Austin/Texas

Wednesday May 14, 2014

We oversleep the inclusive breakfast again, this time until 10:00 am! So we go to Denny's across the street. We drive down South Congress to the South Congress Bridge. Underneath this bridge lives one of the largest populations of bats in North America. With over 1.5 million little creatures living in the crevices of the concrete, it's quite crowded here.

We can't see the little critters in daylight, but we can hear them. A woman says they don't come out until after 10:00 pm. That surprises us because it's usually dusk that prompts them to take off in search of food (mosquitoes and flies), and sunset is around 8:30 pm. So we decide to come back around 9:00 pm, that's the golden mean.

From the bridge, you have a good view of the skyline of Austin and the street leading down to the Capitol. In the 2nd Street District, there are nice cafes and smaller shops.

We continue to the Capitol. The public park in front of it is adorned with several statues commemorating events from American and Texan history.

You can go inside the Capitol, but we decide not to because of the security checks and the many school classes waiting here. Outside the door, a small group of soldiers is practicing some sort of sword handover ritual. It looks a bit silly.

Not far from there is the university, and a group of nurses is celebrating their graduation here for a photo shoot. In the US, this profession can only be obtained with a demanding degree. We briefly speak with some of the girls, all of whom already have jobs or are planning a trip to Europe.

The neighborhood SoCo (South of Congress) is on the southern side of the Colorado River, which flows through Austin. Here, there are not only many different snack stands, often of an alternative nature and in the form of food trucks like in Portland, but also many nice cafes and restaurants.

You can sit outside here, it's colorful and quirky, lively and multicultural. We take a break with a delicious coffee under shady trees and then drive along the Colorado River, which is called Lady Bird Lake here because of its width.

A fairly large park area next to it is now filled with after-work sports enthusiasts, hardcore chillers, and playing children and families. The adjacent residential area, on the other hand, is hilly and seems to be the more expensive residential area of Austin. Large plots, noble villas, houses, and gated communities alternate. We drive in a loop back to downtown, where we actually want to have a nice burger in a restaurant.

However, this burger place only has one burger on the menu and many other options. But since we have such a craving for a proper burger, we go next door to the historic Driskill's Hotel on Brazos Street. The hotel is a beautiful Art Nouveau building, and on the ground floor, there's a diner housed in a historic wooden ambiance.

We can order the burger done to different degrees, and it's delicious. The fries are also good, and we enjoy this meal along with an ice-cold Budweiser.

Since it's just getting dark, we go to 6th Street after dinner to soak up some live music vibes. We watch a biker group and decide not to go into any bars after all.

When we finally get to the bats on the Congress Bridge, they flew away 30 minutes ago. Very disappointing. So it was more around 8:30 pm that they take off. So we head back to the hotel.

We pack our things because tomorrow morning we're leaving Austin for German Texas...