Elise Adventure: Elise's Birthday Weekend Part III (Austin + Hamilton Pool)

This isn't the most representative shot of Texan buildings

So we get to Austin! Austin follows the same colour-coding trend that I'm noticing with most of Texas. Most buildings in Houston, San Antonio and Austin are sort of a pinky-beige colour with red accents. This is in contrast to Vancouver, where buildings follow a blue and green theme.

Upon arrival, we split into two groups based on interest. My group went to go tour the capitol building, while the others went to check out a music shop.

The Texan State Capitol dates back to the 1880's

Confederate soldiers monument

Monument to fallen volunteer fire fighters

There are really nice gardens on the building grounds

The capitol is crowed with a statue of the Goddess of Liberty, holding a 5 point star.

Is there much more Texan than wearing a Texas flag shirt, that was bought at the Alamo, in front of the Texas State Capitol? I think not.

We were happy to see that entry was free. I was surprised that we had mostly free-run of the place after passing though security. It was self-guided, and while certain areas were roped off, there weren't any guards around.

The doorways are all intricately carved

Even the door hinges are decorative

Mosaics are made in the floor tiles

Each of these seals represent one of the six nations that have governed Texas

Portraits of passed governors circled the main foyer.

Looking up at the interior of the dome

Each floor branched outwards to galleries and offices

Stephen F. Austin is known as the "Father of Texas", leading the colonization into the region

Sam Houston lead the victory of the Texan Revolution, and was elected President of the Republic of Texas twice

After leaving the capitol, we met up with the others and went for dinner. This time I was spared a mariachi band. We parted with those who were only doing a day trip, and checked in to our youth hostel. It felt like a normal youth hostel to me, albeit a little small and the weird Adventure Time-style drawings all over the walls. I lament not having any pictures of those. There was a painting of two 6ft tall cartoon men whose beads were merging together into a heart beside my bed, across from a purple princess with a glowing crystal. In the restroom there was a plethora of cartoons, including a kid's balloon who was jealous of an older hot air balloon. Weird.

We hit up 6th Street in the evening before retiring for the night. We found a decent, but loud, place called Darwin's where we listened to a live band. I'm not quite sure what you'd call the genre, but I would qualify it as an American rock-country style.

The next day we swimming in the Hamilton Pool Preserve. It was gorgeous there. There were ferns growing out of the top of the overhang, and many swallows were nesting up there.