Friday 25th October 2019

Out last full day in the US of A.

And here we are in the city of Houston, where my old school friend, John, lives.

Normally.

Sadly, he is Perth Australia, at the moment. On business.

Perth is where another schoolfriend, Andy, lives.

Normally.

He is back in the Lowestoft sorting out his mother's affairs as she has been put in a home.

At least Andy and John did meet on John's last night in Perth when Andy arrived back. John is now travelling back to Houston from Perth. Via Sydney, Auckland before arriving back home some time this evening. When we are leaving. So, chances are we will pass at some point.

So it goes, so it goes.

So, to Friday..

The weather changed. It went from being in the mid-70s on Thursday to being overcast, heavy rain at first, but with a cool, cold wind.

Though our room overlooks the atrium of the hotel, so no idea when we get up what the weather is like outside. It shouldn't be that cold should it?

It could, as it turned out.

I was asked to find some spices for a friend back home, so we had identified a whole food shop about ten blocks from the hotel. After coffee in our room we wander down to the lobby, and outside, the rain came down in sheets. We had our raincoats on, so the rain shouldn't bother us. But damn! it was cold. And Jools wearing shorts.

We splish splash down Austin to the ship, look round and find what we were looking for. We'll come back we said, but our thoughts were then on breakfast.

We had thought that downtown there would be some fine places to have a proper, cooked breakfast. So we go up into the shopping centre opposite, and find the food court, but all what is on offer is the same breakfast "sandwiches" that most places have. And we have had enough of that rubbery egg omelette thing. So we go to Starbucks for a coffee and a paninni, and retire to eat, drink and people watch.

We had read about the "tunnels". Tunnels could mean anything from native American things dating back into antiquity to something dull and modern, and all else between. Sadly, it was the latter. Tunnels to help people move around downtown without going outside in the heat of the day in summer.

We walk down a couple of "the loop", and come to a barbers. My hair has been growing well in the warm and sunny weather, there was a chair free, so I go in and get the guy to understand pretty much what I want, and he gets to work. I sit on the chair, but instead of the guy walking round, the chair is spun round and round. Like a record.

But in half an hour, I have fairly short hair, which cost me nineteen bucks.

We walk on, but endless tunnels make us want daylight, and up on the streets the rain had almost stopped, but was still cold.

So we did what anyone else would have done, we got on a tram to travel to the end of the line. And back.

As you do.

The line took us past the university, out into the suburbs, running at street level, right through the richer parts, then as we went further out, areas got poorer, and adorned with tags and graffiti.

At the end of the line we get on the next train back.

We get off in the centre of the city, and go on a hunt for lunch, ending up at a Mexican place that does tacos. I have a sampler that came with 5 different mini-tacos. All good.

We walk to the "theater district" to see if there was any neon signs worth snapping in the blue hour. There wasn't. So we walked back to the whole food shop, bought spices and biscuits, then walked back to the hotel, buying a coffee in the lobby, taking the lift up to our room where we chilled for a few hours, as for our last night, we planned a special meal.

Next door to the hotel is a fine looking steak place, Vic and Anthony's, so I book a table, and the afternoon fades away to evening.

At least we only have to walk over the drive to the restaurant, but this being the first time I have eaten at a place with a dress code, I have to cover my t shirt with a jumper. I was the man in black.

It was very nice indeed. We start with cocktails, have the best crab cakes in the history of the world as a starter. I chose a bottle of red, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. We tell the maitre'd that it was where we spent our honeymoon. He is impressed.

We both have ribeye on the bone for main. And both were huge. We do finish them, but we were fuller than full. Damn, the best meal ever.

I finish the wine and cocktail. We pay, and walk back to the hotel, both of us laying on the bed with meatsweats.

I watch game 3 of the World Series, at least until the bottom of the 6th, when sleep took us from this world.