OK I’m on honeymoon, so this post is pieced together from
emails sent home over the last week and a bit. We left Dublin at an unholy hour
on Sat 11th August, arriving in New Orleans round about 8:30pm their
time. That was about 20hrs of travelling, just by the way…………
New Orleans was fantastic. We had a ball there. We have
postcards but they've not been posted yet (this was the day after we left New
Orleans and here we are 6days later and the postcards still aren’t posted!!), and I managed to snag the fridge magnet.
People were so friendly down there. Everyone saying hello as you pass them on
the street. A lot of the time we spent wandering around, just seeing where our
feet would take us and we saw a few real gems.
In looking for Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park (the park cos it has a lovely statue commemorating Louis Armstrong, the square cos it was where the slaves were allowed to hold what the white man apparently thought were Voodoo Religious Rituals and the blacks thought were parties) we came across a church dedicated to St Jude. Never saw a church dedicated to St Jude before. Then it turned out that it used to be a major Voodoo-related church dedicated to Our Lady of Guadeluape. Made it even more interesting, but the art work inside was fabulous - it looked like the South American churches do on the telly. And I got Al in there easily enough cos all the churches in New Orleans are air-conditioned!
We also passed some of the ruins that are still left over from Katerina. That's sad - there're still strips of wallpaper hanging off the insides of what used to be people's homes. The French Quarter wasn't effected - it's the highest ground in the whole area at 10 full feet above sea level! The ghost tour was very interesting. More of a good historical tour with ghost stories mixed in. I've brought home details of the company cos when ye go to New Orleans ye'll want to go on this one. It's on at 8pm so you're out of the sun and speaking to the hotel staff afterwards, it's the tour they get the most positive feedback from.
The music in new Orleans is amazing. the best jazz we heard was an old man on the street with a saxophone. Wasn't busking or anything, just sitting there in the evening, with his pint beside him, playing away to his heart's content. In New Orleans you're allowed to drink on the street so a lot of people congregate in what's called Jackson Square in front of the cathedral. A lot of the fortune tellers and tarot card readers and things are there as well. We met a lovely lady called Sky who did my tarot cards - only a bit of fun, but for the entertainment factor alone it was worth $20!
One place to avoid in the French Quarter is Bourbon Street. it's like the worst elements of Temple Bar made worse still! We were there on a 'quiet time' and I still wouldn't go into a lot of those places. But away from there, there are a lot of 'local' bars where people are happy to sit and talk and share stories, correct the tour guides, give advice on where to go - it was great. We were saying as we left that we could easily have spent the two full weeks there! We didn't even go on a proper graveyard tour or a plantation tour or anything cos we ran out of time. It's was a great start to the holidays.
In looking for Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park (the park cos it has a lovely statue commemorating Louis Armstrong, the square cos it was where the slaves were allowed to hold what the white man apparently thought were Voodoo Religious Rituals and the blacks thought were parties) we came across a church dedicated to St Jude. Never saw a church dedicated to St Jude before. Then it turned out that it used to be a major Voodoo-related church dedicated to Our Lady of Guadeluape. Made it even more interesting, but the art work inside was fabulous - it looked like the South American churches do on the telly. And I got Al in there easily enough cos all the churches in New Orleans are air-conditioned!
We also passed some of the ruins that are still left over from Katerina. That's sad - there're still strips of wallpaper hanging off the insides of what used to be people's homes. The French Quarter wasn't effected - it's the highest ground in the whole area at 10 full feet above sea level! The ghost tour was very interesting. More of a good historical tour with ghost stories mixed in. I've brought home details of the company cos when ye go to New Orleans ye'll want to go on this one. It's on at 8pm so you're out of the sun and speaking to the hotel staff afterwards, it's the tour they get the most positive feedback from.
The music in new Orleans is amazing. the best jazz we heard was an old man on the street with a saxophone. Wasn't busking or anything, just sitting there in the evening, with his pint beside him, playing away to his heart's content. In New Orleans you're allowed to drink on the street so a lot of people congregate in what's called Jackson Square in front of the cathedral. A lot of the fortune tellers and tarot card readers and things are there as well. We met a lovely lady called Sky who did my tarot cards - only a bit of fun, but for the entertainment factor alone it was worth $20!
