New Orleans by day.

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I can not recall a time I have slept as badly as the two nights in new Orleans, sharing a dank, humid room with 5 girls. Two of which made snoring/choking noises throughout the night... Wonderful. Also on the second night the air conditioner packed up, so with the increased heat, came increased insects. I spent half the night batting the weirdest looking flies off my body, but I knew I wasn't staying at the Ritz. For 20 bucks a night I couldn't really complain. They were more bag storage than anything else.



So I woke up every hour on the hour, both nights. On the plus side, by waking up so early I got a shower nice and early, with no queue, before the limited hot water ran out. So reinvigorated and rocking my jean shorts I wondered outside to the patio area. Bonding over a shared love of music, I made a new friend. Mike, known as Charles to some of his friends was originally from Philadelphia. Somewhere I had spent considerable time. We decided to venture into new Orleans together, he was meeting some friends later that night we had booked a hotel they were all sharing. His room at the hostel had mould....



So we walked down canal street, towards downtown New Orleans, and the French quarter, stopping along the way at record shops that had been recommended to us by other hostel stayers. It was fun to check out the record shops, they have so much support for local artists, and all the paintings of jazz heroes, really helps the ambiance.



Now was my time to be a real tourist, we travelled to St. Louis cathedral, the oldest one in the united states, it almost looks like Disneyland when you approach it from Jackson square. Outside the cathedral, jazz and blues bands were competing outside for tourists dollars. The church offered welcome relief, New Orleans is hot, not just hot, humid, I could feel sweat on my back, the entire day. The church was cool, mass was in process when we entered. It was beautiful, with the stained glass windows, and numerous paintings on the ceiling. It all looked brand new, probably because in terms of church's this one is very young. The only thing that ruined this for me, was the gift shop... I can't help but feel its inappropriate to have a shop in a place of worship....



By now it was midday, and the already sweltering heat seemed to defy logic and get hotter, and with it my exuberance for New Orleans was starting to wane. So Mike and I stopped for food, in this bistro just off the Mississippi river. Air conditioning is god, in new Orleans.... It's that simple. . And as a surprise to even myself I had a chicken Cesar salad.. I think the heat was messing with my head, but it felt good. Mike and I were refreshed by the salad (I think it was the first salad I have had in the U.S.A). So we headed toward St louis Cemetery stopping off at cafe du monde on the way, a tourist must (thanks big sis). New Orleans cemeteries are famous, due to the fact everyone is buried above ground, due to the fact new Orleans is below sea level. The Cemetery was a strange mix between decay and new. Some of the white tombs were spotlessly white, in the New Orleans sun they were practically blinding. Other tombs lay as rubble, other tombs were treated as alters. The voodoo queen Marie laveux was buried here, her tomb has become popular with people "illegally" writing 3 X's in the tomb in hope she will grant their wishes. The Cemetery showed signs it had been affected by the floods with water marks on some of the older tombs. It was strangely beautiful though, some of the moments were just impressive, in their seize and in their construction.



After all this walking all around the French quarter, mike and I returned to the hostel for a beer. We relaxed in the sun for a whiles, before returning to the city, this time using the streetcar... It was only 1.25 and I had blisters.... We were heading towards Louis Armstrong park, for the jazz in the park music festival. On the way we found a diner a few streets over from bourbon that was selling southern favourites... Which meant chicken fried steak...amazing. Dinner and a drink came to less than 8 bucks, when on bourbon street a drink is 8 bucks... It's amazing the difference being away from the tourist areas. Mike had an 8oz strip steak for 6 bucks... Absolutely insane. He assured me it was good quality despite us both being dubious.



We then headed towards the park both of us getting lost, until we finally stumbled upon the park.



All in all I have loved new Orleans but its been the people I have met that have made this trip amazing. I will hopefully be meeting up with mike again in Philly before I head back to england. Bring on Houston.

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Comments

[Aliem]

Glad
Well I'm glad that you mostly had a good time there. Sounds like you met some interesting people, and it also sounds like Kayla and I will be going next year in April...That way we won't die of heat stroke.