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Wow i dont think i've ever been as hot as i have while walking down the street in New Orleans.
So i arrived after a 12 hour train journey. To what i knew and had read is a pretty sketchy city. Basically if you walk outside of the tourist area's something is gonna happen that wont be good. I must admit i didn't put it to the test but even when walking down one street on the edge of the french quarter you notice people looking at you. Maybe thats because it was 12pm 33C and i had on some clarks shoes, jeans, a polo shirt and some ray bans. Nah!
I decided after much squinting that i would purchase some sunglasses a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses for £80 I will probably lose them in a week but hey i will look good till then!
So i got up today had my free breakfast in the hotel watched a girl of 8 run to the waffle machine to get her sugar quota started. I had some Golden Graham's well good! I went on a wander to see what's what walked down Bourban Street which is basically the street with the Girly bar's and sex shop's, Bar's, tacky restaurants and a swingers club to boot. It was quiet at 10am as most of the bars etc were setting up. I went there again tonight to see the difference and my oh my its like something in Benidorm with people inviting you into the bars. Drunk people drinking in the street I can only imagine weekends on this street. Chaos!
The next street up is completely different nice restaurant's and antique shops. Then i walked to the riverfront took a picture on Jackson square which is cool because its clean and the rest of new orleans isn't. I walked up the river bought my sunglasses spotted a Starbucks outside a nice looking Shopping Centre got a drink and sat down to read for a while. Noticed that this place had a Pottery Barn which i had heard of from watching Friends sad i know.
I decided then i was gonna go on a hunt for trainers but alas after looking in 2 footlockers (across the road from each other with pretty much the same stock) and 2 other sport's shop still no Joy. My nike's really do smell now especially after 12 hour train rides. After a fruitless hunt i went to get some lunch (crab) then headed back to my hotel to grab a shower (again i might add i did have one when i got up.)
I had to sort out the next leg of my journey after looking at the amtrak site i realised i would have to change my plan of going to Texas next as the next train to texas runs on friday. So i decided to get a train to Chicago and from there book a train to San Francisco on the monday. Pretty cool right. Well the train journey tomorrow is 19 hours pretty long yeah. The train journey to SF is 54 hours 2 days and 6 hours on a train. Luckily i have booked a roomette at a cost mind you of $600 but i get my meals with that. Wow i hear you say its expensive but that line is the most popular because it has the best scenery I know you are all thinking he will just be asleep. I cant deny that i suppose I've been preparing for this by downloading films.
So i booked my tickets which i have to do over the phone which isn't easy when they can't understand me 60% of the time. Then i booked accommodation for Chicago the hostel only had 1 night available which is shit because im there for 3 nights. So i hunted for cheap accommodation near the centre $500 a night not that cheap, oh here we are $600 a night nice. To say i was getting worried is a understatement so i kept on looking and after an hour i found another hostel about 1.5 miles outside the centre. So i booked there. San Francisco shouldn't be an issue as there are lots of hostels (hippie city)
So after spending way too much time looking for somewhere to lay my head i headed out to walk the streets and try to find some Voodoo stuff and not to walk into the no go area's. I would say New Orleans is a weird city it needs its tourism yet is kinda tacky it is full of Spanish style buildings with narrow streets. You can imagine people throwing their shit off the balconies not that long ago. It is pretty dirty not just in cleanliness but in spirit too. It doesn't have that much to offer for someone who doesn't drink or is alone. Its a party city that is struggling to come back from Hurricane Katrina (you can buy cocktails called hurricane's though)
I have found the people i have spoke to to be very friendly even people walking past you in the street ask you how are you doing? I had a conversation with one guy about how hot it was for a good few minutes. During i managed to get in a Seinfeld quote of "the shower didn't take" he didn't notice. I was hoping he would and then i would have a story of when i chatted to some dude about seinfeld on the streets of the big easy. Instead we chatted about the weather.
peace
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Sara
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what RayBans did you get? Aviators? take a picture. also remember to get a Strawberry Surf Rider from Jamba Juice when you come across one. they're dead mint.