New Orleans #1

Here we go, a slightly photo heavy post about New Orleans.
The drive from Austin takes about 8 hours, but with pee stops and traffic it took us almost 10. We left Friday after class and got there around 11 at night. We drove with two cars and because the other car got left earlier, we met up with them in a bar on Bourbon Street. Let me tell you, it is terrifying. So many drunk people, nothing compared to 6th Street here in Austin. Don't know why but the city scared me that night (well I kind of do know- the others told us a story of how earlier in the day, someone just got shot on the street. oh okay then!) The next day we wandered around the streets, bought Mardi Gras accessories, met some other nice girls, had typical food (Jambalaya and Gumbo) and had a great time at the French market. The French Quarter in general is so beautiful, I love the houses, the little balconies, the trees... Like I always imagined it!
Then we waited for the parade to kick of Mardi Gras- SO exciting! After the parade we went to Frenchman Street, a fantastic street that is less scary than Bourbon and has an endless amount of bars. We danced to Jazz, walked from bar to bar, I extended my collection of beads (the bead necklaces are very typical for Mardi Gras,everyone wears them- I will show a picture in the next post) and we had a great time until we headed home. Unlike other cities, New Orleans' bars stay open very late and more importantly, you are sort of allowed to drink on the streets. Wohoo!
In general it seemed almost like a dream to me- New Orleans has always been this interesting city to me, with so much character and tragedy that I wanted to visit it so badly but never really made an effort. So when the others suggested it I was SO excited!
If you look at the pictures of what Hurricane Katrina did to the city, it is impressive how much they must have rebuild and renovated. It all looks great!

Now this is just the first load of pictures and I cannot take credit for them, all of them were taken by Alyzee, who took one of the Uni's camera with her and I am so happy we have so many great pictures.
Okay, enjoy!