Sunday Spotlight – New Orleans – Andy's World Journeys

For this week’s ‘Sunday Spotlight’, let’s take a journey to the states, to Louisiana in fact and perhaps the second greatest ‘party’ city in the USA. Oh. There’s an idea for a City Rumble! Hehe. I’ll be juxtaposing again before I know it.

I visited New Orleans after a long day of flights (and there’s another blog post in that day alone!) coming all the way from Montreal via New York, Jacksonville and Houston. Yep, four flights. I’ve been trying to remember the name of the hostel I stayed at, but I’m not sure. It was an old rambling house and the humidity went right through it! Yep, New Orleans is a sweaty place.

But, it’s also a pretty marvellous place. I met guys on the plane from Houston coming in and their plan was to get as smashed as possible as quickly as possible for the whole weekend. I was sure I would go out and enjoy New Orleans, but well, this seemed a bit excessive. However, it’s also pretty standard.

New Orleans is an old French city built on the banks of the Mississippi River. Although today there is just ‘The French Quarter’, it still does somehow have a bit of a French air about it. Walking around the French Quarter is a delight, the buildings are stunning and it’s all generally kept pretty pristine. And of course the Mississippi River is might too! And great for photos.

You can visit colonial houses and take a few photos, sample an awesome array of different cuisine especially Creole, and there is the somewhat kitsch Voodoo Museum which is for the curious types. I love different kinds of museums, and in particular, ‘different’ museums.

After the sun goes down New Orleans fires up in a big way. The whole city is partyville like I have never seen before or since. Every single bar appeared to be packed. Every single person I passed in the street appeared to be roaringly drunk.

And if you’re done with partying and want to get out of the city for a little while, why not head out to the swamp lands and see a gator or two? I went on a Louisiana Swamp Tour one day and it was great to get out of town and see the crocodile’s little brother. In fact, we even saw baby alligators, ones that could fit in your hand.