How sweet it is to be in Austin.......

More Bouldins to start the day - blueberry corncakes with agave nectar, the Slacker breakfast (scrambled tofu and all the usual suspects in a vegan breakfast) with a few more Ren tacos. We sat out in the covered over patio and enjoyed the Austin street press listening to the insects chirping.

Austin is a great walking city. We walked from Bouldins into the city, stopping on the bridge over the Colorado River to watch the action at the dog park on the banks. It's the next best thing to having a dog of your own, watching other dogs run around and swim. There were some very adventurous dogs who would swim quite a way out to fetch balls, including one who continued to wag his tail while he was swimming - a bit like a rudder : )

And speaking of dogs, we met a nice golden labrador called Pablo at a bike shop/cafe where we stopped in to get a coffee. He was very keen to hang out and for Tim and I to throw a ball for him - not very far though as he is a distinguished older gent of a dog. I ended up telling another customer about my cat Jose in New Zealand, who is 17 years old and still going strong. 

We very fortuitously hit upon the Whole Foods Market, and were blown away by their vegan options. All the flavours of Soy Delicious and Turtle Mountain under the sun:

Even more fortuitously (for T), Waterloo and Cheapo records were very close by. A few hours were spent flicking through the racks and trying to figure out who was playing over the stereo. Here is T rifling through the racks at Cheapo:

We then headed over to the Texas State Capitol building and relaxed in the gardens there. We made friends with a squirrel, although he got a bit over excited and ran straight at us and jumped on both our shoulders. Here he is looking a little more relaxed: 

And T looking plenty relaxed: 

Feeling a little peckish again, we headed out on foot to Mr Natural, a vegetarian mexican joint and bakery out in the suburbs. It was starting to get dark at this stage, and the police continually patrolling the area made me a little nervous, but I did enjoy the many pinata shops along the way. In any event the food made up for it - it was the best vegan mexican I have ever had. T had Enchiladas, and I had Chalupas - the flavours so simple, fresh and tasty:

We trekked back to the city and picked up some treats at the Whole Foods Market (papaya, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries for me, Peanut Butter Zig Zag Turtle Mountain for T) and caught a cab back to the Austin Motel. We were staying in a suite for the night, as we had originally only booked one night, and the hotel was pretty full due to people from Houston escaping Hurricane Ike. It felt quite decadent to enjoy our treats in a suite while watching some Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.