In this final report of my trip to Austin, Texas in the past June, I'm going to round up the fine impressions it made on me.
St. Mary's Cathedral - it was not very big and grandiose; it impressed with its fine details contained in its intimate interior - well balanced and nothing was amiss:
Architecture - there were many impressive building in downtown Austin, and besides the already reported
State Capitol and
Driskill Hotel, below are a sample of some impressive buildings, in broad styles ranging from neoclassical to ultra modern:
6th & Colorado Streets, Littlefield Building, and N. Congress Avenue
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown (l), Frost Bank Tower (r)
Frost Bank Tower (l) & Convention Center (r)
Convention Center
United States Federal Courthouse
The University of Texas at Austin
Parking Garage in the University of Texas at Austin
Museums - besides the impressive
Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, I visited several other museums in Austin.
The Contemporary Art Museum had no permanent collections but the small exhibition was engaging enough, though the long last impression was made rather by its interesting façade:
I stopped by the Bullock Texas State History Museum briefly while waiting for the Blanton to open, mostly admiring the building, particularly its rotunda:
Near the Convention Center where I attended the DrupalCon, there were two small museums each resided in a modest historical house - the O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) Museum and Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum.
I like the period decorations inside O. Henry Museum and I was very delighted to see some of his unpublished manuscripts on display, and it was fascinating to hear the author's recorded voice.
Unpublished Manuscripts
The official website of the
Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum informed us that: "The 1869 home of Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig was saved and
deeded to the City of Austin in 2003. Joseph Hannig built this home in
1869 for his new wife, Susanna Dickinson. She survived the Battle of the
Alamo and carried the news of its fall to Sam Houston, which ultimately
led to Houston's defeat of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto and
won independence for the Republic of Texas. For this deed, Susanna
Dickinson became known as the 'Messenger of the Alamo.'" Below are a few photos I took at the museum:
Downtown Austin was full of clubs, bars and restaurants in its multiple "
Entertainment Districts", and strolling along these historical streets was very pleasant, be it in quiet morning or at exciting night:
Entertainment District, Austin
Austin was also a very "green" city, manifested in its convenient public transit systems, shared bicycles, and colorful rickshaw taxicabs, which can be seen in the video above.
Shared bicycle station in Downtown Austin
Shared Bicycle station near the University of Texas at Austin
Bicyclists in Austin
Metro
More on
Austin, Texas Trip, June 2014
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