This post has been long due. Wanted to post this a week back, but work is kind of hectic. So, could not post it. Anyways, to cut the story short, me and Chitra had been to San Antonio during the Oct 28/29 weekend.
San Antonio is the 7th biggest city in USA and has got a historic touch to it. Its around 3 hrs drive from Houston. The main attraction of the city is the “River Walk” area. Its a small river which flows right thought the heart of the city. There is a walkway around this river, and the walkway has all kinds of shops and restaurants on it. Nice place to spend a day! One more attraction is the Sea World water park. We spend our first day at the Sea World water park.
Here is a photo essay of the trip!
We started our trip with Sea World…
Sea World Entrance - Click to Zoom
Sea World Entrance - Click to Zoom
At Sea World, you can feed the dolphins!… but only during the feeding time. But we did manage to get pretty close to these wonderful creatures…
Sea World Dolphin - Click to Zoom
Next, we went to the Sea Lion Show. It was just Amazing. You need to see the show to believe what these wonderful creatures are capable of! The show was really funny and cute!
Sea World - Sea Lion Show - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Sea Lion Show - Click to Zoom
Sea World Sea Lion Show - Uncle Max - Click to Zoom
Next was the Shamu Show - Shamu is a huge whale and this show too was great. Below are some pics of the show…
Sea World - Shamu Show - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Shamu Show - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Shamu Show - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Shamu Show - Click to Zoom
Lady Selling some soft drinks - Click to Zoom
We saw one more show called “Viva”… it was the one with white whales and dolphins and some synchronized dancing!. Was good…
Sea World - White Whale - Click to Zoom
The last show that we saw was Water Ski Show. Saw some amazing stunts…
Sea World - Water Ski Show - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Water Ski Show - Click to Zoom
Then we spend some time on different rides… and this was the first one… the Roller coaster… was pretty exciting..
Sea World - Roller coaster - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Roller coaster - Click to Zoom
Sea World - Roller coaster - Click to Zoom
After Sea world, we checked into our hotel, and spent our evening at the River walk area… which was fully lit-up at night … Here are some snaps… of the same….
San Antonio - River Walk - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - River Center Mall - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - River Walk - Click to Zoom
The next day, again we went to the River Walk area, and took a boat ride…
San Antonio - River Walk - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - River Walk - Click to Zoom
There are Restaurants, and shops all along the River walk area… Nice place to shop and hang out…
San Antonio - River Walk - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Restaurant on the River Walk - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - River Walk boat ride - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - River Walk - Theater - Click to Zoom
And here are some pictures of the buildings in the downtown area…
San Antonio - Downtown Area - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Downtown Area - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Downtown Area - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Downtown Area - Click to Zoom
This was shot from the boat ride…
San Antonio - Downtown Area - Click to Zoom
Doesn’t this building look like a flat wall ?
San Antonio - Downtown Area - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Downtown Area - RiverCenter Mall - Click to Zoom
The famous Alamo - This monument has its own place in the History of Texas …
San Antonio - The Alamo - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - The Alamo - Click to Zoom
Our last visit was to the Tower of the Americas. Its a 750 Foot tall tower, with a revolving restaurant at the top!. You get to see an amazing 360 degree view of the entire San Antonio Area!
San Antonio - Tower of the Americas - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Tower of the Americas - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - From Tower of the Americas - Click to Zoom
San Antonio - Downtown area from Tower of the Americas - Click to Zoom
Hope you enjoyed the Virtual Tour of San Antonio! :)
|
November 8th, 2006 at 11:43am
Me back from the two day temple visit trip. It was a mini-pilgrimage kind of trip along the west cost of south India. We visited around 15 temples in all.
We started on Wednesday morning at around 7.00 AM. We had hired a Toyota Qualis for the trip. Although our primary intention was to visit our Kuladeva’s temple in Goa, we did visit quite a lot of temples on our way to Goa.
Our first stop was at the Bappanadu temple at Mulky. Its just next to the National Highway (NH 17).
Mulky Bappanad Temple (Click to Zoom)
This is the Famous Dhol or Drum at Bappanad temple.
Mulky Bappanad Dhol or Drum (Click to Zoom)
Our next stop was at Udupi for breakfast at one of our relatives house at around 8 AM. After our breakfast, we visited the Kadiyali temple at Udupi.
Kadiyali Temple at Udupi (Click to Zoom)
From Kadiyali we headed north. We briefly stopped for a while at a place called Amunje to visit one more relative of ours. After that we continued our travel. Our next stop was at Saligram. Saligram is in between Udupi and Kundapur. We visited two temples in Saligram. Shree Anjaneya Temple and Shree Guru Narasimha Temple.
Shree Aanjaneya Temple at Saligram (Click to Zoom)
Shree Guru Narasimha Temple at Saligram (Click to Zoom)
Our next stop was at Anegudde Shree Vinayaka Temple at Kumbhasi, near Koteshwara (Kundapur). I have been to this temple couple of times.
