Business In America

A restaurant that never closes... that is America for you. This is in San Antonio, Texas where the economy is pretty much driven by tourism, christian missionaries, and illegal immigration from Mexico.

Bridges that Link Places - 1

Life on earth has come a long way since the first human being walked on the planet. Human beings have been able to link land masses divided by natural obstructions such as rivers, lakes, canyons, valleys, etc by building bridges. These vital links have been used by governments and corporations as revenue generation tools. Armies have used the bridges as means of control by destroying vital links and cutting off the land area from outside world. It is interesting to note the different kinds, purposes, and varieties of bridges that are used by people across the world. In my limited travel experience I have shot some pictures of bridges and here they are for your viewing pleasure.

A Bridge built for hikers/ walkers to walk through the forest across a deep creek

A Bridge built for walkers and motorists in touristy San Antonio. This is the first bridge I have seen with a traffic signal... technology changes things...

I will continue with more pictures of bridges in the following posts...

San Antonio Sculptures on Public Display

When I visited San Antonio last year I marveled at the numerous artworks installed at various locations in the city. I must say that there is a concentration of sculptures in the river walk and other tourist areas. These installations coupled with lots of public seating areas provide a great opportunity for tourists to relax amidst art. These are works of recent artists from US and Mexico. If you are an art aficionado you must take in San Antonio's art district. Here are a few images of the sculptures I noticed.

Views of San Antonio's River Walk

Last year I had gone to San Antonio where the great war between Mexico and Texas happened. The Alamo in San Antonio is the site of this great battle when Texas got liberated and became an independent nation. San Antonio has something unique, a River Walk, the river Rio Grande flows smack in the center of the town and alongside areas have been developed into shopping, eating and entertainment venues. Tourists arrive in droves to relax by the river with a drink in hand and spend quality time with friends and family. Here are few pictures of the River Walk area.

Beautiful Mural

This giant mural is painted spank on the face of a multi-storeyed building in San Antonio. Pretty impressive huh!...

Street Views of San Antonio

Recalling my trip to San Antonio couple of weekends ago I felt that these pictures also merited a post on my blog. The city like I said before is dominated by Spanish speakers. There are three Hindu temples too and a dozen Indian restaurants. There is a mix of population no doubt but the majority are Spanish speakers. Another thing about San Antonio is its frequent and well maintained public transport system. It was common to see crowds of people waiting at bus stops even late in the night. Another sight that reminded me of India was the commonly found juice and crushed ice stands along the main thorough fares. Colorful bottles of sweet beverages and push carts like the one in the picture is common sight all over San Antonio.

Juice and crushed ice stands... common sight

This Mexican restaurant never closes, we had dinner at 2.00 am on the first day of our stay

The Spanish governors "Palace" a historical monument looks more like a hut than a palace

The tower of Americans, a sky scraper crowned by a revolving restaurant. This building surrounded by expansive gardens, lawns and fountains was constructed way back in the 1960s. I wish Indian establishment and political leaders had the foresight to create such impressive structures in our country. At least now with the advent of technology industry and new found riches I hope some people will invest in such projects in the country.

A sculpture in front of the Mexican center near the Tower of Americans

Another sculpture in the area

A beautiful Spanish-style building

Enroute from Laredo-San Antonio I saw this interesting looking building, which also serves as the tourist information center of Texas state. Sited virtually in the middle of nowhere this building is very well maintained. This expansive and aesthetically Spanish-style building has neatly manicured lawns, gardens full of green shrubs, flowering plants etc. The only part of the building which seemed to lack maintenance were the three small fish ponds, the water inside appeared dirty green and full of algae with several dead leaves floating. That apart I was really impressed with the dust-free corridors, clean fresh-smelling public restrooms and the friendly nature of the staff employed there.

This part of Texas is not a particularly green area and can get quite dry and dusty during the sultry summer months and I would definitely give a 9/10 for the cleanliness of this tourist information office. No wonder the US attracts a large number of tourists every year. It is time that we learnt lessons from places like here and adapt them to the exotic monuments and tourist locations in India. This way we can boost our economy with tourism revenues.
Love and Pride for State
One thing I admire about the people here, their love for their state and country and the way they proudly display it for the world to see. Maps, flags and the Lone Star insignia of Texas occupies the pride of place in most offices, homes and public buildings. This kind of pride and love has to be instilled in people in India and respective states within.

San Antonio, Southern tip of the US

The last two days I have been travelling close to the southern tip of Texas state close to the US-Mexican riverine border. This is one of the lesser developed cities in this country. The mainstay of the economy appears to be tourism on the surface, the city was formed in late 16th century by the Sapnish who came travelled from Mexico making a headway into north America. The city is set around the river San Antonio, which was perhaps the sole source of drinking water few centuries ago, now the river has shrunk to a few feet wide and has become the venue of cafes, shopping and other commerical activities. We also visited Laredo the border city of the US about 150 miles from here. Will post pictures of Laredo in the next couple of days. Right now you can walk with me across San Antonio and see the sights I saw and plan your holiday to the US.

San Antonio is a happening place full of tourists, like Udaipur, Goa, Jaipur etc in India but without the beach or mountains or deserts. The area is full of shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Almost every home in the down town area has a commercial front to it, in the evening they start playing music, selling liquor etc and people come and enjoy themselves. The city has some beautiful architecture, churches, walkways and a few parks. Here are some pictures of my travels.

Gazebo built by Mexican government in a park in San Antonio

Old Market square, San Antonio

Statue in the park in San Antonio

Old Church - San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio

San Antonio district court

River San Antonio around which the river walk shopping area has been created

San Antonio is known for its Christian missions.. there are several old churches here

Another old church in San Antonio

Modern art, sculpture installed in one of the main intersections

Visitors enjoying a boat ride in river walk area in San Antonio

Water slide at Mo Ranch

After last weekend's caving we visited Mo Ranch to enjoy a ride down the amazing water slide. Watch my experience on video.

More caving pictures

Unfortunately Bill Steele was only person with the camera and I was usually quite far from him in the cave. So these pictures depict different people doing different things in the cave. He just sent me some more pictures of the caving trip.. here they are...

Water Caving in Texas

Last weekend I travelled to far south of Texas a little distance from San Antonio to explore a deep Water Cave with a group of seasoned cavers from the DFW Grotto. These are some pictures of my experience of caving, of course I didn't have the camera and a good friend and my caving mentor shot these pictures.

All set to go into the cave

Inside the watery cave passage

Cave diver getting ready for the dive

Wading across the shallow waters inside the cave passageway