iOS 10 Memories - Great for Throwback Thursday

St Fredericksburg in Texas
San Antonio visit 2015

How great is the new iOS 10 Memories with the new update on iOS? It comes with the most recent update on iPhones, iPad and the Mac. It opens up great memories.

I am only discovering it now, and loving it!

I am able to see group photos, place photos, "Best of the last 3 months",  as well as certain dates on my photo album.

The throwback Thursday is from last year's visit to San Antonio in America.
Good times, and good memories!

Wordless Wednesday #296 - Goodbye, San Antonio

Things that are not so nice about America - travel insights from San Antonio

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- The heat in summer. You can't spend too much time outside. With temperatures of over 30 degrees it gets very uncomfortable! A braai (barbecue) outside for the whole day is not possible! The heat and the mosquitos make it impossible!

- As much as there is the most wonderful food options available, I found myself saying "disgusting" many many times to all the processed and packaged options that are available! Where have you heard of a hamburger with a waffle on top with syrup accompanying it?

- Most of the coffee in the restaurants are not good! They also don't do cappuccinos very well. Starbucks gets my best vote!

- There were fireworks each and every night. The poor animals...

- The president did not deliver on his promises (say the locals).

- Although they celebrated their independence there were a lot of discussion going on in the blogosphere about the fact that they are not free!

- The education system is also not of the greatest. Teachers are not paid decent salaries, and home schooling and private education seem to be the way to go!

- They are still debating gay rights, although gay marriages are allowed since only very recently!

- The air con in all the buildings is a necessity, but it detaches from the outside world.


This is the best negative list I can come up with. The positives of America that we experienced in San Antonio still far outweigh the negatives.

It looks like a great lifestyle to be living!

Things we love about America - tourist insights about San Antonio

San Antonio residential suburbs from the air

We are still jet-lagged after we arrived back in South Africa from our two week holiday in San Antonio. We visited my brother who is staying and working there.

It has been a fantastic holiday and we had so many great experiences!

I feel the same way about America after I have watched Avatar and walked out of the movie theater. Earth did not look as great as the planet portrayed in the movie...
South Africa looks a lot less inviting now...


10 Things we love about America

1. Everything is BIG. The houses, the cars, the shops, the products, the food...

2. There are no fences and no security gates. It is safe there! We could walk in the middle of the city without eyeing every passersby with suspicion that they are going to grab our bags.

3. The streets are clean. They even had a campaign "Don't mess with Texas!", which are still reflected in badges and t-shirts and advertisements.

4. The people are extreme friendly, and a "Thank you!" is always met with a "You're welcome!" (No, we are not as friendly as they are, although we think we are!)

5.  The weather is HOT in summer, but there are air-con everywhere! (It's a hot humid temperature!) The sun also sets at about 9 pm in the evenings, which gives them a very long summer's day each day!

6. Everything works there. There is wifi in every restaurant, shop and even the cars have wifi. We stayed connected the whole time!
Online orders get delivered the next day, and you pick it up on your porch.

7. The shops have a huge variety to choose from. The biggest sizes imaginable are available!

8. The highways are going everywhere, and they are big! (No signs of tolls there!)

9. It is green everywhere in summer, and it feels like bush veld when you drive out of the city.

10. There are restaurants everywhere, and it seems the locals like frequenting them. We even had to wait early on a Monday morning to get a table at a favourite breakfast spot, The Pancake House!


They really have a great lifestyle going on there!



Related posts:

- Initial thoughts about America

- Wordless Wednesday #274 - NASA in Houston

Initial thoughts about America

We are visiting my brother in San Antonio, Texas. It is such a treat!

It is an one-in-a-lifetime experience, and Little Miss keeps on saying, while hitting her head: "Word wakker! Word wakker!" (Wake up! Wake up!)

It feels like a dream...

The Riverwalk in San Antonio. 

With my brother at the Statue of the patron Saint Anthony. 

1. The Americans are very friendly! You always get a "You're welcome!" When saying "Thank you!"

You do not feel as if you are doing them a favour while visiting their establishments. Exactly the opposite!

2. The Texan accent is a bit difficult to get used to. I only caught half of what our River Guide told us yesterday. 

2. The food is definitely bigger here! It is lovely and delicious as well! We are sharing our orders at restaurants. 

I am surprised that the Americans are not bigger because of this! I don't know how they eat that much and stay as thin! 

