Wordless Wednesday: A new neighborhood

Light show

We have spent more time in downtown San Antonio the last week than in the whole last year! That's one of the many great things about having holiday guests.

First of all, we went to a pre-Christmas party at San Fernando Cathedral. When I told you about this excursion, I mentioned a plan to return for more spectacular entertainment, and there was a teaser for this amazing show in my Christmas greeting post. Now I can tell you more about it, and show you some of the shots I took there, during two separate visits.

A few years ago we visited the Rice campus for the celebration of its centennial and were treated to an amazing multi-media show played across all the buildings on three sides of its central quad. We were pretty blown away by this feat of techno-artistry.

Then, last year, a similar show was set up locally, and we've been meaning to get downtown to see if for almost a year and half. Finally, with the impetus of those out of town visitors, we made time to see it. And not once but twice!

The show is entitled "San Antonio: the Saga," and you can see more photos, as well as a video of the full 24-minute show, here. Although nothing quite matches getting to see it in person. Although it's not as big as Rice's show, it's every bit as impressive.

The photo at the top of the post was taken on our second visit, when I didn't think I needed to take any more pictures to supplement those taken on our first. So I didn't have my camera, but of course I had my phone. And I decided that I wanted a shot or two from further back, showing the whole Cathedral facade. You can see more photos from this vantage point by following the official Saga link. But here are some more close-ups, highlighting just some of the fabulous images that make up the show:

one of my favorites

and here's a closer-up shot to show how the projection highlights the architecture

cool Día de los Muertos visual

another projection that really highlights the Cathedral's lovely facade

some of the projections were really psychedelic!

Finally, if you didn't notice it on first read, take a look back up towards the top of the post. On the right is the picture I took of the Aztec Theatre's neon sign from the street...then on the left is a shot of the sign in the Saga lightshow. Pretty neat, eh?

The best thing about this show is that it's still running. Tuesdays and Fridays through Sundays, I suppose, indefinitely. But don't put off seeing it like we did; it's worth more than one visit!

Greetings [of your choice]

However and wherever you choose to celebrate the solstice, I hope you are having a wonderful day and season!

An old church and a new bridge, among other things

A few nights ago we leveraged a party downtown into a mini-tour of the area, which we don't see often enough. The party was at Poblano's, which happens to be right next door to the handsome structure you see above, our wonderful San Fernando Cathedral. (I've blogged about it before, just not recently.)

You can't walk anywhere near this impressive building without taking lots of pictures, even if the light is low...

The nice new plaza that gives the Cathedral a great spatial context invites strolling (and even more exciting entertainment; I hope to tell you about that sometime soon!) so we decided to walk off our Poblano's dinner along the Riverwalk.

Which you can do directly from Main Plaza and the Cathedral thanks to some relatively recent improvements. You can read about the Riverwalk's entire history here, but we learned the details of the work in this area from the helpful sign on the right.

The bridge it refers to is the lovely structure you can see in the photos below. We've never seen it at night, and possible hadn't seen it at all, so it was quite a treat to discover how easy it is to get to the other side of the River now, and in such style.

The main reason this bridge is so handy is that it's the other side of the River that leads to its famous bend, where most of the restaurants and other entertainment establishments are located. We didn't need to eat any more, but the walk certainly provided a feast for the eyes. From the River's Christmas finery...

...to Jazz Age buildings lit up for the season (the Tower-Life, built in 1927 and one of our most picturesque skyscrapers) and in its normal neon glory (the Aztec theatre, built in 1926) ...

 

And then, there's a moveable feast as well. Here's one of the festive carriages that offer rides around the tourist attractions. 

I hope you all are enjoying the holidays!

River scenery

Last time I showed you how lovely the water of our hill country rivers looks in wintertime.

But that's not even half of the great scenery on offer for hardy paddlers when the temperature starts to dip, and the sun is never straight overhead.

Our trip on the upper Guadalupe two weeks ago featured more great sights, starring two of my favorite aspects of the landscape, as I've told you before—rocks and trees. 

And sometimes both at the same time...

...doesn't it look like that tree trunk is growing right through the rock shelf? (sorry my closer shot didn't come out too well; you can click on this image to see it a little bigger)

These small proto-caves were an eye-catching sight in a long expanse of cliff:

While another distinguishing feature nearby was also somewhat arresting, these bright red leaves that seem to sprout from the rock:

But for some reason, in fall and winter, the trees really steal the show, at least along this stretch of river...

