An elegant sufficiency: Hot hot hot

Though the mornings are comparatively cool, it soon heats up here and the cool, air-conditioned atmosphere of a museum was an attractive proposition today. Not only that, but Maggie and Rick had tickets for a preview of a hot new show - The Genius of Leonardo which we were delighted to share!

The exhibition was beautifully designed with great lighting and solidly made, wooden models each demonstrating one of Leonardo DaVinci's concepts. Many were functioning models and rather a lot of youngsters were working very hard to lift loads, work machines and generally have fun exploring what each could do.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Afterwards, we explored a rather quieter place - the King William neighbourhood, primarily settled by prosperous German businessmen in the 1800s. We took a tour of the Steves Homestead, a beautiful stone mansion before going on to the Guenther House restaurant at the Pioneer Flour Mills for brunch.

All cultured up, the next stop was the Mercado - the Mexican market, full of colour and a lively place with music and great atmosphere.

The Alameda art museum at the end of the street had an interesting exhibit from an old pharmacy store which had been nearby until it closed for business. It made for some great photo opportunities - an aerosol spray "Go Away Evil" being typical of the things "on sale".

Can you believe that we'd been in the USA for more than 48 hours and still hadn't been shopping? Soon sorted that one out as we headed for the Alamo Quarry Market. At the moment, all I'm confessing to is a pair of new Crocs - but rather different ones this time!