The Final Day.
Well for all those who have followed all the recent blogs relating to our trip across “The Pond” and our adventures across Louisiana and Texas, I hope you have enjoyed them, I thank you for your support and I admire your stamina!
However, we are not quite finished. As we arrived at breakfast on our final day, enjoyed one last cup of Rachel’s excellent coffee and loaded everything into the back of the car, Rachel confirmed that before our drive to the airport, they had one last surprise for us. A visit to Buffalo Park and the incredible Cistern.
The Cistern at Buffalo Park.
Built in 1926, this underground cistern was used for decades to hold a large portion of Houston’s public drinking water.
I have visited a similar cistern, the Basilica Cistern, located in Istanbul Turkey, so I knew we had a real treat in store. My only concern was how I might record it in near total darkness.
Back in the day the cistern apparently sprang an irreparable leak, the reservoir was drained and according to history it sat unused and was practically forgotten about.
However, since 2010, it has now been revived and houses a number of rotating art installations from artists who make the space their own with both light and sound pieces.
Interesting facts about the cistern:
It is 87,500 square feet or the size of 1.5 football pitches.
It is 221-225 feet tall - its slender columns span the entire space.
When at full functioning capacity it held 15 million gallons of water.
There is a 17 second echo.
During our tour the cistern featured Rossin’s Haha Real, a work which takes its inspiration from the classic children’s story, The Velveteen Rabbit, invoking themes of transformation and loss.
This wonderful cistern still has a pool of water at the bottom and the stillness provides the most beautiful reflections.
The lights of the light show really bring the cistern to life.
Incredibly difficult to capture the light show which goes from total darkness to high intensity in an instant.
I can’t believe the low light performance of the Leica Type 246 Monochrom.
The tour only lasts about 30 minutes but is really thought provoking. For me it provided the ultimate challenge for hand-held low-light photography. The Leica Type 246 was astonishing in its dynamic range and clarity of imagery under such challenging conditions. Also, my photographic skills might also be improving!
After the tour we had an opportunity to walk around Buffalo Park and to capture some of Houston’s downtown skyline.
Buffalo Park and The Houston skyline.
As we walked around the park and on to a bridge overlooking down town Houston, Rachel told us about the floods after Hurricane Harvey. Downtown was devastated, along with the suburbs where Jon and Rachel lived. In the image below you will see a bridge. Apparently, at the height of the flood, the water level covered the bridge!!
Buffalo Bayou with downtown Houston in the background.
Our final lunch was at a restaurant called Tiny Boxwoods. Casual sophistication amongst the trees and greenery in an area of Houston called Bryker Woods. JW ordered a delicious bottle of chilled Prosecco and my lunch was the house salad with a mouth watering apple vinaigrette.
It was such a relaxing lunch as we reminisced and laughed about the adventures of our previous two weeks in Texas and Louisiana. You know there is nothing better than sharing food and wine with great friends.
The girls in Prosecco mode - apologies for the lapse in manual focus…..alcohol and manual focus do not mix!
The boys….A bottle in and firmly in their happy place.
You know there is something special about having had an expatriate life. You see the world differently and tend to make a few very dear friends who become friends for life. JW and Rachel fall in to that bracket.
As neighbours in Dubai they were great company and always there if we needed help. We shared many an evening over good food and a bottle of red and some Armenian brandy.
As with all friends for life, whenever you get together, no matter how long it has been, you carry on directly from where you left off the last time you were together.
Thanks to both Rachel and JW for a truly magnificent experience. We look forward to round 2 when we have the opportunity to show them the delights of the south west of the U.K.
As I finish writing this blog the U.S. election has finished, democracy reared its head and it appears that world of U.S. politics has potentially changed for ever. I am unsure whether it is for the best but you know my thoughts about protest votes….people get what they wished for and then regret it when the reality dawns.
I do not know what is in store for us all but lets hope that at the end of it all, there is a realisation that we are all better together than trying to create divisions and conflict.
Love and best wishes to you all and please, lets try and move forward in the coming months with peace and tolerance.
So signing off from Houston and see y’all soon back in good old Blighty!