A weekend in Austin
Austin, I am told, is the only liberal city in an otherwise conservative state of Texas. Though irrelevant to this topic, I like adding that :-). It is the capital of Texas, fourth largest city in the lone-star state and fifteenth largest in the country. Austin was a part of my long weekend travel plan that included San Antonio. I reached Austin on the 3rd of July, late in the night and left on the 6th of July before daybreak.
Day One - 4th of July
Meeting with Anuranjan and Navin
Anuranjan Jha was my senior at CISL Lab, Columbia University who graduated just when I joined the lab. Anu (as he is fondly called) and me share a common interest - Running. We met for lunch (actually he picked me up from Kumar's house) at Trudy's, a Tex-Mex cuisine. We had some elaborate discussions on half marathon/ marathon training, music that inspires running, music in general, general fundaes on life, life, ... :-). To cut the long story short, we did a lot of catching up. After meeting Anu, I am now sure about buying Bose Companion 3 speakers when I return to NYC.
Navin is also a friend from Columbia University, a dude sometimes more American than an actual American. Don't ask me what I mean because you will have to interact with him to understand what I said. After picking me up from Texas Capitol, Navin and his girlfriend, Nita, took me to Mozart's Cafe. If you are an Austinite and haven't been to this place, I would urge you to try it asap; particularly try their Mocha Special.
Navin, Nita and me gossiped about our friends at Columbia University and Broadcom, sitting on the banks of Lake Austin watching the sun set. Later, we left to downtown Austin to witness the 4th of July Fireworks.
4th of July Fireworks
Kumar and Baradwaj (Bwaj) joined me after I reached the downtown. Independence day fireworks is a very colourful event in the United States and a joy to capture on camera. Being an ardent fan of Trey Ratcliff (a Photographer from Austin), I wanted to emulate his fireworks pictures. Having messed up royally last year, I had to make the opportunity count this year. Bwaj and Kumar got me the best possible spot and the following was the result.
It was a joint work by Kumar and me. For more pictures, you should visit Kumar's and my flickr streams. Bwaj captured amazing pictures with his point and shoot which can be viewed here. It was a very satisfying day for photography.
Day Two
Jog on River Colorado
Siddhartha Bannerjee (known as Bofi to most of us) is a friend of mine from my undergrad. After coming to the US, we used to run together in Central Park when he interned at Alcatel Lucent, NJ in the summer of 2009. So we decided to do the catching up while doing something both of us relish - Running. We ran the along R.Colorado on the Lady bird Lake trail, starting from Mopac Express-way, going till I-35 and back on the other bank of the river. Thanks Bofi for taking me on this picturesque route and I still owe you a couple of runs more.
Long Drive
After it got relatively cooler in the afternoon, we (Bwaj, Kumar and me) decided to go on a long drive; just drive on with no real intention. We went to Mount Bonnell, a prominent tourist destination alongside Lake Austin. It offers a good view of the city of Austin. Owing to the oppressive weather, we got ourselves a few portrait pictures quickly and drove to Lake Travis. After spending sometime there, we hit the road again to stop at Pennybacker Bridge; to get this view (there were no fireworks when we went). After all the driving (actually being driven) around, I know what is missing in my NYC life. I promise myself driving classes and a license without much delay.
My weekend in Austin is less of a conventional tourist's trip and more of a localite's weekend-off. However, its the most enjoyable travel experience that I have had recently. I hope to visit this place again, hopefully for a week and live Austin - bike, kayak, dine at Hula Hut, catch some live music, help myself with Tex-Mex food, ...
Coming Soon: Weekend in Bay Area.
Day One - 4th of July
Meeting with Anuranjan and Navin
Anuranjan Jha was my senior at CISL Lab, Columbia University who graduated just when I joined the lab. Anu (as he is fondly called) and me share a common interest - Running. We met for lunch (actually he picked me up from Kumar's house) at Trudy's, a Tex-Mex cuisine. We had some elaborate discussions on half marathon/ marathon training, music that inspires running, music in general, general fundaes on life, life, ... :-). To cut the long story short, we did a lot of catching up. After meeting Anu, I am now sure about buying Bose Companion 3 speakers when I return to NYC.
Navin is also a friend from Columbia University, a dude sometimes more American than an actual American. Don't ask me what I mean because you will have to interact with him to understand what I said. After picking me up from Texas Capitol, Navin and his girlfriend, Nita, took me to Mozart's Cafe. If you are an Austinite and haven't been to this place, I would urge you to try it asap; particularly try their Mocha Special.
Navin, Nita and me gossiped about our friends at Columbia University and Broadcom, sitting on the banks of Lake Austin watching the sun set. Later, we left to downtown Austin to witness the 4th of July Fireworks.
4th of July Fireworks
Kumar and Baradwaj (Bwaj) joined me after I reached the downtown. Independence day fireworks is a very colourful event in the United States and a joy to capture on camera. Being an ardent fan of Trey Ratcliff (a Photographer from Austin), I wanted to emulate his fireworks pictures. Having messed up royally last year, I had to make the opportunity count this year. Bwaj and Kumar got me the best possible spot and the following was the result.
It was a joint work by Kumar and me. For more pictures, you should visit Kumar's and my flickr streams. Bwaj captured amazing pictures with his point and shoot which can be viewed here. It was a very satisfying day for photography.
Day Two
Jog on River Colorado
Siddhartha Bannerjee (known as Bofi to most of us) is a friend of mine from my undergrad. After coming to the US, we used to run together in Central Park when he interned at Alcatel Lucent, NJ in the summer of 2009. So we decided to do the catching up while doing something both of us relish - Running. We ran the along R.Colorado on the Lady bird Lake trail, starting from Mopac Express-way, going till I-35 and back on the other bank of the river. Thanks Bofi for taking me on this picturesque route and I still owe you a couple of runs more.
Long Drive
After it got relatively cooler in the afternoon, we (Bwaj, Kumar and me) decided to go on a long drive; just drive on with no real intention. We went to Mount Bonnell, a prominent tourist destination alongside Lake Austin. It offers a good view of the city of Austin. Owing to the oppressive weather, we got ourselves a few portrait pictures quickly and drove to Lake Travis. After spending sometime there, we hit the road again to stop at Pennybacker Bridge; to get this view (there were no fireworks when we went). After all the driving (actually being driven) around, I know what is missing in my NYC life. I promise myself driving classes and a license without much delay.
My weekend in Austin is less of a conventional tourist's trip and more of a localite's weekend-off. However, its the most enjoyable travel experience that I have had recently. I hope to visit this place again, hopefully for a week and live Austin - bike, kayak, dine at Hula Hut, catch some live music, help myself with Tex-Mex food, ...
Coming Soon: Weekend in Bay Area.
Nice post! It's Austinite, BTW.
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