One place to avoid in the French Quarter is Bourbon Street. it's like the worst elements of Temple Bar made worse still! We were there on a 'quiet time' and I still wouldn't go into a lot of those places. But away from there, there are a lot of 'local' bars where people are happy to sit and talk and share stories, correct the tour guides, give advice on where to go - it was great. We were saying as we left that we could easily have spent the two full weeks there! We didn't even go on a proper graveyard tour or a plantation tour or anything cos we ran out of time. It's was a great start to the holidays.
Well we rocked into Vegas last night (now about 4days ago…..)
at a bout 6:30pm their time. To me it felt like half 8 but never mind. We had a
quick nap and then went downstairs to the casino.
First off this room is amazing!!! Apparently it's their 'standard' room but it is massive. I fell in love with the bathroom alone! (Separate shower which I've never had in a hotel before) a bath so deep I could swim in it if I were shorter, acres of space in there. And the bed is the height of my hip and about as wide as two doubles........
The casino bit is plain scary at first - it's just so bewildering. We had a good walk around last night for a few hours and I got a massive margarita (it took me 3 of Al's beers to drink it all). You have everyone from tourists in shorts and T-shirts, women who we strongly suspected were prostitutes dressed in..... well I always thought Pretty Woman got it wrong, but apparently not......to people in full evening dress, tuxes, evening dresses, the lot!!
Anyway, I came to bed about midnight but Al was out for another 3 hours after that. Woke me up coming in saying he was sorry. Got me in a right panic, he looked really ashamed - I thought he caught the gambling bug or something. Turned out he was sorry he'd gotten sucked into the casino for so long. No gambling, but he did get propositioned by what he said was a prostitute that looked like she could've been one of his students. Once he had spent 5mins or so going on about the guitar he had seen in the window she wandered off to look for easier prey. I had to laugh. Only Al would be approached like that and try to give the girl a lesson on the history of famous guitars...............
Vegas is living up to its reputation though. I'm off to the spa in a few minutes to sign up for a manicure and pedicure while Al is still asleep. I just watched the sun come up over the desert from the hotel - it's on the edge of town and the views were gorgeous, but sunrise is so quick. No more that 5mins between full dark and daylight! (well full dark by Vegas standards......lot of bright light around here)
(new email now!!)
Well to finish off what I was telling Mam about Vegas - we went to see a show called Peepshow. It was a dance based on nursery rhymes. Sounded good and since it was Vegas we weren't really expecting something you could bring a priest to, but this was way beyond what we were expecting! The woman-in-charge was very funny and they really were athletic dancers - some of the stunts they pulled were amazing - trapeze artists, gymnasts, all sorts, really amazing and they made the audience laugh a lot. very enjoyable once one learned to practice selective seeing........
Plus the hotel allowed us to keep the keycards as a souvenir!
Al managed to avoid getting propositioned again which was probably just as well. He was in enough shock after the first time! We were getting really annoyed with people in the check out queue - they seemed to be arguing every item on their bill. We on the other hand, once we managed to get to the desk, were done in about 3 seconds, seeing as how we hadn't put anything on the bill. Makes life so much easier!
The journey to San Fran was probably the least strenuous yet. United Airlines don't charge for putting bags in the hold and we managed to get an exit row seat which was lovely. Only an hour and 20min flight though, so hardly enough time to get comfortable!!
The hotel in San Fran is lovely. They upgraded our room, gave us a free bottle of wine and signed us up for their rewards program cos we are on honeymoon. The room isn't as spectacular as Vegas, but then, what is? It's a lovely room, although they appear to think that double beds need to be the width of the Shannon over here. It's a good job it's summer and we're not depending on body heat!
