Hello New Orleans

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New Orleans, oh boy what a city. WE were lucky from the start without knowing it. The first game of Grid Iron was on and the local team, The Saints, were playing Chicago. It was a ball in the city. We arrived in the afternoon and booked in. We were shown a very nice room that had a beautiful view over Canal street. The elevators in this hotel were another amazing talking point. There were seven elevators coming out in a square. On the wall was a plate with the numbers of the floors. All you had to do is punch in your floor number and it tells you which elevator will be for you. No pushing buttons inside the elevator it takes you to what floor you have chosen. Utterly amazing, everybody talked about it. We could not wait to get out. The streets were filled with music and laughter. The sound of the Blues seem to come from everywhere. We walked towards Bourbon street where most of the action was. Lots of people were hanging over balcony railings throwing strings of beads to passers by. Again this has something to do with the football here, or gridiron as we know it.We caught some as well. When they make it over the head big screams go all over the street. There is also a saying that goes as WHO DAT. It's big, all over t shirts flags signs etc. It took us 3 days to find out what it stood for. WHO DAT the other towns or teams think that they are going to beat the New Orleans Saints . It is ingrained in the city. On girls shirts, shorts you name it. One Black man (yes we are allowed to say that, the 65% of the inhabitants are Afro Americans and have the healthy attitude of calling themselves black) said When someone would knock at night on the front door they would call out before opening the door, WHO DAT.And that is how it started and became a New Orleans saying. You cannot help but love this city. When you ask something from some black youths they answer so politely and apologise profusely is they are bumping in to you. Such a difference as we know it from back home. In all we absolutely loved it, loved it, loved it. We walked to the Mississippi and saw one of those old Mississippi steamers leaving. We did do a city tour as well that showed the damage that was done by Katrina. Lots of people never returned and where once their houses stood, there are now empty blocks. We briefly visited the cemetery. Here they have big mausoleums for their dead. All above ground, not for the water table just a left over from the French and Spanish, that occupied this area for a while. All in all, we were very impressed with New Orleans, a vibrant city where music and food play a big roll. We sign off again and leave this city behind, we loved it. Bye for now, Liz and Allan

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