After Anna’s Austrian ankle break last August and the time she’s spent recovering holidays were put on the back burner. However, making up for lost time we arranged a couple of weeks in the Lone Star state. (By the way, Anna’s now very mobile and her recovery is a testament to the surgery/care she received and her diligent rehab regime.)

We’ve never been to Texas and as it’s as big as Europe and there’s plenty to see and do albeit with a little driving (understatement.) Austin appealed because it’s the state capital and country music!  From here we’d take in the Space Center at Houston, then to San Antonio for a look and concert. Afterwards it’s down to the coast and a stay at Corpus Christi. Flying out of Heathrow meant hauling down to London from Yorkshire by train but this was compensated by a relatively cheap upgrade to ‘World Traveller’ from Economy with British Airways. For a nine hour flight the extra space is a boon.

In Austin Anna chose an Airbnb for our three nights and this was on the outskirts of the centre. The first thing that hits you (again) is that the USA is no longer cheap. Historically you could buy in dollars what it cost in pounds or usually cheaper. Now it’s way more expensive including food/dining. Tipping is a usual demand starts at 15 or 18%. You even get asked this when inserting your card into the reader at the counter of a coffee shop for a take out! Austin is big and sits on the Colorado river. In the centre skyscrapers abound. We walked around (24,300 steps!) on our first day but when we went out for an evening music walking tour we took an Uber feeling very lardy. For the distance of a couple of miles we paid $23 but that cost was soon forgotten as a driverless Jaguar turned up. School boy thrill time! (When we did take a taxi with a driver it’s always interesting to learn where the driver originates from. One was from Afghanistan and got residency because he worked with the US military and the other was a large bloke from Cameroon.)

The city sells itself as being the live music capital of the USA. I personally don’t think so after having been to Nashville but our guide, a musician herself, took us around some venues and even sang. She had a great voice and gave us a few bars of ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline as an illustration of one of the songs written by the city’s living legend, Willie Nelson.

In fact I think Willie’s done a lot to put the city on the map. The focus of the music nightlife is 6th Street. This is a pale shadow of Nashville’s Lower Broadway but the deal is the same ie. bars with live music. We bowled up to the San Jac Saloon where a couple of acts were strumming away fighting the inevitable rowdy background of the revellers. We enjoyed Bron Burbank who worked his way through covers and ploughed on despite the indifference.

The next day we returned to the airport to collect a car we booked. I’d wanted a BMW X1 for the 1,000+ miles I’d be driving but ‘or similar’ in the booking meant I stood a considerable chance of disappointment. Yup, no BMW but a Mercedes GLA came as the consolation. I absorbed the blow with good grace. First stop on our return to East Austin central was an American breakfast at Sawyer & Co for eggs, bacon, gravy and a biscuit. This was hip and I added about 15 years to average age in the busy Sunday morning restaurant. Fortified it was time for history and drove up to the State Capital building.

This contains the legislature of Texan senators, congressmen and the Governor. It’s a wonderful building and we enjoyed a tour up the various levels. The legislature only sits for about 140 days a year and apart from a flat salary of $7,500 a year they receive, in addition, about $220/day expenses. Needless to say they all have other jobs. (The Governor only receives around $150,000 pa.) It’s a very historic building and there are several paintings of 19th century notables who led Texas to independence out of Mexico. (More of all this in a later blog.) The grounds similarly have many statues of other Texan worthies.

Back at our digs we discovered our intended honky-tonk destination was shut on a Sunday. That was the Broken Spoke, a little out of town. However our hosts said, in walking distance, was the White Horse, honky-tonk and maybe worth a visit. So venturing out the good news was that the large numbers of homeless men were not present who, frankly, carpet some streets. They never threatened us but their condition and presence was a miserable sight to see. It seems all major US cities have large numbers who simply seem to survive rather than live.

The White Horse was all I could have dreamed of from the neon signage, a full dance floor two-stepping and a fabulous band – Silo Road. They could really play and mixed originals with covers as couple span around in front of us. Before you ask, then ‘no’. I have the coordination of a pedal bin and most of these dancers were skilled. All the country music songs I know talk of dancing on ‘hardwood floors’ but this was concrete but bore the throng happily. Back at the Airbnb we packed as tomorrow we were headed east for rockets!