We went to Alcatraz yesterday and I got badly burnt. Since I was wearing factor 90 sunscream, I think it was wind burn, but either way, I have one hell of a farmer's tan going on now. Alcatraz was brilliant. We spent ~ 2 hrs there which was just enough to get around comfortably. There's a 45mins guided cell block audio tour - they give you head phones and you can stop and go as you please -which was really well done. We got a lot of pictures there. It's a beautiful island - apparently the guards and the officers (and their families) brought over soil to plant flowers and trees to brighten the place up - imagine being assigned somewhere where you have to bring your own soil??? They did an amazing job though. The little pathside gardens are gorgeous.
The cells were scary. the normal cells were 6' x 9' and the isolation cells something like 6' x6'. Isolation could mean you were in complete darkness for most of the day. Tough regime - even being allowed out of your cell was a privilege to be earned! I've got some fridge magnets for ye from there.
It's a real shame they haven't taken proper care of the buildings, there're some really fine example of architecture there and you can see how glorious they must have been in their heyday, but now they're crumbling to ruins. Some small steps are being taken - a lot of work being done on the water tower and the cell blocks are being maintained to some degree.
Today we're planning on bus tours all day. well, that's the plan once I get Al out of bed anyway. That bed is far too comfy for him!!
Have managed to find a few churches around here as well - the closest one has mass at 1pm and 5pm. Unless I get Al up soon, it will be the 5pm one I go to. I just hope it's a little more reasonable that the New Orleans one!
Anyway, tomorrow we pick up the car and head to Napa Valley for the wine tours, then on to Yosemite Park for two days. Since Al doesn't have his driving licence with him - he needed to send it to one of the agencies before the wedding and they didn't get it back to him on time - yours truly will be driving. Hoping to be able to sneak out of the city in a quiet time cos once we leave the city, it's mostly country roads we're on........
(and this is the email that hasn’t been sent yet!!)
First off this room is amazing!!! Apparently it's their 'standard' room but it is massive. I fell in love with the bathroom alone! (Separate shower which I've never had in a hotel before) a bath so deep I could swim in it if I were shorter, acres of space in there. And the bed is the height of my hip and about as wide as two doubles........
The casino bit is plain scary at first - it's just so bewildering. We had a good walk around last night for a few hours and I got a massive margarita (it took me 3 of Al's beers to drink it all). You have everyone from tourists in shorts and T-shirts, women who we strongly suspected were prostitutes dressed in..... well I always thought Pretty Woman got it wrong, but apparently not......to people in full evening dress, tuxes, evening dresses, the lot!!
Anyway, I came to bed about midnight but Al was out for another 3 hours after that. Woke me up coming in saying he was sorry. Got me in a right panic, he looked really ashamed - I thought he caught the gambling bug or something. Turned out he was sorry he'd gotten sucked into the casino for so long. No gambling, but he did get propositioned by what he said was a prostitute that looked like she could've been one of his students. Once he had spent 5mins or so going on about the guitar he had seen in the window she wandered off to look for easier prey. I had to laugh. Only Al would be approached like that and try to give the girl a lesson on the history of famous guitars...............
Vegas is living up to its reputation though. I'm off to the spa in a few minutes to sign up for a manicure and pedicure while Al is still asleep. I just watched the sun come up over the desert from the hotel - it's on the edge of town and the views were gorgeous, but sunrise is so quick. No more that 5mins between full dark and daylight! (well full dark by Vegas standards......lot of bright light around here)
(new email now!!)
Well to finish off what I was telling Mam about Vegas - we went to see a show called Peepshow. It was a dance based on nursery rhymes. Sounded good and since it was Vegas we weren't really expecting something you could bring a priest to, but this was way beyond what we were expecting! The woman-in-charge was very funny and they really were athletic dancers - some of the stunts they pulled were amazing - trapeze artists, gymnasts, all sorts, really amazing and they made the audience laugh a lot. very enjoyable once one learned to practice selective seeing........
Plus the hotel allowed us to keep the keycards as a souvenir!
Al managed to avoid getting propositioned again which was probably just as well. He was in enough shock after the first time! We were getting really annoyed with people in the check out queue - they seemed to be arguing every item on their bill. We on the other hand, once we managed to get to the desk, were done in about 3 seconds, seeing as how we hadn't put anything on the bill. Makes life so much easier!
