Today we did a tour of San Antonio. Our first stop was the Japanese Sunken Gardens. It was a stone quarry and is now renowned for its beautiful foliage. It was a peaceful place with a walkway along koi ponds. It is being restored and will include a tea room in the future.
These 2 pics were from the Riverboat ride. It is a part of the Riverwalk from yesterday. Pic on left was built for the Worlds Fair back in the 60's. It is a bit taller than the one in Seattle. The building on the right looks like a free standing wall but is actually a triangular shaped building. This was about 35 minutes and quite enjoyable. It was early enough so that it wasn't too hot.
This was our next stop. It was a unique experience. Lots of guns on display there was the car (a replica?) of the shot up car of Bonnie and Clyde. The upstairs consisted on many (and I do mean MANY) stuffed and mounted animals. It was something that nightmares are made of, just lots of dead stuffed animals looking at you. There was also an section with "oddities" of nature, such as a two head calf. Not our favorite stop. We then walked a couple of blocks to the Alamo. FYI the arched roof of the present building is not original. The original roof was flat and the arched roof was added and used in all of the movies about the Alamo. it is situated right in the heart of town but is well preserved. Again a restoration is in progress.
Alamo on left. Building on right is the Mission San Jose, the finest example of a completely restored mission in the US. It is renowned for exquisite stone carvings including the Rose Window which is visible in the next photo.
Rumored to have been carved as a monument to his sweetheart, Rosa but more likely was named after Saint Rose of Lima, the first saint of the New World. The photo on the right is from the Mission Concepcion. This is the oldest unrestored stone church in our nation today. Both mission churches are still active parishes. They were started to convert indigenous hunters and gatherers into Catholic, tax-paying subjects of the King of Spain. The Indians went to the mission to survive European disease and raiding Lipan Apaches. Building began in 1768
From the missions we went to El Mercado which is a Mexican shopping area. The area is filed with little shops selling imported Mexican items.
Just as another piece of info, San Antonio is the second largest city in Texas and the seventh in the US. We had a very full day which began much too early (6:30) and we are on the road again in the morning. See you in Houston.
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