New Orleans
Well what to say after week in New Orleans… Most of the time was taken by DEMA and educational sessions about scuba diving to learn more and be a better diver. Exhibition itself was a new and good experience, not to mention a great purchase of new strobe for my underwater fun with camera. However the amount of time spent on the exhibition floor was short as most of the time I spent in freezers where the educational sessions were held. It is beyond my understanding why the air conditioning was set to ice age temperature, while outside was quite nice fresh weather with rain falling down on the ground. Whatever is the reason behind the excessive electricity bill, I cannot comprehend the need for it. Thankfully the outlet stores were just wallet throw away from conference centre so I could support the economy of the USA with purchase of trousers, runners and T-shirt to keep reasonably protected from frostbite during classes. As they say when in Rome, do as romans do i.e. when in US shop as the Americans do.
It amazing me, how cheap are the clothes in US comparing to Europe or other countries.
However the New Orleans is not only DEMA and outlets shopping but also live music. What a music scene wow ! Every bar has different bands and it is feast for all the music lovers, jazz, blues and take on modern songs by blend of all styles. The saxophone, trumpet and guitar prevailing in most bars sometimes with great voice singing at the stage. What an amazing nights at Frenchman Street woo hoo, if nothing else than this is defo worth a visit. Also the food is surprisingly good with creole twist and lots of influences from various cultures. If I pick one restaurant i would recommend the Carmo with its sea food, salads and Armenian bread. I’m sure that there are more good restaurants as whenever you throw stone, you will hit some restaurant. It seems like food is the religion here.
Cannot leave out the Architecture as the most of the town consists of houses built around 1800 ish with its narrow facades and deep, long extensions to the back. When seen from the street, they look like doll houses with narrow windows and doors but they are long spaghetti extended to great lengths. Also greenery is absolutely beautiful part of the city since most of the streets are wide and lined with trees, evergreen fences. Garden district is really as garden with houses built between the trees. Some trees are spacing across the street from one side to another creating canopy of green. It is clearly visible that this part is beautiful and looked after well, what equals to great financial resources of residents. Couple passing the cafe where I sit and type this, had a brief conversation with the residents who were having coffee at next table and mentioned that old house beside cafe was sold for 2.6 mil and need another 1 mil for renovation. This is definitely not the average middle class neighbourhood for sure.
Overall the New Orleans is now competing with San Diego in my internal competition for the favourite place in US. However this is only internal fantasy as the resources needed for living here are beyond my capabilities and also I prefer live where I can Scuba. It was a great break from the island easy life of beach bum and I will definitely return again but this time only for music, theatre etc etc so I immerse in culture and civilisation. Not to mention girls, as it is feast for eyes when I compare it to island.
So long for now, signing out from The Chicory House cafe at garden district.