The journey to San Fran was probably the least strenuous yet. United Airlines don't charge for putting bags in the hold and we managed to get an exit row seat which was lovely. Only an hour and 20min flight though, so hardly enough time to get comfortable!!
The hotel in San Fran is lovely. They upgraded our room, gave us a free bottle of wine and signed us up for their rewards program cos we are on honeymoon. The room isn't as spectacular as Vegas, but then, what is? It's a lovely room, although they appear to think that double beds need to be the width of the Shannon over here. It's a good job it's summer and we're not depending on body heat!
We went to Alcatraz yesterday and I got badly burnt. Since I was wearing factor 90 sunscream, I think it was wind burn, but either way, I have one hell of a farmer's tan going on now. Alcatraz was brilliant. We spent ~ 2 hrs there which was just enough to get around comfortably. There's a 45mins guided cell block audio tour - they give you head phones and you can stop and go as you please -which was really well done. We got a lot of pictures there. It's a beautiful island - apparently the guards and the officers (and their families) brought over soil to plant flowers and trees to brighten the place up - imagine being assigned somewhere where you have to bring your own soil??? They did an amazing job though. The little pathside gardens are gorgeous.
The cells were scary. the normal cells were 6' x 9' and the isolation cells something like 6' x6'. Isolation could mean you were in complete darkness for most of the day. Tough regime - even being allowed out of your cell was a privilege to be earned! I've got some fridge magnets for ye from there.
It's a real shame they haven't taken proper care of the buildings, there're some really fine example of architecture there and you can see how glorious they must have been in their heyday, but now they're crumbling to ruins. Some small steps are being taken - a lot of work being done on the water tower and the cell blocks are being maintained to some degree.
Today we're planning on bus tours all day. well, that's the plan once I get Al out of bed anyway. That bed is far too comfy for him!!
Have managed to find a few churches around here as well - the closest one has mass at 1pm and 5pm. Unless I get Al up soon, it will be the 5pm one I go to. I just hope it's a little more reasonable that the New Orleans one!
Anyway, tomorrow we pick up the car and head to Napa Valley for the wine tours, then on to Yosemite Park for two days. Since Al doesn't have his driving licence with him - he needed to send it to one of the agencies before the wedding and they didn't get it back to him on time - yours truly will be driving. Hoping to be able to sneak out of the city in a quiet time cos once we leave the city, it's mostly country roads we're on........
(and this is the email that hasn’t been sent yet!!)
So we had a nice relaxing day today. Went on two bus tours –
one for the downtown area and the other for a night time tour that takes in
some of the areas the other tours missed. A lot of sightseeing but nowhere near
as many photos as there were in Alcatraz.
San Fransisco is a strange enough city. Everything seems really close, but is miles away from each
other! I went for a wander down Taylor Street today looking for the theatre
that was playing Les Miserables. I
found it alright, but it wasn’t showing tonight :( On the other hand I had a
ride on the BART which was fun. The bottom end of Taylor Street felt really
dodgy though. Gangs on street corners smoking something that definitely wasn’t
tobacco, people wandering around looking dazed and confused and a LOT of street
people. San Fran is the only place yet we’ve been this trip that there have
been a significant number of noticeable street people. They’re everywhere. I
suppose in Vegas they’re moved on pretty quickly and I can’t imagine why anyone
would move to the wet blanket that is New Orleans, but San Fran is a more
moderate climate and the city is large enough to lose oneself in.
I went trying to find a bookshop today around Union Square
and was shocked I couldn’t do it. I normally have a sixth sense for these
things. Never mind, have just checked on the net and there are actually some
bookshops in the city, although the number is diminishing from what I can tell
from discussions on the net. It’s sad, that. Never good to see a bookshop
closing.
Anyway, tomorrow we’re off to Napa Valley. Rumour has it
there are one or two vineyards round there. Should be nice and relaxing anyway.
I’m finding myself exhausted by 9pm local time, so maybe the last few weeks are
finally catching up with me. So, I’m going to drag my darling new husband to
bed now and see what we can find to do to warm us both up……cold spell just came
in and even two Bailey’s Hot Chocolates aren’t working……
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