Market Square- San Antonio Texas

Here are just a few more photos to go along with my photos from last year of Market Square in San Antonio Texas.

The place is colorful, vibrant, playful, and very much alive.  It feels like a Mexican mall/flea market/art fair and we loved every bit of it!

San Antonio- The Saga Light Show

Several nights a week in Antonio they have 3 showings of "San Antonio- The Saga" which is a very cool light/music show with scenes from history projected onto San Fernando Cathedral.

The show was created by Xavier De Richemont.  It covers the history of San Antonio (and Texas, and the US) in a psychedelic show that is really amazing.  The images and light change and move into other images.

I love the fact that this nearly 300 year old church is used in a modern art installation about history.

Check out my photos...  Some aren't perfectly in focus put I wanted to get a good mix up on the site.....

San Fernando Cathedral- San Antonio Texas

For more on San Fernando Cathedral, see my photos and brief mention on this blog from last year.  This place is so spectacular though, we knew we had to spend some more time here again this year.

Here are a few photos from the church (and a few from the museum/gift shop right by the church).

I am not an expert on etiquette at a Catholic church, but this place seemed welcoming and pleasant.  No one seemed to mind our exploring the place and taking photos.  A man did ask us if we knew where candles were sold, and my wife told him about the gift shop.  I do like the whole candle thing, and I think its very sweet.

I do like the statues around the place too, and all of the tradition that goes along with the faith, and with an older church like this.

AND I LOVE this church's very direction connections to the famous Battle that happened in 1836.

Rosarios Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio Texas

Rosario's was recommended by everyone in San Antonio, so we stopped by.  This was the best meal we had while in town, and we really liked this place!  The service was great and quick, and we really enjoyed their salsa.

For the record, we ate at a few other Mexican places in town- they were OK, but not worth mentioning here.  One place served salsa that was comparable to hot tomato soup.


BUT, Rosario's was that one great Mexican restaurant we hoped to find while in town.  Check out my photos!

Turkish Lamps on the River Walk San Antonio

I wanted to take a moment to give a HUGE endorsement to my new pal Halid's Turkish Mosaic Lamp business.

Check out these photos I took of some of his lamps on display along the River Walk.  The pictures look good, but they absolutely do not do them justice.

They are MUCH more colorful than the photos show.  He said that they are made in Turkey.

We went by his set up about 3 times and loved them.  We knew we were going to have to buy some, but we walked by on our way to some other attractions around time.  We weren't able to carry lamps around as we explored.

BUT, we made a special trip to visit Halid at the end of our time in town.  No joking, among my party of 4, we ended up buying SEVEN lamps from Halid!  He gave us a GREAT deal, and we were all thrilled with our purchases.  I have a gorgeous blue and purple one in my house right now that I LOVE!

These lamps are spectacular, and I have seen similar ones for a LOT more than what Halid was charging. 

Halid was set up along the River Walk one weekend when several other local artists and merchants were also set up.  We did notice that a kiosk in the Rivercenter Mall was also called River Walk Gift Shops selling the same lamps- so make sure you check them out if you are in town!

 

 

Sisters Grimm Ghost Bus Tour San Antonio Texas

Last year in San Antonio, we did the Sister's Grimm Ghost Walk.  We had a good time.  Also, our guide told us that the company was just starting to do a "Ghost Bus Tour" which we thought about trying to squeeze in on that trip, but we ran out of time. 

So, on our visit this year, we made sure we had time to do the Ghost Bus Tour with Sisters Grimm.

Our guide, James, was great.  he was funny and witty... and also dark when the time was right.

The bus tour got together in front of the Menger Hotel.  Well, after introductions and all, James drove the Ghost Bus maybe a few inches, then stopped so we could all go into the Menger.

James told us some interesting stories about the historic hotel.  Standing next to the Alamo, the Menger has a ton of history in its own right- with a bunch of ghost stories, and the fact that Teddy Roosevelt spent a lot of time here.  Many other Presidents have stayed here too.

James then took us to a few more places around town, including the old red light district.  A very interesting part of the old red light district relates to a book that was available for a time WITH A RATING SYSTEM for the girls in the area.  I did not make that up, and I am pretty sure James didn't either.


We also stopped by the old jail in town which is now a hotel.  James told a brutal story involving a hanging that occurred there.  Everyone on the bus was paying attention for this one!

Our last stop was at a cemetery where we walked around as James told several stories relating to graves.  Names like Menger and Borglum came up as we explored.  We had a very nice time walking around here too!

As James drove, he kept the stories coming.  When we passed by the Sheraton Gunter, he told us about a very creepy crime committed in that hotel.  He also displayed various photos relating to the stories on a TV screen at the front of the bus.

Flashlights and EMF detectors were made available during the tour for those interested.

James and his wife Lauren have written a book on the ghosts of San Antonio too, so it was pretty cool getting a tour from an actual author!  The book has some of the stories James covers on the Bus Tour and more, so you definitely want to read that before your visit to town!

Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio Texas

We swung through the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio again while we were there.  We ended up spending a bit more time there this time than last.

The place is old and historic, and it has such a cool vintage vibe.  I really love being able to stand in a spot that probably looks the same as it did many decades ago.

We stopped by again, because this hotel is a "must visit" for any blues and rock fan.  I explained the Sheraton Gunter Hotel's significance before, but half of the still existing recordings of blues legend Robert Johnson were done here in room 414.

ALSO, on our ghost tour we did with the Sisters Grimm, they told us about another very violent and strange crime that occurred here.  I won't go into the details of that one, but the hotel does have some strange history- adding another interesting story to the history of San Antonio.

Tower of the Americas- San Antonio Texas

I do love space needles, and anywhere high where I can look out over a beautiful town.  Well, we stopped by the Tower of the Americas again on this trip. 

I kind of covered its history, and gave more info about it here last year, so I won't repeat myself.

We did enjoy stopping by here again though, and we loved seeing their 4-D movie about Texas again.

Anyway, here are some photos from this year!