Springbreak in New Orleans

Theresa and I had left Athens on Friday afternoon. My roommate Michael was so kind to take us to Columbus, and had also offered us to sleep on his parent’s couch. Not having left the town for more than eight weeks and then getting on the highway left me with a really strange feeling; it seemed like leaving a nice, protective bubble, and trading it for the real world. Also, I was just immensely excited about going to the Big Easy, the Crescent City, to NEW ORLEANS!

Me on Bourbon Street

Cynthia had already been there a few years ago and only spoke in high terms of the city. And boy, she was not exaggerating. After approximately 45 minutes of sleep (well, we also had to see Friday-night Columbus), we caught our flight at 7am at Port Columbus Airport and after some sleepy five hours we finally arrived in New Orleans. A blue sky, temperatures above 20°C (the day before we had about -10°C in Columbus) and palm trees already awaited us at the airport, leaving us stunned and blissfully. I had almost forgotten that a place without snow and ice even existed! (I think by now you can tell that I’m not a huge fan of this time of the year)

Day One: We stayed at a hostel (India House Hostel) that was located right next to Canal Street. Several streetcar lines run on Canal Street, so it was really easy and convenient to get around. We walked around in the beautiful French Quarter and eventually ended up on Bourbon Street. Even though I have never been to Mallorca or the Ballermann, Bourbon definitely attracted as many “fun-loving” tourists as Mallorca (maybe a bit classier and fewer Germans). You find some 1000 bars (well, maybe less), some friendly policemen that let you pet their horses (what an attraction!) and very expensive beverages! But after all, we really had fun strolling up and down the street and soaking up the atmosphere.

The Tree of Life

Day Two to Four (I can’t talk about everything!): New Orleans really is a beautiful, unique city in the United States. Everything seems less regulated and the residents seem to love their city. Many streets are lined with over 100-year old oaks and often these still have the Mardi Gras “decoration” on them (in form of those colorful Mardi Gras beads). Audubon Park is home to the Tree of Life, which is over 200 years old and impressive to sit under (it comes with its own lightning conductor). We also took a ferry over to Algiers Point to get a nice view of downtown New Orleans, had a Po-boy for lunch (look it up!), been to a record store in Bywater and did so many more things that do however not all fit in this blog post.

Mardi Gras Beads on a Tree

On our flight back to Columbus we had a delay of more than 1 ½ hours, which then resulted in us missing the one and only bus back to Athens on that day. Thankfully some really good friends from the GLC (Thanks Seth, Grace and Allison!) picked us up. Mission: Rescue the Germans accomplished!

I should probably also mention that spring has finally arrived in Athens (after Springbreak was over). Being able to sit on College Green, soaking up the sun and meanwhile reading for your classes really is worth something! I’m super excited to see Athens during springtime!