Houston - dinosaurs, butterflys and art (Throwback post)

Of course we didn't just drink and listen to music in Houston.  We were staying in the rather lovely Museum district, which logically enough is where the museums and galleries are.

We got along to the Museum of Natural Science and the Museum of Fine Arts for their free entry on Thursdays.

At the Science museum we had to pay to go into the butterfly house, but that was well worth it to see the multitude of beautiful butterflies in a great setting.







We also had to pay to get into the special exhibit, which was a showing of works by Faberge.  They were quite fabulous, with some of the famous eggs, and a large selection of his other pieces.

The museum itself, free after 3pm was excellent.  It had an amazing paleontology section, with a huge range of fossils and fossil replicas.  The great thing about it, aside from the sheer quantity of pieces, was the way that it was exhibited.

It was laid out in an interesting and easy to follow way, with the skeletons forming little tableaux, such as one dinosaur attacking the other, but alongside it would be a photographic representation of what this would have looked like with the landscape and the animals.

I really enjoyed it, and genuinely took an interest in reading the information, and that is often not the case.

We finished up with the fine arts, spending quite a bit of time in the Picasso exhibition.

Picasso is more Nic's thing than mine, but I was interested to seem broader range of work than I had expected, and there were even a  few that I actually quite liked.

The other visit was to the Rothko Chapel as we had heard it was a major thing to see.  Apparently the chapel, built by the Menils, was specifically designed to take a number of huge pieces of art by Mark Rothko, and is a multi-denominational chapel dedicated to peaceful meditation.

Were we impressed?  No. Definitely not.  For a start, I'm afraid I just don't appreciate art when it is something I could do myself.

These huge paintings were basically just grey/black with a hint of purple edging.  They supposedly have subtleties and nuances of colour, but it is entirely lost on me; I thought they looked dull, dreary, and demonstrated no discernible talent.

But perhaps I could have forgiven the disappointing art had the chapel itself made me feel peaceful and meditative.  It didn't.

It feels like a concrete bunker.  It is cold, and when we were there we noticed a distinct odor of urine.  We tried our hardest to be reflective and to understand what other people see in the place, but to no avail; we couldn't get out of there fast enough.

The one thing we did like there was the mirror pond outside, with the broken obelisk sculpture in memory of Dr Martin Luther king Jr.  That was far nicer, and with the reflecting water and the trees surrounding it, far more conducive to meditation and contemplation.

Near to the Chapel was the Menin Collection, which had some interesting art and installations.  The one that stood out for us was an installation about a collection being made in Benin for the 'poor white westerners, because we don't look after our own'.  As you can imagine, the general opinion was that this was the wrong way around, as it should be the rich west giving to the poor of africa.

Most locals initially were reluctant to give, especially those who seemed best off, but in fact they all did.  Some were actually shocked to hear that there was such a thing as a poor white person.  We found it fascinating, a little sad that the view of rich white westerners is so entrenched, and just a little humbling that people who had so little we prepared to give some to us.

Overall we were more impressed with Houston than people's reactions led us to expect.  We were a bit disappointed that it was too much of a hassle to make the journey out to the space centre on public transport, as we both secretly wanted to say 'Houston, we have a problem' but that is not unusual for the States and we will go there another time when we can take a car.

Houston is never likely to be a top destination, but is a great place for a few days and the Museum of Natural Science was excellent.

 

Houston - music and tequila (Throwback post)

From New Orleans we took a bus to Houston, Texas.  We nearly didn't make it though, as our taxi didn't show up and the was no hope of a bus in time to make it.  Thankfully another taxi firm happened to have someone in our area and he got us there just in time.

The woman we were staying with in Houston was lovely.  She picked us up from the station, and took us out a couple of times while we were there.  She is a vocalist in a band and invited us along to their practice.  They were very good, and we were disappointed that we left on the day of their first gig.  But should you get the opportunity, do check out The Heights Funk Collective.

She also took us along to a great tequila bar.  Now most peoples' experience of tequila is either a Margarita or a shot with salt and lime.  It often isn't an especially good experience and I know a few people who have had almighty hangovers the morning after a tequila session. And we were no different (though thankfully not the hangovers,) until last year when we were travelling with a Texan, who introduced us to good sipping tequila.

Good tequila absolutely has to be 100% blue agave.  Most general bar tequilas only have to be 51%, with the rest made up of sugars etc, and like any low quality alcohol can be a bit harsh.

The bar we were at specialises in tequila, so we were able to try a good number of them between us and we discovered that we rather like it.  The basic tequila is a Blanco (white) or Plata (silver), which is unaged, bottled straight from its distillation. Joven (young) or Oro (gold), is generally only a 51% and is coloured gold.

The better ones are Reposado (rested), kept in oak for 2-12 months, Anejo (aged) which is kept in oak for 1-3 years, and the Extra Anejo (extra aged), which is kept in oak barrels for at least 3 years.  These are smooth, without the alcohol burn that you can get with the low quality ones.

Then there is also the Mezcal, which is the one that you sometimes get a worm in.  There does not seem to be any consistently accepted reason for the worm, which is in fact the larvae of a moth that can infect the plant, but that is added afterwards.  Some suggest that the larvae will only remain intact if the quality of the Mezcal is good enough, but others say that is nonsense.  It is probably just someone's idea of a good marketing ploy as it tends to generate much amusement and becomes the basis for a challenge.

But worms aside, Mezcal is along the same lines as tequila, though usually made in a different area of Mexico using the maguey plant, another type of agave.  The gradings are the same as tequila, but the drink has a smokier flavour because the hearts of the plant are cooked underground.  I rather liked the ones I tried.