A lovely quacomole that was prepared in front of us.

3. Pancakes here are what we call flapjacks. Rusks are scones. They don't have Ouma Rusks. 

3. It is hot in the summer here! But there's luckily aircon everywhere! It is especially great since we left a cold South Africa coming here.

4. You drive on highways whenever you are going anywhere. (We tend to avoid our highways because of the e-tolls.)

5. The houses are big, without being fenced in.

6. The cars are big.

7. Everybody is walking around with an iPhone 6.

 8. There's wi-fi everywhere, and it works! Fast! It's the first time I am seeing videos playing automatically on my Facebook feed. I was not aware it was supposed to be doing it! 

9. The cosmopolitan nature of the people here makes us feel very welcome. 

10. The sun sets at half past eight in the evenings in summer! 

We love it here! 

Happy holidays! The 4th of July is coming up!

Tips for travelling to the USA with children

Kathleen Taylor (aka KatinAfrica from East Coast Life), promised me a few tips on travelling with kids to the USA on my blog post about What kind of tourist are you? As we are planning our own upcoming trip, these tips are really great to keep in mind! Thanks, Kathleen!


My brother lives in the USA and I have been lucky enough to visit him twice since I had children. Before I had kids, packing took ten minutes and I was happy to arrive at the airport with just minutes to spare before take-off. Now life involves planning and this is especially true of an international trip. Luckily the USA is one of the easiest countries in the world to travel to. They speak English and as a general rule, kids love American food. 

So here are a few tips I have learnt on our USA travels:

1. Chose the airline that you are going to fly with very carefully. America is a long (very long) flight from here. We have always chosen to fly via Europe. The long flight is overnight and the shorter hop across the Atlantic is during the day. You don’t want a long day time flight with small   people, I promise you that they will go crazy. Sleeping kids allows you the time for a movie, dinner in peace and a glass of wine. Make sure that they have back-of-seat TV’s and a selection of kid’s shows and movies. Your tablet will not last the whole flight and charging places tend to be limited in economy. Airlines that provided backpacks filled with toys, get extra stars. Check online for airline reviews and make sure that they are child friendly. As a general rule, the more things the airline offers for kids, the more kid friendly they are. Book the kid’s meal as they always get fed first. In my experience Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Lufthansa are awesome. Emirates is great but the 14 hour flight from Dubai to New York is very long for small children.  Avoid our national carrier like the plague.

2. In the USA, most airlines offer kids under 5 fly for free, ride buses for free and can get into a number of attractions for free. Restaurants often have deals that allow kids under 12 to eat for free as long as an adult is buying a meal. Google the area that you are visiting for kid friendly deals. 

3. Almost every hotel has family rooms that sleep 4 and they are often the same price or only slightly more expensive than a standard room. This makes travel with small kid’s very budget friendly. This works for as long as your kids are willing to share a room with you. 

4. Self-catering places are known as vacation homes and they are often very budget friendly for families if you plan to stay in an area for a few nights. Check out Air Bnb for ideas. 

5. Food is generally purchased in bulk containers at their supermarkets. Buy some resealable plastic bags and decant snacks and other foods. Food is cheap and the variety is huge. You will be amazed by all the kid friendly foods like Goldfish Crackers and string cheese. It is harder to find healthy food but it is there. Check out places like Trader Joe’s and Wholefoods. 

6. Hit the outlet malls. You can buy Gap, Gucci and other big brands for the same price as you would pay for Ackermans or Mr Price here. I go big and buy my kids clothes for the next two years. You should of course treat yourself and have a massive shopping spree. 

7. If you have the time and the funds, go to Disney World. Your kids will love you for it. Disney World would have to be a whole separate post but it really is worth it. The tickets are expensive but there is nothing quite like it. 

8. Let your kids eat McDonalds, Dennys and all the other junk. You are on holiday!!

9. Pack snacks and bottles of juice and water for your days out. Food and drink is very expensive at most attractions. The great part is that most attractions will let you take your own food and drink in.

10. Try to limit your trip to one or two States, depending on the length of your holiday. America is huge in a way that we just can’t comprehend. You will not be able to see everything that you would like to see in one trip. 

Enjoy your trip and most importantly relax. When you travel with kids, you can’t run around seeing things all day. They get tired quickly, so break up the day with swims, naps and calm activities. 

Photo from h3dwallpapers