Incidentally, this is the same bridge that features prominently in bat watching, which we are about to do a bit later. Just imagine, as I am taking this picture, 750,000 pregnant bats are hanging patiently upside down under the expanse of tarmac, waiting for the time to go out and eat...
We already took care of the "go out and eat" part at Cooper's, which is an iconic Texas BBQ establishment in Downtown Austin. That morning, we woke up at 4 am Boston time, to make our 7 am flight, and arrived in Austin in the early afternoon. Our dear friends and hosts, Gene and Elena, already had a whole entertainment program lined up for us (based on our preferences, which we discussed in advance). It involved bat watching 7-8:30 pm and a comedy show at 10:30 (Austin time, that is, an hour later by our internal clock) - all of that sounded really good, we just had to somehow stay awake that long. To help with that, we had some coffee on S. Congress Street (which is behind my back as I am taking the photo above). The coffee was really unusual, unpleasantly sour, but woke us right up.
The cruise starts at around 7:15 pm, goes up the river a bit, talking about Austin sights along the way, and then turns around and comes in position just below the Congress Avenue bridge a little before dusk (which is 8 pm this time of year), so as not to miss the bats flying out from under the bridge like... uh-oh, I better stop now because the comedy show is supposed to be later on.
Here is a picture that Gene took of Alex and me, as we are busily taking pictures of something else...
... probably this very bird here. This is a Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.
As our little ship moves on and the guide tells us about the local landmarks (most of which I promptly forgot), we spot a couple of Egyptian Geese at the water edge.
This species is native to sub-Saharan Africa, but has somehow established thriving populations in many parts of Central and Southeastern Texas. (The funny thing is, I just recently saw one in Amsterdam, which is even more unlike Africa than Texas, climate-wise.) Next to the geese is a Great-Tailed Grackle, which is rather specific to Texas and Southwestern states. It has bright-yellow eyes and a much more interesting song than other types of grackles: it whistles, hisses, and clucks, almost like a jay.
As I said, most of the stories about the Austin landmarks were lost on me. Still, here is a view of downtown Austin: the tall building that looks like an overgrown flash drive has something to do with high-tech, and the unusual building in the background, which looks somewhat like an owl, is supposedly designed by an architect who was not admitted to the University of Texas (in Austin) and graduated from Rice University instead. (Owl is a mascot of Rice, and apparently there is quite a rivalry between the two universities, although probably not as epic as the one between O-H-I-O and that other school up North...)
Here is a close-up of the Owl building.
Just before 8 pm our boat positions itself just below the Congress Avenue bridge, along with quite a few other boats and kayaks. The top of the bridge is lined with a thick fringe of people, all waiting for the bats to come out...
... and here they come!
First on the extreme left of the bridge (as we are looking at it from downstream), and then from a second location somewhere in the middle...
... the two streams merge...
... and a long line of bats is flying all the way down the river.
Scientists estimate that there are currently about 750 thousand bats under the bridge. They are all pregnant females, and once they have their babies sometime in June, this number will promptly double to 1.5 million. And if you are like me and wondering where are the males who impregnated them all, apparently they live in a separate colony, somewhere in downtown...
Another interesting fact: bats eat 2.5 times their weight in insects nightly. This tidbit fondly reminded Alex about our defunct Mosquito Magnet, and I even wondered briefly if we could convince a few bats to take residence in our attic... I would much rather have bats than mosquito bites.
After the cruise ended, we crossed the Congress Avenue Bridge again, and I took the same picture - now after dark.
It was getting to be a pretty long day, with the memory of the BBQ fading, so we decided to stop at the Russian House before the show, for a bite to eat and for some of their flavored vodkas. Apparently, they have 101 flavors...
... we tried two: apricot and pomegranate, had some pirozhki with cabbage, and enjoyed the quirky decor.
With our sense of well-being fully restored, we went to Esther's Follies. It was rather funny, and also Texas-specific - or maybe just nostalgic - I couldn't imagine anything like this happening in Boston today... This is a picture I took before the show.
These are actual windows looking out on 6th Street in downtown Austin, and the Follies make clever use of the fact during the performance. After the show, 6th Street on a Saturday evening is something to behold... Having just traveled to Amsterdam and found their famous red-light district somewhat underwhelming, I can say that the 6th Street can definitely give them a run for their money.
That was the end of our first, very long, day in Austin.
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