"Houston" has been immortalized as Neil Armstrong's first word on landing on the moon, a fact that proud Houstonians will point out to you at every opportunity. Houston, in eastern Texas, is the fourth largest city in the US, a city founded on oil. Today it is an important commercial center, and the hub of research in space technology and medicine.

Houston is a sprawling metropolis, all glass and concrete, skyscrapers and malls. Visitors are enthralled by its dynamism, by the sheer energy that permeates the city, by the excellent museums and parks and sometimes by the contrary and unpredictable culture.

Houston was founded in 1837 on swampy land close to where two bayous, Buffalo and White Oak met. The two brothers from New York who established it, did so with the intention of promoting it as the capital of the newly formed Republic of Texas. However, disease soon robbed it of its pre-eminence and the capital shifted to Austin in 1839. Houston then reinvented itself as a major commercial center and it remained so. In 1901, oil was discovered here. Since then the fortunes of the city have risen and fallen with oil prices.

Houston can get quite hot and humid in the summer, with temperatures touching a searing 94° F in July and August. Winter temperatures remain between 40 and 60° F. Humidity levels reach 93 percent in October.