US most welcoming destinations

We have stayed there twice and hope to go back. It’s a very friendly town and fun to visit. Also a growing wine area.

Currently, Europeans prefer other destinations https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/10/europeans-us-emirates-asia-travel-tui-trump-immigration-crackdown

MotherDuck I lived in San Antonio and it was always a good weekend getaway.

We visit friends west of Houston and yes, it does make a great weekend getaway!

We were fortunate enough to spend a day/night in Fredericksburg 2 years ago and enjoyed it very much, even though some attractions were closed on a January weekday. Pretty country in that part of TX.

Mr. E, San Antonio was cold and wet much of the time - Riverwalk was very quiet - but we liked the city much more, personally, than Austin. The 5 missions were well worth exploring, and the Briscoe Museum of Western Art was terrific! As lovers of the color and flavor of Santa Fe, N.M via its Spanish/Mexican/Indigenous heritage, we were pleased to be able to enjoy some of the same in S.A.

I am blessed to have lived in two remarkable cities. Not just for the beauty and history but for the amazing cultures and tolerance.

Mr. E I loved San Antonio. Our daughter's high school band went there for a parade in the spring and I loved the beauty queens on the floats showing their cowboy boots. Riverwalk is magical at night.

Fredericksburg has good food also!

I remember being confused about whether you were referring to San Antonio, Texas or San Antonio, the main tourist town on the island of Ibiza, Spain one time. I was curious as to how many there actually are worldwide. Lots of them! I figured there would be at least one per Spanish speaking country (The Republic of Texas is a Spanish speaking country, right?), but most have several.

Here's a link to what purports to be an exhaustive list. I bet there's a few that have been missed.

https://geotargit.com/called.php?qcity=San%20Antonio

Gerry, lots of cities around the world adopted the name of San Antonio in Texas after the Battle of the Alamo. /s

A lot of European cities adopted the names of cities in Texas: Paris, Berlin, Athens, Dublin, Edinburgh, Florence, Geneva, Liverpool, London, Moscow, Naples, Newcastle, Weimar, Laredo, Braunfels to name a few. /s

A significant percentage of Texans speak Spanish as a first language. We have Spanish language television and radio and newspapers.

But there are also cities where German was the first language until the mid-20th century. Places like Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Weimer, Gruene, Boerne and a large part of San Antonio. The last German language newspaper in Texas stopped printing in 1957. Admiral Nimitz who controlled the US Pacific Fleet during WWII spoke German as a first language. Great and large, museum to him and the war in the Pacific in Fredericksburg.

In Snook they spoke Czech and in Castroville they spoke Alsatian (many still do). In Houston enough speak Vietnamese that there is a local Vietnamese language radio station.

Everyone knows Ry Cooder's soundtrack to the movie "Paris, Texas" right? It's a beautiful, evocative piece of music. Slide guitar at its finest.

In a circular way, it's intrinsically linked to San Antonio, Ibiza for me. It was a standard in Jose Padilla's sunset DJ set at Cafe del Mar and possibly where I first heard it over 30 years ago.

Here's a link to a slightly ragtag playlist of the soundtrack album on YouTube. The first track is what I'm talking about.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOKMpbyL5AcsiMt6gDk_gY9WvmAnICS1S&si=mj4SqRmSCSB0Y9FJ

Gerry, thank you. Good reminders of another day. Always appreciated.