Seeing the US through Dutch eyes: San Antonio, a Spanish vibe and longing for Mickey

Second town we visited on our trip is San Antonio in Texas. I think for Americans San Antonio is best known for the Alamo, in early days as a Spanish mission and then the site of the 1836 battle that cost a lot of lives, but in the end won the independence of Texas. So, the Alamo is a must visit. We were surprised at how big San Antonio was, people in town assured us it’s bigger then Dallas, and we sure didn’t expect that. You can clearly see the Mexican influence in town, but other then that, it seemed like an average American city.

imageAt least that’s what we thought, until we descended to the San Antonio River, snaking its way through the downtown area. It was like we entered a different world, the world beneath so to speak. In earlier years we loved travelling to the Canary Islands, and when we found the River Walk, we were immediately reminded of our times there. The place was beautiful, lush and green, old buildings lining the river. Little shops and restaurants, terraces on the riverbank to sit outside and enjoy your drink or meal. Colored parasols, Mexican music, the riverboats that floated by carrying tourists. We loved it!

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The next day we chose quite a different destination, visiting Seaworld San Antonio. We had hesitated about whether we’d go or not, having read about several incidents with killer whales and their trainers In their parks, but we were in the mood for some amusement park fun, so when the park opened, we were there. Although we had a good day and really enjoyed the Orka Show a lot, another feeling crept up on us. A feeling of comparison: we couldn’t help but think back to Seaworld Orlando. A much bigger park, and when we were there last time it had more things to do involving animals, instead of just a lot of thrill rides. And remembering Orlando, we remembered our most favorite of amusement parks: Disney World.

imageIsn’t it funny how that works? If you’ve seen the best of its kind, then everything else pales in comparison! And Disney World simply is the best, with the possible exception of The Efteling in my own little country. So right now we are driving towards our next destination, with music from the Disney World Resort on our music player. “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow And tomorrow’s just a dream away..”. Always puts us in a good mood, while we think happy thoughts about our time on the RiverWalk in San Antonio.

3 comments

  1. I’ve been to San Antonio once. It was a beautiful place, but mostly I remember the river walk. Especially at night with all of the lights on the bridges it’s just breath-taking.

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