LIke a bat out of Austin . . .

Austin, Texas ; home of the annual SXSW festival and to truckload of bats. Of course we decided not to go in festival season but just a random weekend in August. Upon getting to the bus station, we were treated to the lovely sight of a flyover and some trash. Not a good start but things started looking up when we got to our hostel. Not only did we meet Grace, one of the friendliest members of staff ever, but the hostel was situated right on the edge of the Colorado river which was a beautiful sight.

We had only just dumped our bags when familiar voices drew us to the kitchen - and we ended up seeing Lynsey who we had met in the Dallas hostel. Travelling is always better when you see a familiar face once more down the road.

We settled in, ate some (mmm delicious) microwave noodles and decided to hit the town. Austin's main party area is on 6th Street and is home to some of the loudest bars with some of the youngest clientele that we've come across in the US. We immediately saw why Austin is host to SXSW - music and musicians are everywhere. Most bars had a band of some sort playing if not a dj and every type of musical taste is catered for. Even r'n'b. After wandering around drinking in a few bars, we noticed posters for Batfest 2009 - it looked strange yet inviting and seeing as they were closing the main city bridge for it, we thought it would be rude not to go.

Why Batfest ? Well Austin is home to the world's largest urban bat colony and every evening in summer, you can see the bats embark on their nightly hunt for food. How many bats I hear you ask? ALL OF THEM.

There are approx 750,000 to 1.5 million bats that live under the bridge in summer which fly out from under the bridge and collect in swarms above the river. They kept in these swarms as they flew over the river, and the unsuspecting passer-by would be forgiven for thinking the biblical plagues were coming.  

Austin is a must visit for the musically inclined or just those that like to have a drink or 10 !