Eventually we had to leave El Paso but not without some wonderful burgers and big hugs from all Esparzas. We hadn’t planned to stay so long but as time passes by …

Thank you, Elena, for all the warm and hearty welcome and friendship you gave us these days! As well as the best tacos in the universe!

So here we are – on our way to the east. It is a long, long road. And when I say long, long road I really mean loooooong. Be aware that your tank is filled with gasoline, there won’t be a gas station for hundreds of miles!

We passed Ozona, where we didn’t get any ice cream at DQ (but WiFi to book our accommodation for the night in Sonora), had a nice brunch in Junction – nobody would name a village „Junction“ in Europe – and finally stoped in

Fredericksburg

to buy some bread in the German Bakery. This city was founded in the middle of the 19th century by Germans, who fled from the revolution in 1848. Yes, you’re eyes are not tricking you, this is a May tree. See those details?

But I wanted to write about

Austin.

We finally got there in the evening and guess who we met …

The Esparzas also went to Austin to spend some further time with us on our trip! And they were even in the same hotel as we were. 😉 Unfortunately Elena couldn’t join us for work reasons. We walked through St. Edwards University, where Lauren is doing her studies and finally had some beer with live music at a pub garden on Congress Ave while the children were having Amy’s ice cream and solving crossword puzzles.

Of course we also had to see the capitol. I was surprised by the fact that there was no entrance fee, and we also had a free guided tour through the house.

Texans are proud of their country. Wherever you look, you will find a star or cannons – or both. You will see them on further pics.

After the Capitol we had a quick visit at Gil’s friend Rick, who actually was doing some renovation on his sons condo. Hey guys at home, listen: this 900 square foot apartment, 2 blocks from the university, was up for $ 160.000! (Do some calculations and we’ll see each other there.)

We went to New [brumfls]. That’s what Americans say when they mean

New Braunfels

Guess, where the name comes from and when it was founded. We had a great lunch in Gruene

and afterwards some beers at the oldest permanently used dancing hall in Texas with live music. It was awesome!

PS: I wrote those lines sitting in a bar with life music in New Orleans – more coming soon