Mardi Gras

We left Chicago at 9 pm on Friday and drove south. 18 hours later we got there. After experiencing a horrible 5-hour blizzard, the worst weather I’ve ever seen. Along the way I saw over 80 cars in the ditch. Around 2am, during the thick of the storm I even lost control of the car, causing the car to spin around 4 times before ending up in the ditch too. Luckily no one else was on the road at the time and neither us, nor the car were damaged.

New Orleans was GREAT!! The whole experience was really good. Not only Mardi Gras and all the parades and parties but the opportunity to see it from the local perspective. Ian, our host, (Chris’ friend whom I met 2 years ago in Berlin when he spent New Years at my place), was outstanding. He welcomed us with fresh crawfish and shrimp and introduced us to all his friends and roommates; all GREAT people.


Even the dogs in the south are nicer…

We went to at least one parade everyday and unlike in Germany were they throw candy out of the floats, in New Orleans they throw beats and all sort of different objects; like stuffed animals, cups, footballs and baseballs, but mainly A LOT of beats. Ian made clear that the main point of Mardi Gras was to get as much stuff as possible and so we did.


I tried all sort of southern specialties; all of which were absolutely delicious. Jambalaya, red beans n’ rice, po-boys, gumbo, turtle soup, pecan pralines, crawfish, Cajun and Creole recipes. And LOTS of king cake, which is only for Mardi Gras and has a little baby inside and who ever gets it has to buy the next cake.

The city it self is awesome too. A great mixture, just the way I like it. Strongly influenced by the French, mixed together with touches of Spanish architecture and the flavor of the Caribbean all reflected on the Americans. The people couldn’t be nicer… everyone says hello and exchange smiles, which is one of the things that I miss a lot about my country. The coffee for a change was delicious, strong, just like at home.
It was a great experience. One more place of this country that I visit and fall in love with.
I could never thank Ian enough for such a good weekend and for being an excellent host.



HERE are more pics!!!