Austin 2013 (part 2)

as promised, here is the second installment of photos from my trip to Austin. I wasn't sure how to break the photos up best, so I've just kind of put together a random mix, which probably won't make sense to anyone!

this shop was called 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' and had such an awesome range of vinyl toys and cool gift things (it's also where I got my narwhal finger puppet from which you may have seen on my instagram!)

we made sure to pick up a copy of the uber cool Austin Chronicle to read over breakfast - it's one of the free local newspapers and had loads of cool info on gigs and events and stuff.

one of the best days from the trip was spent at Barton Springs - basically Barton Creek runs through a big part of Austin, and anyone can go visit and take a swim. Barton Springs is an area that has been sectioned off and has changing rooms and lifeguards and stuff and you pay a couple of dollars to get in. we went on a super hot day, and the creek water was so cold and refreshing. if you visit Austin when it's really hot then you must go visit the creek.

(yep that's me in the creek - I know it's kind of hard to see but no-one needs a close up of me in my bikini, trust me!)

obviously had to take a photo of Bowie Street - I discovered this street whilst trekking to the biggest Whole Foods Market I have EVER seen (that is no exaggeration, I could have spent all day in that place!)

these photos are of the Capitol Building in Austin - one of the few touristy things we did during our trip was visit this place. I'm not big on visiting historical places whilst on holiday - museums and galleries, yes, but buildings? this place was pretty cool though...

oh yeah and did I mention that we went on a FREAKING SEGWAY TOUR?!?!? hands down the most fun thing I've ever done. segways are kind of scary at first, and it takes a moment to get used to them, but once you do they are the most fun ever. we did a two and a half hour tour, and it was a great way to see the city without getting all hot and sweaty walking or biking round.

check out how pro we look!

on one of our last nights in Austin we went and stood on the bridge to watch the infamous Austin bats - a huge colony of them live directly under the main bridge, and every day at dusk they stream out and fly off into the night. unfortunately they came out a bit late, and it was really hard to see them, let alone get photos of them, but we did see a beautiful sunset!

I still have two more posts to do about my trip, which are coming up next week, so check back then :)