the vacancy. After a romantic dinner we headed back to the hotel and hit the sack at midnight.
The next morning we started at 10 AM and proceeded to the Spanish missions. The Spanish missions were built by the Franciscan monks who came to the new world along with the Spanish conquistadors
My new cowboy hat
I bought this hat at a store near the Visitor center and got 2 compliments within an hour :D to spread the word of God and christianize the native Indians. The idea was to teach them the Spanish ways so that they could be colonized. The first one was "Mission Concepcion" mission followed by "Mission San Jose" where we saw an excellent display of medieval architecture. The buildings were originally destroyed by time and men, constant wars and harsh weather but have been restored in the 40s to their near-initial appearances. The original churches have been renovated and hold masses regularly for the locals. We decided to skip the next two missions as it will probably take up the next few hours and headed to the Japanese tea garden. The garden was built by local Japanese-American couple in the 1900s but after WWII the anti-Japanese sentiment led to the renaming of the garden to Chinese tea garden which could still be seen in the entrance. The place was renamed Japanese tea garden in the 60s but the entrance still bears the words Chinese tea garden, perhaps intended as an irony. Then we proceeded to SA downtown to have a look at the attractions, namely the Alameda and Majestic theaters, Spanish governer's palace, city hall and the San Fernando cathedral,
one of the oldest in North America. We climbed up the Tower of the Americas, the tallest structure of the SA skyline that gives a breathtaking view of the city. I would highly recommend this to the visitor and is worth the $10. We then headed to the Riverwalk to spend some time relaxing and strolling through the sidewalk and then headed back to the hotel.
We have walked heavily the entire two days, using our rented car merely to get to Downtown and then using public transport to explore the city. The last day we started at 10 am and proceeded to San Marcos to shop at the prime outlet mall and then headed back to Dallas.
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