Good morning" the driver said as we entered the bus. "Good morning" I replied as I settled on a seat. With clockwork precision she drove us to the Old town Station in nineteen minutes flat. I looked at the brochure in my hand, she was spot on with her times. She was someone after my heart :) I would be like her down the lane :) Was she sixty plus I thought as I got down but how active! We walked into the station. It was totally empty and reminded me of sleepy stations in remote villages back home. But hey this was in the midst of a bustling city and I could see the bus turning a corner and going off on a road on the other side. We bought tickets from the vending machine and waited. The Train would arrive in ten minutes. I paced the platform while S sat on a bench. The big clock ticked ten but no sight of the train :( We checked the board again. It said train at ten. Across the hedge a row of young Maple trees stood guard. I watched a young lady walk in, buy a ticket, drop her backpack and settle down on a bench. Soon she was immersed in her cell phone. She didn't look worried that the train was not here on time. I thought I would start a conversation. I enquired about the train and she replied it was rescheduled to eleven due to the State fair. She had not even looked up from her cell! So much for my conversation :) S went to the board again to verify this and I went back to looking around and pacing. Three teenage boys entered playing catch me and bought tickets. They hung around the board and the vending machine restless. I continued my walk. An elderly couple slowly climbed up the steps and bought tickets.
Old Town Station
Eleven and the train silently arrived and we got in. The train was bursting at the seams. That is when the significance of the last weekend before the State fair hit me. Young people formed the majority of the crowd. A teenager sat eating at a window. The food was on her lap and her handbag rested on the seat beside. And nobody asked her to take it off and no she didn't offer the seat to anybody. I would have asked if a girl did that in India, but I just stood there. I am wondering why now. A stout lady in a uniform and with lots of keys bunched in her hip pocket asked the girl to make place for me and asked me to sit down. Do they have conductors on those trains? I think she was one. The train kept filling up at all stations. The hotel corridor would be silent and empty always and then suddenly the cafeteria would be crowded. It would remind me of worms in the wood work :) And I would wonder where do these people hide? Just seven of us in the old town station and now the train was chock a block.
We got down at Trinity Mills station and immediately got into the train for West End Station. This station was buzzing with youngsters again. Young mothers with babies in prams got in and found seats for themselves. The young girls hung onto boyfriends while the chivalrous :) boyfriends hung onto the rails :) At West End we streamed out of the open station and walked towards the Aquarium. On the way we met a Subway sandwich shop and went in for a bite. Lunch would be God knows when :) The road again was completely empty and inside the shop was a teenager manning the shop. The shop was also empty. I was scared for her, what if somebody came in and tried to mug her :( What would she do? I ate my sandwich watching her :) Sandwich done we walked out and a couple walked in.
A couple of turns and we were at the Dallas World Aquarium. Unlike the Sixth floor museum the tickets here were sold almost amidst the exhibits. Excited children were squealing in delight even as they entered. There was no way a parent could keep up with them. They were all over the place. They darted left and right trying to see the fauna all at once. A parent would be reading aloud the details and the child would be distracted by the neighboring exhibit and off it would go. The parent willy-nilly followed it. I was stunned at the interiors. We walked on a short bamboo bridge after buying our tickets and the walls melted and the huge cages took centre stage. We followed them and I don't even recall entering a door :). A sloth hung overhead, an owl looked at us dolefully and the green snake for all its colour was too fat to hide :) The crabs were so huge they resembled a big overturned wok on spindly legs :) Where was the frog? It was a case of Honey I shrunk the frog :) We had to peer into its cage for a long time before we spotted it. The transparent Jelly fish floated in blue light, a night time ambience. The starfish in vibrant hues were everywhere stuck to the wall, the floor and to the corals. Thin snake like fish stood upright on the floor of the cage. The Sea horse came in so many sizes and colours. Some of them seemed made of lace, they were so beautiful. We were now in the heart of the aquarium. Big and small fish were all around us. They were even overhead. I could see the complete underside of a cardboard like fish.
The crab | Who are you lovely ? |
The babies in the pram had gone silent so overwhelmed were they with being inside a water tunnel. A small girl had pressed her forehead to the wall in an attempt to see the white crocodile on the floor. Her father softly told her about it. Tired of being away from the spotlight the crocodile lazily drifted up and preened for us. The girl stepped back in shock and awe. The Beluga Whale had no time for such show off's it turned away from us :) What was that fish with whiskers? Catfish? Was it they lived happily ever after for all of them? Definitely not, this was a miniature sea and I am sure the hunted and the hunter lived side by side. But no such feeding frenzy was on show :) Suddenly a scuba diver appeared inside the fish cage. He was feeding them. Some of them seemed to feed from his hand. How did he get in? I peered inside. Nothing was visible. So there was a network of tunnels surrounding us through which employees travelled to access the cages. Next we were in an auditorium and a volunteer was explaining about the endangered Beluga whales. This Auditorium was the only acknowledgement to humans in that interior. Then suddenly we were looking down at bright flamingoes doing their single leg dance in the sun near a waterfall. I climbed down to see them up close. They had such rich colour. What was that grumpy solitary white bird with its back towards us? It wouldn't pose for us :) The small Penguins were huddled on a man made island. They were unhappy with all the gawking and they stuck close to each other. They were a small clan too. Sad :(
No time for Show off's --- Beluga Whale Flamingoes
It is a stunning display of fauna. The sea world created inside is so beautiful. The Aquarium is huge and the fauna are showcased country wise and other wise. Details were available on boards and on TV. The website says there are banquet halls inside but where were they? Didn't see them at all :) Finally we walked into the souvenir shop. All the exhibits were available in plastic, as soft toys and in crystal as well but the real life beings had charmed and filled us with wonder.
We said no to the Horse carriage and walked towards the station.A crowd beckoned and we walked towards it. An entire block was closed for traffic. A huge Jeep with Red Bull plastered on it was parked at the entrance and we could see people on skateboards. A big man kept saying ID please to everyone as they entered. He didn't ask us any :) Perhaps he thought these people are harmless and would rather need help if something happens :) There was a big ramp for men, a medium one for teenagers and a small one for kids. And all of them were being used. Skateboards and T shirts were being sold as well. It looked like a fair :) Kids with skates under their arm followed their parents all the while stopping to gape at someone on the ramp. I gaped too. This was the first time I was seeing it live. A competition was in progress and the finalists were practising for the showdown. They jumped onto the banisters, slid down and skated over the ramp with a somersault thrown in for good measure. The stunts were scary and obviously needed lot of practice. A band was playing loud music drowning all other noise. We drifted towards it. S was fidgety with the crowd and wanted to be on the train. We walked to the station and settled on a seat. A group of ladies on Segways rolled behind us on the sidewalk. The train arrived and we were off. An over excited kid got in with his family. Two minutes into the journey the excitement could not be contained any more and he threw up. The parents began the mop up drill. So this is what State Fair did to you I thought :) The old lady as promised picked us up at the Old town Station and dropped us back to the hotel. She drove with clockwork precision. Her tempo traveller like bus had two others on this journey unlike in the morning. I stopped to admire small flowers in the grass even as I turned on my cell phone. And the pictures in WhatsApp began streaming to my friends :)
| Skateboarding | Small flowers |
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