Austin, Texas

We drove from Fort Worth to Austin on Thursday morning.  200+ miles of unremitting flat countryside.  It is rumoured they produce beef here but there was not a cow in sight (well, Mary saw 6 in 3.5 hours).  Bare scrubby fields (grass brown with drought) - occasional flurries of flyovers and ad hoardings as we passed by Waco.  Judi drove smoothly though she says she is a timid drive - this must count as a virtue in a country with drivers almost as aggressive as they are in France.

In Austin by 1300 we phoned Lynne and met her for lunch in a veggie restaurant which was simply the first we stumbled on, but which proved rather nice (alcohol-freee but an infinite number of interesting cold drinks!) - simple cafeteria-style.  Then we found Judi's friend Philip's house without difficulty south-west of the centre.  He is a really nice man, history teacher recently retired from full-time work but still doing some teaching.  He lives in what we'd all a bungalow, spacious and well laid-out, and we felt quickly at home.  Mary was delighted with the prospect of browsing his extensive library of books.

As I write we have been here nearly 48 hours.  We've eaten in 2 really good informal restaurants, driven around the city quite a bit and done a lot of shopping.  Maybe we'd have thought of museums and such, and doubtless we shall be into more of the cultural side of tourism later in our trip, but just now we are soaking up the atmosphere and culture of everyday life, and our shopping trips have been eye-openers.  The most astonishing by a mile was the food store Central Market which is simply the best food market Mary and I have ever been to.  The range and quality of produce is absolutely mind-blowing, and swept away any stereotypes we may have had of American tunnel-vision about food.  Just as one example the cheese selection from England and France is extraordiinary, and last night we ate excellent Cheddar and Cropwell Bishop Stilton.  Photos here.

We have been reflecting on our impressions of a place which seems at times familiar, and at others like arriving on the moon.  The moon impression is often in Texas accentuated by the wide spaces between buildings and absence of any way of walking between them, and the bleak countryside along the Interstate highways.  Judi says the sense of bleak open space is evident even to someone like her from Kentucky.  Our impression of people is often of easy friendliness, incredible helpfulness, and informal courtesy; but in restaurants the quick informal service is often over-eager and intrusive - "can I take that plate out of your way?" before you have really finished a meal.  But the food we have had has been realy good and the portions far less gargantuan than we feared, and Mary says spinach salads are saving her life - we don't get those often in France.

As a wine-lover, I have been particularly interested in and impressed by the liquor stores - each one we've seen has been more impressive than the last.  Local wine exists and people say it varies in quality, though we drank some excellent Mexican sparkling wine yesterday evening (which watching DVDs of Downton Abbey!).  But the range and origin of imports is truly impressive, as wide in range as in England, classified rather more by grape varietey than we are used to in Europe, and with a naturally greater emphasis on Californian and other US wines, but with lots from Australia and South America, Italy, Spain and France.  There was an astonishing collection of Burgundy grand crus in one store.  No point in buying a lot on our travels, but a wonderful study of labels and styles for me.

We have another 24 hours here in this comfortable, friendly house with Philip and Ellie the friendly black greyhound/lab cross before we say farewell to Judi and catch our planes to Midland via Houston.  Our body clocks are virtually back to normal and this moring I accompanied Philip to the gym for an hour on the cross-trainer.  This is a low-key start to our holiday but really intersting and good so far.

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