First Week Part 2

FIRST WEEK PART 2

After all the events on the days before we have had a day off and had time to explore Austin.
I have to say, I was stunned by this beautiful city!

Austin Lamar Boulevard Bridge - A nice spot to see Downtown at the Colorado River.

Austin offers a lot places to visit and explore.

Some places that you can visit on a day off:

1. Texas State Capitol 
2. University of Texas
3. Barton Springs Pool
4. Zilker Park 
5. McKinney Falls State Park

On our day off, we took the bus to the Texas State Capitol and by foot on the shores of the Colorado River to the Barton Springs Pool. Especially in August the Barton Springs Pool is a perfect place to cool off. Everything is really easy to reach by bus, but we wanted to go by foot, so we only took a bus to the Texas State Capitol, which of course made everything a little longer.
Before the trip you should look up the bus connections and distances on google maps.
Furthermore, make sure you take with you a towel and a bathing short or suit, if you want to go to the Barton Springs Pool.

The Texas Capitol in the upper picture and the Barton Springs Pool in the lower picture.

Just a little advise for making plans, the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas are pretty close to each other and the Barton Springs Pool is directly next to the Zilker Park.

All the mentioned places on the list are a must have and I can recommend each place!

The ones who want to see the Austin nightlife in their first week should definitely visit the 6th Street on Thursdays. The 6th Street is Austin's bar mile and most episodes of the cities nightlife are happening here. More info about that place is about to come.

So after the day in town there is a student welcome party on the outside in front of some residence halls, on the 26th August. It is a big event with free food, games and DJ playing music and is real fun. I met new people on that event and had a lot of fun while enjoying the food, music and some dancing.

The next day was another day off. After having a longer sleep on that day we went off campus to have brunch at The Magnolia Cafe on 1920 South Congress Ave. Its easy to reach by bus, a 7 minute bike drive or a 15 - 20 minute walk.
This place is offering really delicious food, so we had to wait 30 minutes to get seated, because the place was so crowded. The food is absolutely worth the waiting and I can just recommend visiting the place.

Sunday the 28th August, the last day of week one and the day before its getting serious. On that day we attended the "Mass of Welcome", a ceremony where all new students will get their Medal of the University. Its tradition that all new students attend this ceremony and have a symbolic walk through the big read doors of the main building. You also have to keep in mind that this is the only chance you have to get one of these medals! So I really recommend to attend the ceremony!

So this was week one. I hope you got a good impression on what the first week will be like on campus and that you are may be better prepared than I was.
More helpful stuff about to come in upcoming posts ;)