San Antonio Riverwalk

Our hotel was very close to Riverwalk, so we went down there for breakfast. The Riverwalk had its origins in flood control plans which were drawn up after disastrous flooding in 1921. Part of the plan was to by-pass the loop in the river which went through the main business district. The original plan called for the loop to be filled in and covered over, but fortunately Conservationists fought to keep it and eventually in the late 1930's the federal WPA (Works Project Administration carried out architect Robert Hugman's designs for the waterway, including cobblestone walks, arched bridges, and now lined with restaurants and shops, which are accessible from street level and the lower river level. At the end of the month they are going to be opening another segment out to the Art museum. After breakfast, we walked along the Riverwalk to San Fernando Cathedral, then to Market Square, which was all festooned with colorful flags in honor of Fiesta Week. In the afternoon we went to the Spanish Governors Palace. Palace is a bit of a misnomer - it is in reality a 1749 adobe structurewhich formerly served as the residence and headquarters for the captain of the Spanish presidio. It became the seat of Texas governmentin 1772 when San Antonio was made capital of the Spanish province of Texas, and later went through a succession of uses before being bought by the city in 1928. It has 10 rooms furnished with period furniture and a lovely cobblestone courtyard with a fountain. It was quite beautiful. After that we went on to the other main attraction in San Antonio, beside the Riverwalk - the Alamo. By this time we felt pretty tired so we decided to head back to our hotel for a swim, before returning to Riverwalk for dinner.