New Orleans
Arrived in New Orleans after a Greyhound bus dropped me here (on time!!!) thats a first. Up until now the best one was five hours late. The hostel this time is pretty crummy with no other travelers staying here. All the people in my room were victims of Hurricane Katrina and their stories are pretty interesting.
First impressions of New Orleans are not that good. I got here and the humidity is much higher so the weather is permanently either very hot and humid or hot and humid and pouring with rain. One great thing about this place is the water. As expected it comes from the Mississippi and it tastes so great. The water in Nashville was so awful and tasted so chlorinated it was so hard to drink. Not only that but as its so hot you have to drink around 3 litres a day at least!One strange thing is the Coca Cola. It tastes so great here! It tastes so much better than the UK and I drink it all the time. I never drink it at home. They also have a lot of lemony drinks here like Mountain Dew and iced tea which are so wonderful in this weather.
The main tourist attractions are the Mississippi river where you can take a paddle steamer down river or go to MardiGras world (which was amazing) or you can go to the shops and casinos. The french quarter is lively at night with clubs and bars and bands and there is Jazz music everywhere. Last night I had alligator for tea and something called Gumbo which is a traditional Creole dish eaten here. There are no tourist touts or coupons or anything like New York and you really have to search for the tourist stuff!
One odd thing about New Orleans (or N'awlins) to the locals is that there is no rock. New Orleans was formed from silt and mud and sand that was washed down the delta and formed the land the city is built on. All the bricks are sandstone and there is only one bridge as its hard to build on sand and silt so they operate a lot of free ferrys thats cross the Mississippi instead. (oh and at night, the Mississippi delta DOES shine like a national guitar, but you have to see it from above!!)
There is a lot of public backlash about the slow response to hurricane Katrina. You can get t-shirts with (FEMA) Federal Emergency Management Agency except instead they say 'fix everything my ass' or NOPD (new orleans police department) and they say 'not our problem dude' Or you get a t-shirt that says FEMA with a picture underneath of a policeman riding a snail. Voodoo and love potions are also big here and be warned cos i bought a voodoo doll!!
I have to make a public and heartfelt apology at this point to someone none of you know called Derrick Cromer. When I was staying in Nashville the hostel had a bed bug problem but only in one apartment. I stayed over in Derricks apartment and he has just sent me an email to tell me that I spread the bugs to his apartment as well so now he is getting eaten alive by them and has 2 apartments to exterminate rather than one. Derrick I am so sorry, your guilt trip worked and if I do see you again in LA I will make it up to you I promise. On point of note it was interesting that the bugs were biting everyone except me - they only bit me once, - maybe that was enough!!
I leave New Orleans tonight for Miami so hopefully I will have post when I get there!
Arrived in New Orleans after a Greyhound bus dropped me here (on time!!!) thats a first. Up until now the best one was five hours late. The hostel this time is pretty crummy with no other travelers staying here. All the people in my room were victims of Hurricane Katrina and their stories are pretty interesting.
First impressions of New Orleans are not that good. I got here and the humidity is much higher so the weather is permanently either very hot and humid or hot and humid and pouring with rain. One great thing about this place is the water. As expected it comes from the Mississippi and it tastes so great. The water in Nashville was so awful and tasted so chlorinated it was so hard to drink. Not only that but as its so hot you have to drink around 3 litres a day at least!One strange thing is the Coca Cola. It tastes so great here! It tastes so much better than the UK and I drink it all the time. I never drink it at home. They also have a lot of lemony drinks here like Mountain Dew and iced tea which are so wonderful in this weather.
The main tourist attractions are the Mississippi river where you can take a paddle steamer down river or go to MardiGras world (which was amazing) or you can go to the shops and casinos. The french quarter is lively at night with clubs and bars and bands and there is Jazz music everywhere. Last night I had alligator for tea and something called Gumbo which is a traditional Creole dish eaten here. There are no tourist touts or coupons or anything like New York and you really have to search for the tourist stuff!
One odd thing about New Orleans (or N'awlins) to the locals is that there is no rock. New Orleans was formed from silt and mud and sand that was washed down the delta and formed the land the city is built on. All the bricks are sandstone and there is only one bridge as its hard to build on sand and silt so they operate a lot of free ferrys thats cross the Mississippi instead. (oh and at night, the Mississippi delta DOES shine like a national guitar, but you have to see it from above!!)
There is a lot of public backlash about the slow response to hurricane Katrina. You can get t-shirts with (FEMA) Federal Emergency Management Agency except instead they say 'fix everything my ass' or NOPD (new orleans police department) and they say 'not our problem dude' Or you get a t-shirt that says FEMA with a picture underneath of a policeman riding a snail. Voodoo and love potions are also big here and be warned cos i bought a voodoo doll!!
I have to make a public and heartfelt apology at this point to someone none of you know called Derrick Cromer. When I was staying in Nashville the hostel had a bed bug problem but only in one apartment. I stayed over in Derricks apartment and he has just sent me an email to tell me that I spread the bugs to his apartment as well so now he is getting eaten alive by them and has 2 apartments to exterminate rather than one. Derrick I am so sorry, your guilt trip worked and if I do see you again in LA I will make it up to you I promise. On point of note it was interesting that the bugs were biting everyone except me - they only bit me once, - maybe that was enough!!
I leave New Orleans tonight for Miami so hopefully I will have post when I get there!
posted by Amy | 9:00 AM
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