San Antonio Saturday 8th August.

This morning we set off walking  from our hotel as we are close to the city's historic district and the famed River Walk. The historic district comprises  many streets of beautiful old two  story houses. Some need restoration, some have been restored and some are obviosly loved but I don't think the City Fathers would approve the colour schemes. We had a brief chat with one woman who had been born and raised in her home and had lived there for all of her lengthy married life.
The River Walk is 16 miles of beautifully landscaped river frontage. Lots of the path ,  which is both sides of the river is below the current  street level and shaded by plenty of trees. We were grateful for the shade because it is over 100 F every day at the moment for most of the day, There is also an interesting underground system of drainage pipes which takes water out of the river in times of flooding and is eventually returned once water levels fall. We didn't see it, just read about it.
We followed the River Walk into the city centre where it is lined with restaurants and there are barges for guided tours along the River. We followed a side canal that loops around the the Alamo area and went to visit the famous fort. This was initially a Spanish Mission building which was taken over by the Texas settlers when they were fighting for independance from the central Mexican Government. It was the site of the last stand of Davey Crockett and James Bowie when they and 200 fellow rebels fought against Santa Anna and his 6,000 troups. You will be pleased to hear that Santa Anna was defeated some months later in an attack by General Houston that lasted only 18 minutes due to the over confidence of the Mexicans and the good strategy of Houston. I was surprised to see in the historical display just how much of North America had been Mexico prior to this period. The state named New Mexico should have alerted me but there was Colorado and adjoining states as well that were taken over by the American settlers over the following five to ten years  as they joined the union of American States.
We had lunch at a Riverside restaurant before going back to our cool air conditioed rooms for a rest. We vertured out again at about 4pm and Mike drove us around more of the historic district and down to look at the beautiful old Spanish Church built by settlers from the Canary Islands who were commanded by the Spanish King to upstakes and go  to build a town in the wilderness. There are some very beautiful buildings in the Downtown area including the most enormous inposing Courthouse built out of Red Sandstone. In a city of paler stone buildings it really stands out. Walking around the inner city in the heat reminded us that we needed to replenish fluids and salt intake so we adjourned to the motel again for a relaxing pre dinner session. We have adopted local customs and didn't venture out for dinner until after 8 pm. Even then it was still 100F and the restaurants were busy. We had to while away half an hour with half price drinks while we waited for a table. Life is tough on holiday!