Big wheels keep on turning

My first intercontinental flight in the US with southwest. Free drinks and peanuts ;) I like that. Just as much as little comments on the flight to make the usually rather dry instructions a bit more interesting.

We departed delayed because the crew was late. When I arrived in New Orleans I was sure I had missed my shuttle but they had kindly waited on me and another guest from Nashville. He however stayed at the Ritz... Something I will probably never be able to afford. Not that I need to.

It was a nice ride and really handy to be dropped off right at the apartment. There I was greeted very warmly with a cold bottle of water ;) the house is very clean incl. the bathroom and my room if perfect. While checking everything for the next day I noticed that I have lost my plan for New Orleans. Fortunately I have good friends that had initially planned to come along and had a copy (thank you Ana). I plugged in my iPad and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up at 6am (I don't think I'll ever learn- though it is 1pm in DE) to realize that my charger wasn't working. That meant my camera and notebook was only charged at 5%. Not much when you have a full days ahead of you.but it is not like I can change this so I got ready and left the house by 8am. I walked by a lot of nice places between the garden district where I am staying and the French district where the tour started. I did not take pictures for obvious reasons.

I arrived in German fashion waaaaaay to early. I took the time to reflect on an activity we had done at work: writing down things I enjoyed and things I did not like. I'm not going to go into detail but I don't like a lot of things... After 20min I decided to check if I can find a supermarket for food. By chance I actually found the same pharmacy that I had been to in New York and where I got these yummy mango/ strawberry slices. Basically it is fruit dried and pressed into a bar shape. They did not have the ones I previously got but I bought some regardless... Good investment ;)

Also I need to ask (to the universe probably): is it torturous for those poor horses in front of a carriage that takes up to 12 people? Is it cruel to spray their hooves in glitter? I believe so and wish I would do something about it. I don't really blame the horse riders but the tourists that actually take those tours.

Now the French quarterback walking tour was really interesting from the history of New Orleans, the swamps, the fires and why everything still looks like a Spanish small town. On the tour there was a couple from near Stuttgart who had been traveling the USA for 9month!!! They were able to take a year unpaid leave from work.. Respect. However they secretly left the tour shortly before it finished-probably to avoid tipping the tour guide.

Once finished I had to walk to the Spanish plaza for the steamboat tour (wasn't really a steamboat as I learnt afterwards- only the Nanchez(?) is a steamboat. The Creole Queen is only a replica) to the historical battlefield there the US defeated the British... There was a pirate on board who apparently is originally from Northern Ireland but I have no clue what his purpose was other than to annoy people (well me at least ;) ) the tour guide however-ex military as he pointed out- was actually a good storyteller but not as good on the facts as Stacey from the walking tour. However, he also later did a tour about Katrina. And while I am a very charming force of nature my similarly named friend Katrina not so much. Charles explained in a very interesting manner how Katrina destroyed New Orleans. Fun fact: the Choctaw (indigenous inhabitants of New Orleans) explained to the first colonies where to build their town so it will never be flooded. While New Orleans has been flooded multiple times, the French quarter (the original colony) itself was never flooded.... Trust the locals!
Also fun fact: New Orleans first settlers were all criminals and prostitutes.. After the French tricked the Germans into moving to New Orleans but they moved onwards to build Germantown...(it is a bit more complicated than that but as you see very interesting)

For the evening I was thinking about doing yet another tour, but at that time the only available tours were ghost and vampire tours. While I bet these tours are fun and really good, I chickened out. I am doing this trip on my own and I get spooked quite easily. I figured it is better not to know about all the stuff that is happening here while I'm in town. Especially as we are talking Anne rice not sparkly Edwards...

Now my low-light of the day: from the moment I arrived- in the shuttle, on the tour and on the boat I was told that I have to eat some creole food. So I tried to find a local shop to try the local cuisine. Now the problem is: New Orleans kitchen is known for fish, seafood and chicken or pork... Not good for a vegetarian. After 30min I actually went into a shop to ask for vegetarian options... I was literally asked to leave: I recommend you try somewhere else! Upset about this I went into a southern fast food restaurant to order only the side option so: Cajun fries and beans &rice...they did not understand what I want. It took 3people to get my order... We all know my English is not that bad!!! The fries were not good. But the beans and rice was delicious even from fast food... I need to look for a recipe for this when I'm back home.

Back at the Airbnb my host has given me his charger. So I am able to write a bit and get ready for tomorrow...

If you are following me through Facebook you might have seen it already, but I posted this video of an amazing young musician Ava Paige Davis, the shared my post and now it shows that I am getting old! She called me lady... Oh lord where art thou? :)

It is 5.30am and guess who is up? I am only writing this bit quickly before getting ready to leave for garden district. I get picked up at 11.30 so that gives me plenty of time to visit one graveyard- not the scary but hopefully beautiful as in New Orleans corpses cannot be buried underground.

It was not as impressive as I had thought but interesting to see regardless. Now it is 9am and I am all packed waiting on the bus to pick me up. This sucks as 2.5h are a long time but not long enough to go anywhere else...

If I had more time I would also visit the WW2 museum as this is supposedly extremely good.

I called the shuttle service to see if they had an earlier option but unfortunately they did not. So I am looking at the garbage across the road (and taken a picture too) and uploading this report.

Oh and I forgot to tell: now that I decided not to look for election campaigning I have seen more trumps than clintons. I took a picture of one house that to me was over the top. I have to tell you that I am astonished that New Orleans is pro trump given their history. They have so many races living together and the code noire is from here. When Katrina hit it was the international teams around that helped first not he US, and still they are promoting a racist idiot? Interesting how people tick.