A Nice Visit to San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Late yesterday afternoon, Saturday, we went to the ancient San Fernando Cathedral. A Mass was being said, but we were welcomed to visit nonetheless, and so we went in—in turns, with one of us keeping the dogs at the tables and chairs on the Main Plaza. That Mass turned out to be as moving and beautiful a church service as we can imagine. The Cathedral walls define a striking interior space that was beautifully lit by a bright afternoon sun that made the magnificent stained glass windows come alive. With priests in their white vestments framed by golden objects and decoration, the altar area glowed.

The pews were mostly filled, and though the congregation was quite diverse socially and economically, the largest group were Latinos. The service seemed informal, even though a Mass, and friendly. What drove the service to a new level was the large Mexican-style band and an even larger chorus expertly playing and singing good, modern music with a powerful drum section and a great trumpet. All very uplifting.

Magnificent Cathedral

Vernacular Mass

San Antonio, now America’s seventh largest city, stuffs huge numbers of visitors and tourists into a small area, like Cool Hand Luke in the hard-boiled eggs contest. Many of the tourists are here for conventions, conferences and the like (we met some folks from Children’s Hospital in DC) while still more, mostly Texans and Mexicans, are here for the Alamo.

The proper order of things seems to be to do a little work or serious sightseeing, and then hit the famous Riverwalk. We had an idea we’d be strolling along a quiet, shaded riverbank past small restaurants and shops, what you might find on a side street in a pleasant European city. Man oh man, were we mistaken. The Riverwalk is over-the-top gaudy, colorful but way too crowded and busy as busy can be. One Tex-Mex eatery after another with young girls in front of many dressed for a Mexican festival urging us inward for the best tacos on the walk. The river itself is covered with a large fleet of open-air tourist boats plowing constantly up and down the river with the operators giving the scene spiel. It was, we confess, good cheap fun, a colorful confabulation. And there are good restaurants mixed with the poor. We had a very nice Tex-Mex meal beside the river, feeding corn chips to Weezie and Capers. The dogs love these sidewalk scenes, and people of all types love to stop and pet the dogs, tell us about their dogs and how pretty our (now clean) dogs are. Capers has kissed so many babies he could be elected President.  (BTW, the large trees along the banks of the Riverwalk are full of herons building nests. They and the humans do not seem to notice each other.)

Colorful Riverwalk

We also visited the Villita Historic District, a collection of older homes, shops, and churches that reflect the city’s past.  It was a pleasant break from the crowded city, and a band played Mexican music in the plaza. Another beautiful spot is the historic Menger Hotel where we got a very nice lunch.

In La Villita

The other must-see is, of course, the Alamo. It is very well conserved with helpful exhibits and lovely grounds. For Texas it is a shrine, officially and unofficially. We had a good visit and learned a lot, enough to make us wonder about the psychology of Crocket, Travis, Bowie, and others who opted to stay and fight to the death. And was the Battle of the Alamo strategically important in the Texas war of independence from Mexico? Good questions to research back home in Vermont.

The Alamo and some questions...

As we were headed to bed last evening, Cece had a conversation with a member of the hotel staff about their extensive renovations and therefore inconveniences. It concluded with her saying to Cece, “I wish everyone was as nice as you.” To which Gus replied, “the world would indeed be a much better place.”