I Want to stay!
September 11th, 2008 by Zofia
This final post about Austin Texas has been a mammoth effort to complete; it has been a work in progress for over a month now because I just can’t seem to get it right. You may wonder what I mean by that but all I can say is that this trip was such an amazing experience that I find it difficult to put into words in a way that (in my opinion) does justice to the experience. Also, by leaving the post incomplete for so long I have been able to indulge myself and re-visit the good times over and over every time I attempt to complete this post. Anyhow, I think it is finally there so I hope you enjoy it…
My last three and a half days in Austin passed far too quickly, we did a lot and at the same time it was really relaxed, but when Saturday afternoon rolled around and it was time to head for the airport I was devastated - Austin had made a great impression on me and I didn’t want to return to the reality of my life in London.
The day after our trip to San Antonio we spent the morning shopping at a big shopping centre, where we all managed to shop up a storm. We re-fuelled with lunch at Magnolia Cafe. This was a really cool cafe just down the road from where we were staying. It is open 24 hours and it has this fantastic sign outside that says “Sorry we’re open.” I found that so amusing - how many places do you come across that apologise for being open!

The food there was delicious - great omelettes and pancakes in particular. Lunch left me feeling very full but ready to tackle an afternoon exploring more of Austin. First stop was South Congress; this is a great street in downtown Austin full of kitschy stores and cool cafes and reminded me a lot of Cuba Street in Wellington. South Congress is home to Allens Boots Store, a premier cowboy boot shop in Texas, the place that Bon Jovi apparently buys his boots! It was amazing to go in and see shelves and shelves of impressive leather cowboy boots, each pair were artworks in their own right. If we had been there longer and I had more money I think I would have seriously considered investing in a pair of boots - how cool would genuine cowboy boots be!



After South Congress was conquered Trevor took us to his favourite bar - The Mean Eyed Cat - which is an absolutely fantastic local bar which happens to be obsessed with all things Johnny Cash! Even the toilets were themed with the men’s toilets being called ‘Johnny’ and the women’s toilets called ‘June’. There was Johnny Cash memorabilia all over the place and a juke box full of his music. Another interesting feature of this bar was the random chainsaw memorabilia, apparently before it became a bar, the building was a chainsaw shop and was where the chainsaw was purchased for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (or something like that anyway).


In keeping with the musical and relaxed vibe that Austin has there was a live band playing on the stage outside in the garden of the bar. So after getting our drinks, from the very friendly barman Paul, we headed outside to enjoy some local music and soak up the Austin atmosphere. It was extremely hot outside (over 40 degrees Celsius, or 100 degrees Fahrenheit if that is what you prefer) but sitting in the heat with a nice cold drink, great company and good music made for a great relaxing afternoon. It would have been very easy to stay there all evening and continue to drink, talk and listen to music but we were expected home for dinner so off we went. And might I add, Amiel’s dinners were always delicious so we were very happy to head home to one of her meals!


Thursday morning began with a visit to the largest electronics store I have ever seen - Fry’s Electronics. Mum and Lynsey had been there on their last trip to Austin and they were keen to visit again because of the lure of cheap computer equipment. There was one thing I found strange about this store and that was the giant grand piano over the entrance to the building, it left me a bit confused about what grand pianos have to do with electronic goods, a keyboard I could understand but a grand piano…

Anyway, after the Fry’s experience we were taken to see Trevor’s office and meet one of his colleagues who we took out for lunch to a Texan restaurant where I ate the most amazing Texan-style baby back ribs. They were absolutely delicious with the meat literally falling off the bone as you went to eat it. I was very impressed!
After the Texan food experience it was time to hit Half-Price Books which is this amazing second-hand bookstore! This was an absolute dream as well as total nightmare because I have an addiction to buying books but I had to remember that this wasn’t my home town and I was going to have to cart back to London any books I purchased (and let’s not forget that books can get quite heavy)! I managed to walk out of there with only three books of average size that didn’t weigh down my luggage too much
We ended a great Thursday with a delicious Thai meal at Madame Mams restaurant which was a fun place to eat, with the most interesting decor - the entire ceiling was covered with umbrellas!

Friday was a much slower day with the only things scheduled being a visit to the original Whole Foods Market and dinner at a friend’s house. The Whole Foods Market was amazing, overflowing with amazing fresh produce and different take-away food options at every turn, a great experience which puts the London branch to shame! Dinner that night was a delicious Polish experience as the people we were dining with were Polish and decided to treat us with their native cuisine. Being Polish myself I absolutely loved what was on offer
It was a very relaxing day spent in excellent company and was a great final day in Austin Texas!
The following morning welcomed a very big day - it was the day to fly back to London, to say goodbye to my mum and stepdad and friends, and it was also my birthday! So to celebrate my birthday we all climbed into the car and headed for a cafe called Al Aroyo where we ate a Mexican breakfast known as migos which is like scrambled eggs with chillies added to it for an extra kick and served on flour tortillas rather than toast. It was absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to have it again. To top of a great birthday morning, the staff from the cafe served me a Mexican flan (pronounced flaun) with a candle in it and everyone at the table sang happy birthday, it was great!! For those who don’t know, Mexican flan is like a crème caramel - delicious!

Then it was back to the house, closing the suitcases finally and then saying goodbye to one another, mum and Lynsey were flying back to New Zealand and I was heading back to London.
It was such an amazing holiday, I was so thankful to have been able to experience such a cool place with my mum and to have spent my birthday with her as well! I look forward to our next trip together! Leaving Austin was really sad as well because I really felt a connection with this city…
Watch out Austin, I will be back!
























Eventually I got hungry so it was time to head out of the hotel room and explore what the area had to offer. The hotel we were staying in was the 









