KEEPING AUSTIN WEIRD!!!

I arrived in Austin almost two and half months ago and despite it feeling like almost yesterday, I have had a super awesome time. The first month was spent going out as often as possible, which made settling into class that little bit more painful, especially since we gave up what would usually be a three month summer holiday. Despite this, going out most nights made it pretty easy to meet new people and find your feet in a crazy city which is filled with live music, art, culture and awesome people. 6th Street Downtown is where most of the students spend their Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, which is a long narrow street, lined with bars on both sides and each being crazier than the one before.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

After two months of copious amounts of drinking, a group of internationals and I decided to take a road trip down to New Orleans to experience Mardi Gras. After a full day of driving, we arrived in NOLA, and I could see why everyone says it is one of their favourite cities in the US – the architecture, food and music were certainly all mind-blowing. Each day hosted an array of flamboyant parades, which were only the warmup for the huge nights ahead. Now after experiencing the live music scene in Austin (which is AMAZING), I didn’t think anything could top it easily, until I visited ‘The Spotted Cat’. NOLA is the birthplace of Jazz and rightly so. I spend one of my nights on Frenchmen street, in and out of various Jazz bars being blown away by the incredible talent they all hosted. The Spotted Cat was definitely my favourite and the night I was there, it was host to a band, in which each band member showcased their talent by playing a 10 minute solo – drums, guitar, saxophone, trumpet and bass – all some of the craziest solo’s I’ve seen.

Spring Break – Cabo, Mexico

After a week of intense partying, we finally made the trip back home to Austin, however this was short lived, as we were only back for a few short days before spring break began. I was lucky to catch the first day of SxSW (which I was unfortunately missing – but only for good reason, as I was heading to Cabo Mexico for spring break). The taste of SxSW I got was surely awesome with free gigs and open bars completely transforming the city. After a big night out, the trip the next morning was a little rough, but again certainly worthwhile. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but suffice to say, Spring Break is everything you would imagine. It was a week spent in the sun, partying on the beach, and then only partying even harder at night. If you are lucky enough to experience an American spring break you will know what I mean, but if not what you see in the movies is spot on.

Back to Austin

I am now back home, and ready for a hot Texan summer…

I am not one to take photos but I have posted a few below…

Michael Carl