Fly Through San Antonio

Jane and Me outside our lovely
hotel in the centre of San Antonio

San Antonio. What a city. We checked into our absolutely gorgeous 19th century hotel, The Menger, right in the heart of the city and proceeded to wander around the main sight of the city: The River Walk. Set below the main hustle and bustle of the streets the River Walk is a Venice like river (funnily enough!) with picturesque bridges and surrounded by cafes and restaurants. The walk, and the main part of the river itself, is entirely man made and so has a very Disney like feel to it, not helped by the boat loads of tourists floating by, and all the other tourists lining up on the river side in an attempt to get tickets for the aforementioned boats.

It was a lovely start to to our trip to San Antonio and a nice calm evening for what was to be a very, very exciting following day. Emily and I were returning to our childhood. We would once again be squeeling little giggly girls, jumping up and down in our excitement. You think I'm joking but no. Sea World is nothing to joke about...!

We arrived nice and early so that we beat the lunch time crowds and headed straight to Shamu. We were met not only by Shamu 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Sea World have never been original with names!) but also by baby Shamu - super duper cute! It was such a brilliant day involving, Whales, Dolphins, Alligators with turtles on their heads and the first roller-coaster I've been on in ages! It. Was. Fab.

Mummy Shamu and Baby Shamu!

Wandering along the River Walk

However, the real highlight of the day didn't involve water acrobatics, sea lions or Shamu - shocking I know. That evening some of Jane's friends had invited us over for supper. Driving to one of the neighbourhoods just outside the centre of the city we were welcomed by Jenna and her family and had one of the loveliest evenings since my time in America. Eating in the dining halls here at UConn takes all the fun out of a nice meal. While Emily, Rachel and I may occasionally linger over a meal chatting it's only usually when the dining hall is empty enough to do so. The majority of the time there is a constant flow of people and a continual hustle and bustle as they're getting up and down, scraping chairs back noisily. It's not the nicest environment. So to sit around a family table, eat yummy home cooked food, and chat about all our adventures was a very nice treat. 

The next day saw our final day in San Antonio on our whistle stop tour. It was another early morning to beat the Spring Break crowds and we made our way into The Alamo. A shrine dedicated to 200 soldiers who died fighting against 2000 men in their quest for Texas independence. Originally a mission set up by Spanish Catholic missionaries, the grounds of the Alamo were absolutely stunning and were so nice to wander around. After that we boarded a trolley bus in order to get a glimpse of the other sights that we hadn't had time to see. It was perfect. The city is absolutely stunning, especially as they're extending the River Walk all along the natural banks of the river.

One of the other Spanish Catholic Missions just outside central San Antonio. 

After that it was back on the roads. Having fought and argued with the Sat Nav, we finally made it to our next and final stop of our Texas tour... Austin.