Downtown

Our diversity excursion to downtown Austin was amazing. I really enjoyed it. I was able to go to places that I would probably never go to on my own. Attending a Spanish mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral was amazing but not out of the ordinary. Visiting the capitol was fun because we got to lie down on the floor under the dome. The Driskill Hotel was beautiful and the western art inside was interesting. These visits to all these places helped me learn about the architecture and history of Austin but also taught me about another culture, Mexican, that I am quite familiar with.

The first place we went to was St. Mary’s Cathedral. I loved it since I am Catholic so I felt right at home. Many didn’t like it because it was all in Spanish but back home my parents and me always use to go to the Spanish mass. This experience really reminded of home. The Church, itself, was gorgeous. It was a lot different from any Catholic Church in Dallas. The Gothic Architecture made it quite fascinating. It reminded me of France because Notre Dame was designed in this same type of style. Back then, people thought of this type of architecture as holy and moral. The stained glass window in the front of the Church really caught my eye. It was beautiful image of Mary. It looked even better because the dome in the front was a bright blue with gold. I recognized a lot of the songs and the music was great but it was different from the English mass. In the English mass, guitar and clapping are not very common at all.

After Church, we continued on to one of the most famous or important buildings in Texas, the Capitol. I had always wanted to visit but I have never had the chance and my school never had trips there unlike most schools. I thought it was beautiful and it reminded me of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Greco-Roman Architecture of the building is common for most government buildings because it stands for democracy here in the U.S. The star at the top, of course, reminds me of the star of destiny like at the Bullock Museum and of Texas being the Lone Star State. Because it so high up, it tells the courage and strength of the Texan culture and people. It tells of how Texas was the only state, other than California, to be its own country. My favorite part would definitely have to be when laid down on the star looking up at the dome. It was beautiful to see the star at the top as well.

The last place that we visited was the Driskill Hotel on the sixth street. This building really stood out from the rest because of it’s out of the ordinary architecture, Victorian. It was pretty strange seeing the head of a Longhorn in the front and it was even weirder seeing the head of the man, Driskill. The inside was so beautiful. It was dark but very elegant. They had amazing chandeliers and western style furniture and art. The little statues and the paintings of the western times in Austin really told a great story and fascinated me.

All these places told of a different time and of a different culture. The Cathedral displayed Gothic Architecture and the Spanish mass told of the Mexican Culture. The Capitol displayed Greco-Roman Architecture and told of the early times in Texas and how it came to so powerful today. The Driskill Hotel displayed Victorian Architecture and told of the western times and cowboys. Seeing so much diversity here in Austin makes me proud to be a Texan because like the Star of Destiny movie said, “you don’t have to born in Texas to have the courage and strength of Texans.”