22/10/18 I left Austin around 10am and drove to San Antonio. After buying some groceries I parked nearby the Alamo and went for a visit as the site was open for free. They had a few exhibits and the park inside is nice to walk in. I learned about how Texas first belonged to the aboriginal people then the Spanish, the Mexicans and the Americans. I also saw a few squirrels around the old oak tree. A lot of people lost their lifes here for the independance of Texas, as the Alamo is in a strategic location to whoever wanted to control Texas.
Later I explored around the site which has a lot of tourist shops and entertainment and I parked in a quiet suburb for the night hoping that the rain would calm down to let me explore the river walk tomorrow.
23/10/18 I explored the little art shops of La Villita, a cute historical village in the middle of the city. It was very quiet as it was between 2 showers and on a Tuesday. I would expect this place to be busy during a sunny weekend. It is boarding a river and the riverwalk is very nice too, it has a Venice vibe thanks to arch bridges, still water and roofless tourist boats. As it started to rain again I took shelter in the shopping centre and found a little texan souvenir and a nice dress. I had a slice of pizza and stopped by the Starbucks to take an iced black tea for the road.
As the rain stopped again, I thought that was my only opportunity to cook the eggs and vegetables I had in the car in daylight so I turned on the cooker on the parking lot, expecting weird looks from people passing by. And I was right, a Canadian guy came to chat, offered me a banana then went to meet with his customers nearby. A few minutes later, he came back with some chocolates as he said he never has a chance to speak french ?. I usually don’t accept candies from strangers (promise, Mom) but I thought he was really sweet. Maybe he thought I could not afford ‘normal food’ as I was cooking with my camping gear in a car park ?… I don’t blame him.
As the forecast was a little better in Houston, I drove there and parked for the night instead of spending another night in San Antonio.
