leaving n.o.l.a.

so we set the alarm so we could go all huckleberry finn on the river. can't believe we are finding it so difficult to see the morning. it's a disgrace. but the steamboat was cool. it was an old-fashioned effort where you could imagine people wandering the decks in bonnets. there was a steam caliope thing on top of the boat before we set off, which is some kind of steam organ which plays music like you're at the seaside. it was great for about 3 minutes and then got intensely irritating. but then we hit the bar and got ourselves a 'hurricane' cocktail. these people have a sense of humour, naming a cocktail that. but it was well strong and made the two hour jaunt down the river very pleasurable indeed. we saw where they did some filming for 'interview with a vampire' and also some old plantation houses (though the plantations are long gone) which made me think of old black and white films.

i think the particular highlight of new orleans for me, though, was none of the touristy stuff. it happened the other morning/afternoon when rach and dever were still getting up. i'd gone down to the back to eat my bran flakes in the sun and then wiseman kenny came out with a load of stuff to make a gumbo. i watched him slice the okra (a green vegetable which seems to be a cross between celery and green pepper) and then he invited me to help him peel the shrimp which i've never done before. it was so relaxing, ripping heads off and things. they should give it to people for stress management. and then it took kenny all day to cook the gumbo and then we ate it in the evening in a big communal happy hostel moment. fab.

but now we have finally left n.o.l.a. for big ol' texas. it was a bit of a wrench. gorgeous douggie gave us a lift in his knackered volvo and there was not a dry eye in the bus station. but we have lots of email addresses and southern jon is planning a reunion in a couple of years, maybe for mardi gras. the greyhound (or dirty dawg, as we now affectionally call it) was the usual stress of delays and shite. this usually seems to happen when we book a hostel that isn't 24 hour reception. but i actually like it when we're on the bus on an evening. it's great watching the light change over the land until it all becomes darkness. and texas is so vast. it really is. there were parts where the road rose on a really high bridge to get over the various rivers and when we went up all you could see for miles and miles and miles was endless trees and greenery. i've never seen anything like it. no open space, just trees and trees. and then came the fields full of cows with the white fencing, exactly like in the opening credits of 'dallas'. it was beautiful. i'm hoping that we get a clear night while we're here because apparently you see so many stars at night, due to the lack of light pollution, although san antonio is a fairly large city so it might not work looking out of the hostel window.

and the hostel itself is something to report about. we arrived in the dark and went to reception in a grand old manor type place. we then had this weirdo guy called darren meet us through the dark of the room and say that he doesn't have any record of our booking. fab. but he was just so strange. he wouldn't let us follow him through to the office and he spoke in a really weird way. he then directed us to the hostel which turns out to be some kind of army barrack round the side of the nice building. when rach went to get a glass of water, he mysteriously appeared behind her, saying he was locking up for the night. it's really hard to capture the guy's weirdness. he looked a bit like marty's dad out of 'back to the future'. but it was just his weird silent behaviour plus the darkness of the whole place that made us think where the bluddy hell have we come. but it's all fine now. we met alana the owner this morning who had found our booking and she was really normal and friendly, dishing out maps and bus timetables. thank the lord.

and san antonio is really beautiful. for a start, it actually has shops that are open and not boarded up and deserted like in n.o. we were so giddy to find a c.v.s. (which is like an american boots) and stocked up on mozzie spray. apparently the little shites are just as bad over here in texas aswell. we were all itching to buggery last night and each of us all moaned when we got into bed that we wanted our mams. though our mams would have probably just told us to pull ourselves together, and rightly so.

so today we got the bus into town and wandered on the riverwalk. this is an artifical canal system below street level that the canny texans have built to attract tourists. but it is actually gorgeous so it doesn't matter. there are willow trees and various pretty plants along the way, aswell as a small outdoor theatre with a stage across the water. there are also loads of touristy bars and restaurants but this doesn't spoil it too much. i'm ashamed to admit that we did frequent the 'british pub' for a full english brekkie - but rach and the dev were missing it too much and i secretly fancied some sausage and tomato too. they even do pasties at the place aswell, which is manna from heaven. the plan to just eat salad today has completely gone out of the window. we're eating so much. and it's all crap aswell. you wouldn't believe the lengths to which you have to go to get some fruit in this country. it's crazy. no wonder we're surrounded by lardasses all the time. we're slowly turning into them aswell. argh!

san antonio has a heavily mexican feel. it doesn't feel like we're still in america. lots of people speak spanish and there is the spanish translation on all public notices. i wasn't expecting texas to be like this. perhaps fort worth and dallas will have more of a tumbleweed feel. we are going to see the alamo tomorrow, which apparently is where there was the big fight between the cowboys and the mexicans and where lots of john wayne films were set. maybe there will be some tumbleweed there. anyhow, rach has bought a cowboy hat.