El Paso, TX

"That's just a piece of dirt.” That is what I hear a Texan say once about El Paso, and I believed him.  I could not help but think about those dusty, small cowboy towns you see in movies…  I have to tell you my friends, there is some truth to that, but this place has much more to offer.  Here are some things that caught my attention during my second visit to the city:

1.        The Río Grande is not so grande.  (big)

2.       Standing on what is today the University of Texas at El Paso, I can see the city of Juárez, Mx.  I feel I am almost there, literally.  I could see a message about the Bible, which is carved on the mountain side.  I could also follow a soccer match happening on a paved basketball court by the border.

3.       The US Government did build a fence….  

4.       The first Spanish Mission built in Texas is still here, and people still go to mass there!  (More about it on future post).

5.       During the 50’s someone thought it would be pretty cool to bring real crocodiles to the plaza in El Paso’s downtown, so they DID!  For obvious safety reasons, the crocs are gone.  There is a huge statue of them instead.

Have you been to El Paso?  What did you think of the city?

Landfill Harmonic

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We wish you all a very happy 2012!  We pretty much had the last minute idea of traveling to San Antonio Texas to bring in the new year, so around 2:00PM on the 31st, we got in the car, stopped for gas and a
Subway sandwich and drove south.

We read that morning about the celebration that would take place at Hemisfair Park and the Riverwalk, and the fact that it was a free event.  What better than free!?  We arrived at the hotel around 8:30 (I know, we made a few stops to pick up our much needed yellow underwear), checked in and walked down to the street.  For starters, the weather was amazing!  T-shirt, jeans and a pair of chucks.

We first stopped to get the mandatory picture of the Alamo.  I'm pretty sure I have enough of those but it's close enough to the hotel not to have done it.  Then we walked down to the Riverwalk which was packed but everybody seemed to be having a good time.

We made it over to Hemisfair Park and people were everywhere.  The usual pushing through crowds holding your beer up in the air to avoid spilling it.  I was impressed that I did not see a single fight break out as they usually do in drunken crowds.  Everyone was having a good time, there were several stages with live music, and food vendors of all kinds.

We walked around and finally made it to the main stage for the countdown.  It was the end of a good year and the beginning of what I hope is an even better one.