As I mentioned before, I just recently went to New Orleans with my friend Brad. Finding the right person to travel with can be hard, and I am so happy that I have found that person. He makes me walk everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE! When I went to visit him in New York in August (Never again) and we were walking and walking for a long time, when I asked him, “how much farther?” He replied, “a couple more blocks”. Well, for those of you who have never been to NYC or know about the grid, there are short blocks and LONG blocks…these were a couple of long blocks….I digress.

Walking in New Orleans was amazing. The French quarter is filled with amazing art galleries, fantastic restaurants and lots to see. In Jackson Square on the weekends, there are local artists who have amazing talent showing and selling their art on the street. There are street preformers that made me think about being in Barcelona on Las Ramblas. It was so much fun.

The food in New Orleans is fantastic. Brad and I went to Paris and believe it or not, didn’t have the best food experiences there (except for the pastries) but in NOLA, the food was awesome. I tried new things like Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee (Definition: A spicy and delicious Cajun stew traditionally made with crawfish, vegetables and a dark roux. Étouffée is usually served over rice. The word comes from the French étouffer, which means to smother). I also had Jambalaya, anduee sausage and of course Beignettes from Cafe du Monde (http://www.cafedumonde.com/). That was great. I am sure that there were more ‘local’ places to have great beignettes, but Cafe du Monde is where you would go to experience your first one.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Bourbon Street. It doesn’t matter how many pictures or tv shots you see, until you are walking down the middle of the street after dark live, you haven’t see Bourbon Streeet. During the day, the street is open to car traffic, and nothing much is going on (because all the partiers sleep during the day, party at night). There are countless beer trucks unloading their wares for the upcoming evening activities. But at night, it is pedestrian traffic only. Anything goes on Bourbon, and usually does. The smell is not the greatest, but it is the most interesting aray of people you could imagine.

Music is a huge part of NOLA. You can stand in the middle of the street and close your eyes, and there is music from everywhere. I thought I would hear more Jazz, but there was rock, cover bands, motown and the coolest Karaoke bar I have ever been to (well, probably my first, I don’t do karaoke). The bar is called Kats Meow (http://catskaraoke.com/). The cool thing is that between the turns of the people singing, there are amazing hosts that keep the mood and the upbeat flow going. They are true entertainers and we saw three different hosts, 1 male 2 female and they were each incredible. There was also a good mix of not so good karoake guests, and then the amazing ones who must go regularily at home or if they are local.

On Monday, before we left for the airport, we walked back to French Quarter to have lunch. I read in the magazine at the hotel about a Jazz brunch at a famous restaurant called “Court of two sisters” (http://www.courtoftwosisters.com/). We had a hard time finding it, but when we did it was worth the wait. We were led to the back outdoor courtyard with umbrellas, white table cloths lattice and flowers, trees and of course the music. The lunch was buffet style and the food was once again, amazing. I normally don’t like unsweetened iced tea, but this tea was so refreshing and enjoyable.

Once again, another amazing vacation was over, and as we took the shuttle back to the airport we were on the bus with some other people and everyone has a story….one couple was there for a american/indian wedding weekend, two guys were there for a week from London England (originally India) and us. Everyone has a story to tell, share, experience.