Like most of you; I enjoy a good party. One of the best parties around, has got to be the week-long celebration in San Antonio, Texas, known as Fiesta Week.
Fiesta Week is a celebration of San Antonio’s rich & diverse cultures. It takes place every April. There are many events to enjoy each day, from parades, theater productions, live music, carnivals, food festivals (my favorite), and much more! It’s kinda like Mardi Gras, without the nudity! Lol!
But what if parties aren’t your thing? I’ll be the first to admit some Fiesta Week activities can be a bit overwhelming. There’s a lot of people, excitement, and high energy involved in most events. I have some “calmer” options for you. I personally like to do a couple Fiesta activities and a couple (equally amazing) non-Fiesta events.
Did You Know?
I’m about to share a few hidden treasures with you, here’s the first. San Antonio is home to several missions: Mission Espada, Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose and Mission San Juan. Discover what you can do at the four mission sites of San Antonio Missions NHP. You can explore the missions, trails and more.
This next one is very zen. Nestled on the grounds of The Incarnate Word University; there’s a 53-acre nature sanctuary. Headwaters at Incarnate Word is home to the Blue Hole, the source spring of the San Antonio River. This beautiful nature sanctuary is restoring local urban landscape through the removal of invasive plants & propagation of native species in an effort to increase biodiversity and benefit local wildlife. They offer educational programs for adults & children that focus on nature, local history, & conservation of our shared natural & cultural resources. This place is truly a hidden gem that many are not even aware exists.
What’s my new favorite thing to do during Fiesta Week? I’ll give you a hint: it involves food! Nope, it’s not visiting one of the many outstanding local restaurants or attending a food festival, even though I love NIOSA. It’s learning how to prepare amazing food from real-life Chefs. That’s right, cooking classes!
Did you know San Antonio Texas is home to the The Culinary Institute of America? I didn’t until recently. Once I found out, I knew I needed to check this place out for myself. I had no idea how much of a treat I was in for, or how much I would enjoy it.
The Culinary Institute of America (CIA for short), has several locations throughout the United States. The San Antonio location has been around for nearly a decade and is located downtown, in the swanky Pearl District, right by Lick Honest Ice Cream.
CIA’s San Antonio campus offers:
Associate degrees in baking and pastry arts or culinary arts.
Specialized programs for leaders and professionals in the food industry.
Programs for food and wine lovers, which range from two-hour demos to all-day cooking classes to multi-day boot camps. (The class I was invited to is part of CIA’s “Saturday Food Enthusiasts” program).
Their faculty members include top chefs, food executives, restaurant owners, master sommeliers, & more.
The CIA’s cooking classes give us regular folks the chance to experience life as a “Master Chef,” if only for a few hours.
Home cooks and foodies get to cook in a huge, state-of-the-art kitchen, and learn from some of the best chefs around.
There’s no prerequisite to take the classes, all you need is a desire to learn. Our Chef and his two assistants (students at CIA) were right beside us, helping us and answering our questions. (And we had lots of those!)
I signed up for the 5-hour Chinese Cuisine course. I love Chinese food, and thought this class would be a great introduction to San Antonio’s Culinary Institute of America.
In my next post, I’ll share all about my experience in the kitchen at San Antonio’s Culinary Institute of America! It was so much fun!
I hope I’ve given you a few non-Fiesta options to add to your Fiesta Week itinerary for next year. Don’t forget to come back here and read my next post, I promise it’s gonna be delicious!
* Photo of Mission courtesy of NPS.gov website. Nature sanctuary photo courtesy of Headwaters-iw.org page.
