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About Austin |
Austin is a relatively young city with
population around 800,000 fairly sparsely distributed along the
interstate highway I-35.
Music
The
Austin Chronicle is a good resource of information on Austin's events, including all the performing
arts.
Austin is known for its live music; on any night
of the week one can find high-quality musicians performing at
several dozen bars, clubs, cafes and
restaurants. The venues are especially concentrated in the
downtown 'warehouse' district, about three blocks deep by about
1/2 mile long. A subset are reviewed here.
At night that area is a melee of people, beer and
music. Musical styles include blues, bluegrass, jazz, gospel,
hard rock, plus some avant - garde (e.g. 1920's-style retro),
though thankfully not much country and western. Texas
Early Music Project plays baroque and pre-baroque
on traditional instruments and are recommended. The University's
own early music ensemble are playing on Sunday April 23.
Austin's orchestra
tends to perform the more popular classical works.
Other performing Arts
There are many performing arts venues around
town, hosting
ballet, opera, dance, popular music and plays. The larger theaters
include the Bass
Concert Hall and Hogg Auditorium on the university campus,
the Frank Erwin Center,
the
Paramount Theater, and the
Dougherty Arts Center.
Museums
Click
here for a list of Austin's many museums.
The Texas
History Museum and the Blanton
Museum of Art are on the edge of the campus. The Blanton
collection is being moved to a new building close to the History
Museum, scheduled to be opened on April 30th.
The University
The university
is a significant part of the town. It runs from about 17th to
26th street, with 1st street being at the nominal town center,
about 2 miles South. Student population is around 57,000,
perhaps the
largest in the US. The libraries and associated computer
facilities are open to the
public.
Fitness
Use of the university gymnasia is possible only
upon payment of a full subscription or if sponsored in person by
a member. Though Michael is a member, it is likely that he will
be too busy to go to the university to act as a sponsor during
the week of the conference. Arrangements have been made with a fitness center
1/2 mile West of the Hampton Inn (see the info in the accommodations
page on this site) for a reduced fee of $10/day. With no
obligation, members and or their partners should send Michael an
email with the names
of those who might want to exercise(!) this option.
Water sports
Austin is built around a system of lakes.
Kayaks, jet
skis, speed boats, and equipment for water skiing are available for
hire. Links to some of the rental sites are hosted here.
The Schlitterbahn
water park in New
Braunfels, about 50 miles Southwest of Austin,
is a fun day out. The rides range from sedate to extreme. Closed
over the winter, the
park re-opens on April 29th. At all times tubes can be hired in the nearby
towns of Gruene and San Marcos for floating down the picturesque
Guadalupe river, to be picked-up downstream and bused back to
the starting point several hours later. This is also a lot of
fun and mostly sedate, though not without danger if the river is
fast due to recent rainfall. Gruene
is a preserved settlers' town and worth a visit in its own
right.
Horse-back riding
Horse-back
riding is available in the Hill Country to the West of
Austin. There are some very pretty rides amongst the cedar and
cactus.
Parks
Austin hosts several parks.
In town the most notable is Zilker
Park. Out of town I strongly recommend the very beautiful Pedernales Falls State Park,
(also this) about an hour West of Austin.
The Hamilton
Pool (and this)
grotto is closer and very picturesque.
Architecture & Local History
Austin is not especially pedestrian-friendly,
though by European standards the same is true of most US cities.
There is little in Austin that is likely to be of architectural
interest to the foreign visitor.
I recommend a visit to San Antonio (about 90
miles South of Austin). Go there for the deservedly famous river-walk;
several miles of pretty canal-side walks past stately buildings,
hotels, bars and restaurants. But go there also to see much
earlier architecture due to the Mexican Hispanic settlers of
Southern Texas, including the early Spanish
Missions (this site has some photos).
Guided tours of the latter start every couple of hours.
Eating out
Austin is notable for the number of restaurants,
allegedly the highest per-capita in the US. The
Austin Chronicle Restaurant Guide is an indispensable resource.
Friday Night
Options include:
Skatalites, 9pm; Flamingo
Cantina (Links: AC,
FC
home, review,
amazon
reviews and samples);
The Blues Specialists, 6:30pm; The
Continental club (Links CC
home, AD,
music sample)
ATX music festival,
all hours; at Paggi House Restaurant (Links: ATX)
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