Everything's bigger.

The flight from San Francisco to Austin was scenic; we saw California drop away and raise up to Nevada, flow into the salt flats and standing stones of Utah. We were sitting on the wrong side of the plane to see the Grand Canyon, but did watch the Arizona mountains roll away to the north. The terrain flattened and smoothed until we could see clear to the horizon with nothing but the patchwork of fields on the landscape.

The landing in Texas was another difference. In San Francisco, the plane passed the bay bridge and the airport, turned a hard 180 and dropped like a stone to touch down.

The way into Austin was long and slow as the terrain, and it seemed we were inches from the ground a long time before rubber touched tarmac.

With a few airport transfers under our belt, we can rate Austin as one of the best. The bus from the airport to downtown cost us $1 each and dropped us a block from the hotel. It also exposed us to the people of Austin who were loud, energetic, and friendly.

Around the corner from the hotel was a well recommended spot for dinner called Moonshine. It was cold out so we declined the offer to sit on the patio.

Our server, Jess, let us know we had arrived just at the end of happy hour, which meant cheap drinks but best of all, half-price appetisers. Ali picked the warmed brie, which was the only item which wasn't deep-fried.

We thought.

What did we do to deserve this?

That was, we decided, a sign. The mains were offered as 'platters,' and we thought that seemed like enough for two people.

Jess concurred.

So our first night in Texas we got a steak. With red wine sauce and blue-cheese butter. And sides. Everything was good.

Ali realises every meal can come with mac and cheese.

Christmas eve brought a new issue; we had almost run out of socks. The hotel's laundry was out of order and there were no laundromats within walking distance. We spent the morning looking for a shopping complex in downtown Austin and there simply was not one.

Defeated, we took to sixth street to find some lunch and heard some cool music coming from the Jackalope. They had good beers and a deal on pizzas. We got a pizza to share.

Thank goodness we only got one.

Yup. That happened.

So formed our plan for a quiet Christmas Eve in Austin. We built a dinner of leftover pizza, salad, and bottled beer and hung out in our hotel room.

We also formed our plan for Christmas dinner when we discovered the Alamo. Dinner and a movie (at the same time) seemed to be a great option for our holiday away from home. There was only one movie showing, so we got tickets to The Hobbit sequel.

On Christmas we took the opportunity to go walking along the Colorado river.

It's winter so the trees are bare.

The overcast weather made for a comfortable wander. Whole families passed us, walking off their lunch to make room for their dinner.

Some dude and the Colorado River

The experience of dinner at the Alamo was fantastic. The movie didn't do much for us, but we loved being able to go in for a couple of drinks (all their drafts were local beers - there's a lot of great beer in Texas) and food while a movie was on. The more laid-back environment and the zero-tolerance attitude toward talking/texting suited as well.  Five stars. Would do again.