Witte Museum - San Antonio

The Witte Museum is located north of downtown on Broadway and has been in existence 1926. Over those 85 years it has grown and changed with the community of San Antonio.  While the museum hosts a wide range of interesting exhibits which cater for all types who frequent the Witte Museum, on this day we spent time in the Robert J & Helen C Kleberg South Texas Heritage Center.  This display provides the opportunity to take a walk back in time when the West was the home of the American Indian , the cowboy and where innovation and smartness on how to survive the hash environment was born.  As one walks through the life like displays and secretly says to self  "pleased I did not live during this time" however feeling very grateful for the huge sacrifices many made to make America what it is today.  The USA today still opens its doors to many from other lands who want to live in this amazing country.

American Indians who were the first to settle this land have a rich and diverse culture and the Witte provides the uneducated the opportunity to develop an appreciation of this cultural group. Having had the opportunity to go to a Pow Wow we were very interested in this magnificent Eagle Feather War Bonnet of the Comanche Chief Tabanica.  Unfortunately the glare from the class makes the full appreciation of its beauty a little difficult to see.

The display of Indian clothing is amazing.

As are the weapons used at this time.

History is littered with the sad stories of culture clashes.

 Innovation was essential and the great distances that needed to be travelled saw the development of the wagon.  It is very small inside and not built for comfort.  

Outside within the museum grounds there are now a number of original and recreated homesteads (the Ruiz house dates prior to 1756).

All located with the Riverwalk as their backyard.

We had last visited this Museum in 1993 when it had a major display on the history of the Texas Rangers. San Antonio has so much history and it is maintained in at least 7 museums spread across the city.
We are still enjoying it here and find it a fun place to live.

Cheers Ross and Bev

Fiesta San Antonio

The beautiful yellow rose of Texas is a good way to introduce you to the season of the year called Fiesta San Antonio, which is the annual spring festival held here .  Its origins dating back to the late 19th century and began as a single event to honour the memory of the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto.   

As part of the celebrations the Witte Museum which is located on Broadway had on display Fairytale Fiesta. On display were the fiesta gowns inspired by fairytales.

This year's featured pin dress was  to be the 1941's Queen of the Court of Legends.  The gold lame dress and train was worn by Margaret Walker features the underwater Kingdom of Atlantis with coral, starfish and seahorses worked into the velvet with rhinestones. As you will see the gowns were magnificent .

The Riverwalk is the centre of many of the festivities and nightly crowds line the river to watch the numerous parades and floats that depict this city.

San Antonio at dusk is a scene not to be missed.

During our time here we have had the great fortune to work with wonderful people and this day we said farewell to Shelby who had been one of our team..  This was her last day working with us so we said our farewells in the office.

Then off to lunch.  We wish Shelby every success in her future endeavours.

Apart from partying we also work and this was our Aspen Medical USA booth at a recent oil & gas conference in San Antonio.

We all took turns as manning the booth and here Wayne and I were on duty.

The conference also had a social component to it and this evening was held at the Lonesome Dove Function Rooms located right on the RiverWalk.  You will note the Longhorn staring at you.

We were entertained by a Mariachi band.

Tomorrow on 26 May it is Memorial Day, this is the day the USA  honours all those who have made the supreme sacrifice and for all who have served and continue to serve in its military forces (similar to our ANZAC Day).   Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and the desire for the USA to honour it's war dead.. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in his general order No 11.

We wish all our past and currently serving US Military friends all the very best for their very important day.

Cheers Beverley and Ross

Zurich

 Zurich is one of Switzerland's most iconic travel destinations and home to an amazing array of sights, activities and events. As first time visitors to Zurich we were  enjoyed this fascinating city. It provides a glimpse of the real Switzerland,  mixing old world charm with a modern and vibrant night life.

Part of its charm is the funicular service.

Out door cafes hug the river.

Where customers can recline on sheep skin rugs and sun bake while they enjoy their coffee.

The food here is great and you see the iconic cow wherever you go.

Our last evening in Zurich took us to a restaurant were we enjoyed traditional Swiss cuisine.  It was all good.

The bill come in its own cow horn.

Now this a selection of cheeses.

And there are cow bells everywhere.

Zurich was our last stop before returning to the USA.  As is usual for us we missed our connecting flight from DC as it took 2 hours to get through customs and 1 hour to get through security so we had an enjoyable night in Washington.  At least on this trip we did not loose our luggage.

Cheers Ross and Beverley

Titlis Engleberg - Switzerland

One of the adventures we undertook while in Switzerland was an amazing trip to Mt Titlis which has the only glacier accessible in the entire region of Central Switzerland. 

We bused it from Lucerene to Engleberg and the views of the Swiss Alps were all around us. 

We visited the Cheese Factory at Engelberg Monastery where each day 15 local mountain farmers bring their fresh cow's milk to the cheese factory.  Here you can see very happy cows.  Not only do they have beautiful mountains all around, their feed is of the highest quality.

The content of fat and protein can vary depending on the season and we had the opportunity to see cheese being made.

And we got to taste some delicious Swiss Cheese.  The Cheese maker was a physical therapist from the USA who is now a Swiss citizen as his wife is Swiss.  Interestingly he could pick Beverley's Queensland accent and could even isolate it to being a Brisbane accent. Not bad considering we have been away from Australia for almost 6 years.

From Engleberg we took the gondola to Trubsee Station .  From there the cable car to Strand Station.

The last stretch was in the Titilis Rotair rotating gondola up to the top station at 3020 meters.

We had lunch on the top of  the mountain and here is a view from our window.

We enjoyed a traditional Swiss lunch of cheese soup and a potato strudel.

The glacia is amazing.

More to follow on Zurich.

Cheers Ross and Bev