Adam's brekkie @ Cafe Angelina - Eggs Benedict
Gem's brekkie @ Cafe Angelina - some kind of french toast sculpture
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Apollo Theatre, Harlem
Harlem
Backpack with spray can compartments
Harlem
Harlem building
Us at Oceana Grill
Bourbon Street, New Orleans
Bourbon Street chaos
Hill-billy band, Bourbon Street
So...we've departed New York and arrived in New Orleans. Two very different places in both the atmosphere and the temperature! Let's backtrack to the weekend.
Friday night was great fun. We met up with one of Adam's friends, Eric, from the editing course and his girlfriend Crystal for some dinner and drinks. Starting at Lil Frankie's, an italian joint, in the East Village...we sat at the bustling bar and waited for a table. It was super busy. Once seated, we ordered a couple of wood-fired pizzas and pasta to share. Food was delicious...as usual. Seeing as I can't drink, I ordered a home-made chocolate mud cake for dessert. It was totally worth it! Next we moved onto a bar down the road right near our apartment (can't remember the name) and had a few more drinks. I couldn't believe it but we ended up leaving at 1am...I was really surprised I lasted that long! Eric and Crystal were great company and it was cool to hang out with some locals and make new friends.
Saturday we made our way out to Harlem to take some photos and check out the area again. We really enjoyed it last time we visited. We wandered up 125th Street (the main strip), grabbed a bite to eat and browsed some of the shops etc. Adam bought a pair of sneakers - was there any doubt he'd buy a pair up there? - and a t-shirt from a cool street vendor. Harlem has a great feel about it, plenty of characters and lots of soul. We headed on home after a couple of hours, ordered up our favourite thai food and settled in for the night....we had a lot of packing to do.
Sunday...our final day in New York. We were ready to leave the big city and experience some new places BUT we'll definitely miss it as well. After a trip to the gym, we grabbed a big breakfast at Cafe Angelina down the road from our apartment. Why didn't we discover this place earlier? Both our meals were delicious (photos above) and huge. Didn't need lunch after that! We packed up the last of our things, said goodbye to East Village and set off to the airport.
After a 3.5 hour flight, we landed in New Orleans. Apart from the airline losing our tripod (it's now been returned to us), it was nice to arrive in a new location. We got outside and stripped off our jackets and jumpers...it was beautiful, warm and balmy. Just how I like it! We waited in line for the taxi and heard the familiar aussie accent in front of us and the phrase "crikey". Adam and I smiled to each other...it's actually kind of odd hearing our accent amongst all of the american. We arrived at the hotel which is located in the French Quarter and just around the corner from Bourbon St. Feeling pretty tired, we ordered some room service and watched the Oscars from the comfort of a BIG king size bed. Joy!
This morning, we walked down to a place in the CBD called the Ruby Slipper and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. It was an overcast, cloudy day with spots of rain here and there but it felt so good to be walking outside in thongs, jeans and t-shirts. After polishing off some eggs and fresh OJ, we wandered through the French Quarter and admired a lot of the architecture and cafe's/restaurants. It's Mardi Gras next weekend so the shops are filled with feather boas, beads, costume stuff...bright colours everywhere.
After a restful afternoon, it was time to check out Bourbon Street. What a crazy place...hard to find the words really. It's an assault on all the senses. Music and smells coming from every bar and restaurant, neon signs everywhere and people of all sorts. It doesn't matter what night of the week it is, this place is a non-stop party. People fall out of one bar and into the next and you can drink on the street.
After a recommendation from the concierge, we tried a place called "Oceana Grill" for dinner. Again, we weren't disappointed. A starter of crab cakes followed by Chicken Aldredo pasta for Adam and Redfish and vegies for me. Adam also tried the local New Orleans drink called a 'hurricane' - white rum, dark rum and tropical juice. It went down a treat. Time to check out more of Bourbon Street and see what else we could find. Each bar has music blaring out of it...jazz, pop, blues etc. We then came across a great hill-billy band playing - an American version of The Kill Devil Hills! We stopped in for a drink and enjoyed the music. Then what happens? Of course, I get picked out of the crowd to take part in some kind of a routine that goes along with a song they play. I am not drinking and I am not keen...BUT....someone called Adam makes me go up there! I'm handed a rowing paddle and the music starts up. One of the band members grabs a few more people from the crowd and then we proceed to dance around the bar in a 'conga' style line while I do rowing moves with the paddle....oh..my..gosh. Haha! At first, I didn't realise it was a paddle and I had no idea what to do with this stick in my hand!? I eventually worked it out, got some rhythm and rowed my way around the place for the whole song with about 10 people following me. At first I was very embarrassed and then I got into it! Adam just sat back with the camera and had a laugh. Fun times and good memories.
Tomorrow we're hiring a car and heading out to visit the Katrina affected areas, the garden district and other parts of New Orleans.
Goodnight people...hope all is well back home. We'll update again for San Antonio :)
Lots of love
Gem and Ads xxx
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