Anegudde Shree Vinayaka Temple - Kumbhasi (Click to Zoom)
After Annegudde, we further continued our trip. Our next stop was at Hattiangadi. This time, at Shree Ganapathy Temple at Hattiangadi. Hattiangadi is on the way to Kollur.
Shree Ganapathy Temple at Hattiangadi (Click to Zoom)
Our next stop was at Shree Kollur Mookambika Temple. This temple is pretty famous. On the day we reached there, it was quite crowded. It was Navami on that day, and there were quite a lot of devotees. There were long queues (5 to 6 hrs!) for God’s Darshana. We prayed from outside, and continued our travel. Here are some snaps of Kollur Mookambika Temple.
Outside the temple one can find lot of shops where the devotees can buy quite a lot of stuff related to Shree Mookambika Goddess. From Photos to Audio cassettes to CDs. There are quite a lot of shops targeting the kids.
Memorabilia from Kollur Mookambika Temple (Click to Zoom)
Toys for Kiddos @ Kollur Mookambika Temple (Click to Zoom)
After Kollur, we traveled further north. We didn’t visit Murdeshwar and Shirali since it was already afternoon and the temples would be closed during that time. We stopped for lunch at Kamat Hotel at Honnavar. Had a heavy lunch, and the sleep followed naturally. By the time we woke up, we had reached Karwar. Karwar is the border town of Karnataka State.
Guess what do you first see when you cross the border and hit Goa ? Yes. Its the liquor shops. Liquor is cheap in Goa and widely consumed. Also, the cost of fuel is pretty low. i.e., Diesel is cheaper by around INR 2.5 and Petrol is cheaper by around INR 4! So, most of the vehicles fill in the fuel once they enter Goa. Same is the case when the vehicles come back.
We reached Ponda, Goa at around 8 PM. Shree Ramanathi Temple that we were supposed to visit is located in Ponda, Goa.
Shree Ramanathi Temple at Goa (Shanteri Kamakshi) - Night Shot (Click to Zoom)
Shree Ramanathi Temple at Goa (Shanteri Kamakshi) - Morning Shot (Click to Zoom)
We stayed at one of the Mutts (Kavale Mutt) for the night. The rooms were pretty good. The next day, we got up early, and went to the Shree Ramanathi Temple again. After God’s Darshana, we went to our Kula Deva’s temple. i.e., Shree Devaki Krishna Ravalnatha temple at Marcela, Goa. I had been to this temple when I was around 9 years old I guess. We had to perform something called “Vara Bheti”. Its a ritual that is performed when married couple go to the Kula Devastana for the first time.
Shree Devaki Krishna Ravalnatha Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Shree Devaki Krishna Ravalnatha Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
We also visited the nearby Shree Laksmi Ravalnatha Temple
Shree Laksmi Ravalnatha Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Next we went to Shree Balaji Temple.
Shree Balaji Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Ashta Lakshmis around the Dwajasthamba at Shree Balaji Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Our next stop was at Shree Mangeshi Temple
Shree Mangeshi Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
By this time, we were hungry. So, we had some light snacks just outside the Shree Mangeshi Temple. After Shree Mangeshi Temple, we stopped at Shree Mahalasa Narayani Temple. I had visited this temple too when I was young.
Shree Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
The Deepasthamba (a tall post which has lot of lamps or diyas on it) at the Mahalasa Narayani temple is really beautiful. I have clicked a couple of snaps of the same.
Deepasthamba at Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Carvings around the base of the Deepasthamba at Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Carvings around the base of the Deepasthamba at Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
The Base of the Deepasthamba supported by horses and elephants at Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Shree Mahalasa Narayani Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
The last temple that we visited was Shree Lakshmi Narasimha Temple.
Shree Lakshmi Narasimha Temple at Goa (Click to Zoom)
Pond at the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple (Click to Zoom)
One interesting thing that I noted was the architecture of almost all the temples in Goa were similar. Almost all the temples that we visited in Goa had a similar layout and design!. Compared to it, the temples in South Kanara (Dakshina Kannada) are pretty different. They have a different design altogether!!
So, after all the temple visits, we came back to Shree Ramanathi Temple and attended the Maha Aarathi at around 1 PM and had our Prasadam. After that, we started back. We had our lunch at a hotel called Abhiksha. Very good hotel. The food was very good. Just like the previous day, we had a heavy lunch. By this time, it was around 2.30 PM. It was getting pretty cloudy, and it rained heavily. The return trip was basically nonstop travel.
We stopped in between for a couple of minutes for a small tea break at Bhatkal. Throughout the return journey, it as kind of raining lightly. We reached back Mangalore at around 10 PM.
|
October 14th, 2005 at 11:50pm
