Tuesday, April 20, 2010

4/18/2010 The Alamo & a Whole Lot More #5

After lots of laughs and getting our tummies full it was time for more exploring.

First stop was the city square where the San Fernando Cathedral is located.

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San Fernando Cathedral was founded in 1731 and is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in the State of Texas. The Cathedral building has the added distinction of being the oldest standing church building in Texas, and for all of its more than 275 years.

Bonnie and I went inside while the guys settled into chairs to watch the activities in the square.

Imagine our surprise when we walked in the door and the first thing we see is a coffin type structure.

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As it turns out, it IS a coffin for not one, but three men. None other than David (Davy) Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Travis of Alamo fame are interred in this coffin. Their bodies were exhumed in 1936, viewed for one year and then their remains were placed in this coffin.

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This beautiful wood carving was at the entrance where we went into the main part of the cathedral.

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I don’t especially like taking pictures inside of churches because to me that is such a place of reverence. BUT…at the same time, I can’t help myself because they are each so unique and beautiful.

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Stained glass windows….need I say more?

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Out in the courtyard we watched this young girl throw a coin in the fountain.

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Back out in the city square we found the guys seated at a table watching all the goings on.

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We watched these kids play in this fountain area for quite awhile. They were having so much fun!

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We took notice of this pigeon too. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one with this coloring.

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As we were sitting with the guys this fellow with two parrots on his shoulders came into the square.

He asked this youngster to hole one end of a rope and he held the other and in the middle was the larger parrot. Next thing we know they are turning the rope like a jump rope and the parrot is holding on for dear life!

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Then he held the rope by himself and swung the parrot on the end of the rope like a lasso.

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Then his “tricks” were much more tame.

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This little girl wasn’t too sure about all of this.

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It was here where the guys and girls split up. Bonnie and I wanted to walk more of the River Walk and the men wanted to walk through the city. We agreed on a time we would meet back at the trucks. So off we went.

Rather than try to explain each picture I’ll just let them talk for themselves.

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Remember how I mentioned that restaurants line the River Walk? Well believe me when I say no space goes wasted. Here is a restaurant situated under one of the foot bridges that crosses over the river.

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We passed this fellow who was getting ready to enjoy a lobster boil.

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This was our day on the San Antonio River Walk. We enjoyed the day oh so much more because we shared it with Bonnie and John.

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What a great day!

1 comment:

LaVon Baker said...

Wow! Your pictures are soooo vivid!! Beautiful.