Today we took a trip into the downtown of San Antonio, our first stop was the river walk that winds its way around the centre of the town. The circular tour is very touristy but is a pleasant escape from the rest of the town, which is not the prettiest. There are plenty of restaurants and bars along the route, but we choose to detour into the La Villita, the oldest part of the downtown
area of San Antonio. Where there used to be residences there are now rather quaint shops selling pottery, glass and other exclusive items and restaurants of various shapes and sizes. We spend a little time looking around some of the shops and then return to the river walk where we come across the Arneson River Theatre – a small amphitheatre with seating on one side of the river and the stage area on the opposite side. There are no bad seats here as you are never more than 13 rows from the entertainment stage on the opposite side of the river. Periodically, river taxis float by between audience and stage, thus making the passing river travellers a part of this outdoor theatre experience..jpg)
From the Arneson River Theatre we complete a walk along the San Antonio River Walk and then walk the short distance across town to the Mission San Antonio de Valero, more famously known as the Alamo. Here a small band of 300 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis defended the mission for 13 days against the 5000 men of the leader of Mexico, General Antonio López de Santa Anna. This delay enabled General San Houston to collect together his forces and gain victory in the Battle of San Jacinto a month or so later.Mark had been bought up on western movies and really wanted to visit the Alamo mission. The night before we visited we ,as a family, watched the movie with John Wayne (Davy Crockett), Richard Widmark (James Bowie) and Laurence Harvey (William Barret Travis) to give Jack and Emily some background. The mission itself is in the centre of town and whilst most of the grounds have been assimilated into the city the old church building has been preserved and is now a shrine to those who fought there. The building is packed with people but the mood is quite sombre as you pass around the exhibits including the role call of the fallen (which to our surprise included some people from England, Wales and Ireland). After a contemplative walk through the shrine we passed into the outside where there are the memorial gardens and a museum / gift shop. Inside the museum there is a model re-inactment of the battle and an exhibit on the evolution of the Bowie knife – for a sad person like Mark this was fascinating, although Jack was impressed by the knives too.
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