Blogs we like

Note – The following is actually yesterday’s post (I just couldn’t find any wifi to upload it with!).

I forgot to say, the first thing that came on the idiot box in the hotel the other day was ‘Everbody loves Raymond’. I’d not seen it in ages. It was the one where Ray was sick and his Mam reckoned Debra wasn’t doing a very good nursing job, hilarious stuff. Other than some of the big HBO stuff (The Sopranos, Band of Brothers etc.) it’s the best US export IMHO.

It’s 16:15 and I’m in a grubby (in a good way) little Mexican cafe round the corner from The Alamo (more of that shortly), I’m tucking into a double cheeseburger and fries. Not very healthy I know but the options are very limited round these parts. Also, bar a cereal bar, it’s the first bit of scran I’ve had this day. I’m on the hunt for a supermarket/convenience store, no luck so far.

So The Alamo, it’s good. It’s not in the location you’d expect; it’s downtown with buildings all around it. I think some of the other missions are a bit out of town and in the wilder and sparser surroundings that you would probably associate with this sort of thing.

I watched a 15 minute video of the events shortly before, after and of course during the siege. No Duke hobbling about but it’s a hell of a tale in any format.

On a plaque of the dead I learnt that at least 10 English (with maybe another 10 or so from other countries in the British Isles) were amongst the roughly 200 who fought and died there at the hands of all them Mexes. What I want to know is where were the 10 Yanks in Zulu eh.

I done the famous San Antonio Riverwalk last night and it’s lovely, very scenic and pretty all the way along. It’s probably best enjoyed by 2 star-crossed lovers though than a travelling wilbury looking for a saloon.

Now I’m just trundling about seeing what I come across. The weather is gorgeous, if I see a decent boozer I’ll have a pint otherwise I’ll just have a pint.

There’s a lot of didgereedoo shops (you know, like in Blackpool) about near the main tourist square. I’ve always had a bit of time for a good didgereedoo shop. It’s a good thing I’ve no room in my bag or else I may have been walking about with a Davy Crockett hat and a replica musket for the rest of the day.

Trundling over, I went to the only museum I’ve ever been in that lets you buy a pint and then take it round while viewing the exhibitions. It was called the Buck something or other and was basically a collection of Texan memorabillia and mock stuffed animals, a bit rubbish really. But I did really enjoy a 10 minute clip about this married couple called the Topperweins who were exhibition marksmen that made Wild Bill Hickok and Annie Oakley look like cowboys (erm, I mean amateurs).

I ended up stumbling into a fiesta (that reminds me of when Kevin Keegan said there will be siestas in Spain tonight as a pundit, quality) at the Market Square, after picking my Greyhound ticket up for tomorrow’s short journey to Austin in an effort to save time. This was pointless as I soon found out that I’ll have to queue again anyway to get a luggage tag and also things might be extra hectic as their ‘computer systems’ will be down. Oh those pesky Greyhound boys, you have to laugh.

Anyway, the fiesta was ace. Reasonably priced draft beer everywhere and a Mexican band on stage that were everything you would want a Mexican band to be. If I was there with 2 pals we wouldn’t have felt out of place dressed as the 3 amigos.

I really regretted having already eaten as there was good looking food everywhere. Beef fajita tacos, picadilla, funnel cakes, brisket sausage and jumbo turkey legs were some of the nosebag on offer. I didn’t know what a lot of it was but I knew I wanted it. Roy’s fresh lemonade stall looked a good’n too, but what kind of self respecting Mexey is called Roy. Also they were flogging ruddy bloody huge corndogs, massive man!

After that I paid the best part of $30 for a pass to 3 different attractions in the same block; Tomb Raider 3D shooter ride thingy (I’m a crack shot), a mock haunted house tour ride (not bad but the big burly Texans with me were right fannys as soon as someone said boo!) and the Guiness World Records museum (which I liked, especially the gamers part).

After all that excitement it was then kip-time to prepare for my journey deeper in to Texas in the morning. Adiós.