I guess the fact that you can see the "bones" of these cypresses more clearly just emphasizes their grandeur...

...don't they seem to look taller and more majestic when there's less biomass surrounding them?

Here are a few more of my favorite photos from this trip:

Happy almost-winter-solstice, everyone! (I hope that's a politically correct greeting...I know it's scientifically correct  )

Wordless Wednesday: the best cathedral I can imagine

Winter water

We are so lucky to  have such wonderful paddling rivers so near to us. And lately they've actually had enough water to float in!

It seems that these streams are even more beautiful than normal when the days start to grow shorter. One manifestation of this is the enhanced clarity of the water...

I thought I'd show you a few attempts I made at capturing this wonder. Then next time I'll feature the sights on offer when you look up from the water's surface.

Of course, this surface is never constant. We saw several reminders that it had been a lot higher recently. Like the debris at the the Zoeller Lane bridge above, and the captured sticks and whatnot under the much higher span at Sisterdale...

But all, or at least most, of the debris that was transported by this high water was long gone when we made our trip last weekend. All that was left was gorgeous winter water...

reflecting on how good life is!

note how far under the water you can follow this giant fallen tree trunk!

more photogenic logs...both above and below the waterline

All this gorgeous water and fun paddling...and we even got twinkies! Thanks, Robert!

Thankful for the Texas Hill Country!

We spent a misty-moisty, but very enjoyable and restful, Thanksgiving in the western Texas Hill Country near Leakey. What gorgeous countryside this is! Even without sunshine and blue skies. 

The stream that flows by our friend's place is a fork of the Frio River, which usually doesn't have enough water in it to paddle, unfortunately. (We have done it a few times, which you can see here.) But even so the fork is a lovely stream...

...and fun for man and beast. Here are some of our friends' dogs enjoying a brief dip (it was much warmer weather than it looks from these wintery photos!)...

In addition to rushing water, the site also features two more of my favorite natural wonders, trees and rocks. The trees are actually turning a little out here, so, again, even without the sun, there were some stunners, mostly the streamside cypresses...

And the rocks are everywhere: in gorgeous cliffs...

...and in more intimate (although not always particularly welcome) settings. Here's one that tumbled down the hillside behind our friend's cabin last summer and punched a hole in one of her walls. The not-so-happy landowner is the picture for scale:

Pretty scary, eh?! Fortunately the damage has been repaired and the offending piece of limestone is now just a conversation piece. And, I must admit, a pretty attractive one. Just look at this closeup of its amazing fossil-filled surface!

Of course, we wish it hadn't damaged our friend's place, but we're thankful no one was hurt (and only some replaceable beverages were irretrievably ruined). And what a story she is able to tell!

Lots happening at the zoo...

We haven't been to our local, fabulous zoo in many years. Probably not more than once or twice since our kids were little and we had a membership. And that was a long time ago.

There have been stories in the paper over the years, and we've heard from friends, that although the San Antonio Zoo has always been noted among the country's finest, they have constantly been upgrading it and adding wonderful new features.

Well, now that we have a next-gen little one to share it with, I'm sure we'll be going more frequently. And when the kids were in town just before Thanksgiving, a zoo visit was near the top of our to-do list.

One of the best new habitat/observation spaces is the one shown above, where you can watch the hippos both above and below the water. It was great!

Our little visitor enjoyed it, too, especially since she could stand up by herself (one of her favorite activities) and look through a perfect toddler-height window at the fishes and other critters in the water.

The Zoo has a long history in our town (as you can read about here) and some of it is still on view. Such as this plaque identifying the lion enclosure as built by the WPA.

And here are some of its current residents! A mom and two of her three cubs (recently named for Spurs Tony Parker and his family)...

As you can see, we had a beautiful day for our visit. 

Another of the areas that are new since our last time here are the expanded African animal enclosures, including this one for the giraffes. I always forget how gorgeous giraffe coats are. Don't they look like artistic mosaics?

The limestone cliffs in the background are representative of the great setting for our zoo. Many of the enclosures and other areas seem almost like natural extensions of the surrounding landscape.

I'll have more pictures of this great San Antonio attraction the next time our little granddaughter comes to visit!