Austin

On Saturday the 17th of September, one day after we went to Fiesta Texas and Rodeo, we had a daytrip to Austin, the capital of Texas.

Before I came to San Antonio, I was most excited for Austin, as I heard from others and from my brother, who had lived in Texas for one year, that I definitely should go to Austin. He and other friends described Austin as a very hippy and diverse city with lots of cultural aspects in it. 'The 'Austin vibe' is something different, Sania!' I was told. 

So, in the early morning on this Sunday we were all sitting in two vans on our way to Austin. The drive lasted for about 90minutes and everyone in the car was sleeping except me and Nadja.

On our way to Austin we had a little break. While Mikki (one of the interns) was refueling, I took this oppurtunity to see, whether this filling station looks from the inside like the ones I have been seeing in American movies my whole life and indeed, this filling station looked like the ones I always see in Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures :(

As soon as we arrived in Austin, we visited the Capitol of Austin. It is very huge and beautiful building, which was completed in 1888.

After that, we went to Torchys. It's known to be one of the best Taco places in and around Austin.

I ordered a shrimp taco and a veggie Burrito. The shrimp taco was tasty, but nothing special. When I started eating the Burrito, I felt a little bit, that my mother made this. It tasted insane(!!), but it was too spicy, so I started sniffing and tears were coming out non-stoppable as usual, when something is too spicy for me. I kept eating and eating and it seemed like this burrito will never end (Welcome to America!!). In the end, I had left some, because I was too stuffend. I recommend, to order just a Burrito at Torchys, because it is so big. Everyone was praising Torchys and said that it was the best Mexican food so far! So, whenever you have the chance to go there, do not miss it!!!

After Lunch, we drove to the Graffiti Park, for which I was so so excited!

I admire artists and their work. Also, I always try to understand what they are painting or why they have painted certain things. I believe, that art is such a powerful tool, with which you  can express your feelings and those around you, but also you can express your criticism on certain topics in a very impressive and influential way to spread the message you have to everyone. While we were there, people were painting, too! Their calmness and 

What I saw on these walls on that day blew my mind. The paintings were so impressive that all the time, while I was in this park I was thinking about the artists, who painted on these walls. What were they thinking? Why did they chose this certain color? What is the message? 

While having these questions in my mind and trying to find an answer it was unfortunately time to leave the graffiti park, as Mikki had planned to for Kayaking with us. I will probably never forget this place and hope that one day I can come back to this park and see how it has changed.

KAYAKING was the best experience of my lifeeeeeee!!!!! Normally, I have anxiety with being in such places with lots of water, but since I have been swimming at the outdoor pool at Trinity pretty often I have become more confident with being in water and also with swimming. Also, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. It looked like the pictures of Switzerland you can see in the Web.

As we were not allowed to take our mobiles with us while kayaking, I have no pictures, but kayaking itself was amazing. Mikki and I shared one Kayak and kayaked togethet. It was very relaxing and peaceful on the water. After 1 hour, when our kayaking was nearly over, all of us gathered together on the water and some decided ti jump into the water. One after the other jumped into it and they were joking around with each other. It was so funny!

While being all wet and sobby, we drove back home, to Trinity after an exciting and adventerous day in Austin. I will never forget this day.