New Orleans

Here are photos from my time in New Orleans.

It was a really beautiful town. There is some damage still left from Katrina, though this is mainly (and sadly) only in the poorer districts further away from the touristy areas.

Some Floridians I spoke to seemed to think that New Orleans was a dangerous place, presumably because they remember seeing so much looting and crime just after Katrina. It's very sad that they think this because they're totally wrong. New Orleans was very safe and friendly (though a bit raucous obviously!).

First some pics of the amazing architecture. Most of these were taken in the French Quarter (although actually only houses from the Spanish occupation remain - it's complicated).

Some random pics of the city:

 This was one of the highlights: I went to a small out of the way bar to see the Tremé brass band:

The cemeteries in New Orleans are really interesting. Because so much of it is below the water line, they can't bury bodies in the ground. Instead, bodies are interred in above ground concrete boxes. The bodies decompose in these boxes and the remains (bones) fall through holes in the bottom. So, each one can have dozens of people buried!

Music is obviously a big part of N.O. This is the Louis Armstrong park: a park which also houses several performing arts schools.

Some random pics.

 

Reconstruction is still going on after Katrina. Here is a house which was damaged. The blue markings on the wall are from the search and rescue groups to say they've checked the house. The reason it's taking so long to repair all these is actually because so many people have just upped and left N.O. Many of these people didn't have insurance, but technically still own the property. The city is now issuing ultimatums for many of these derelicts: if the owners don't repair them then the city will demolish the houses and sell off the lot.

 

And finally, this really made me laugh.

During the Civil War, N.O., along with the rest of Louisiana, ceded from the US and joined the Confederacy. This statue, raised several years before the war, was of the famous Southerner, President Andrew Jackson (not alive during the civil war). Anyway, when N.O. was recaptured by the Union, the governor, one Benjamin Butler, added to the statue the moniker "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved". i.e., "Up yours New Orleans!". What a douche bag.

Interestingly, that extra bit is much fainter than the name of Andrew Jackson. I wonder if this is deliberate?