Tours and Tastings

Outer Journey 

It was a bit chilly and windy this morning here in New Orleans and we had a day full of tours planned from 9am till 5 pm. Me and four other girls decided that we were going to take an uber to the cemetery tour where we were meeting everyone. Our feet and bodies were aching from all of the walking we did the day before. It was nice to take in the sights as we had someone driving us to our destination. On the cemetery tour I was surprised to see how many of the tombs were decaying and crumbling with age. We did see some new tombs being rebuilt and brought back to their original colors. The cemetery had a very unique look and was nothing like I had ever seen before. The tombs were all above ground and many were decaying and weathered. The tombs were mostly white and gray, and some had been weathered down to their bricks. We also saw a lot of newer tombs that belonged to people who were not dead yet but who were preparing to die. Overall, the feeling the cemetery gave off was very interesting and not as creepy as I imagined.










On the cuisine tour It was such a fun experience to try different foods and dishes I normally would not try. The first place we stopped was called Tujagues restaurant I had the most delicious fried green tomato. It was crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside and came with and cocktail sauce for dipping. It was a small corner bar that holds a lot of history and even several ghost stories. This was something I have never had before, and it was so yummy. Another dish that really stuck out to me was the seafood gumbo this is something I have never had before, but it was a very hearty and flavorful dish that had many different types of seafood in it. On the cuisine tours we had the opportunity to see and experience so much history, flavors, and different types of cooking styles here in NOLA.


Below is the link to one of the most famous restaurants we have gotten to visit now. Once for out cuisine tour and once for the ghost tour.


https://tujaguesrestaurant.com/

Inner Journey


Today was a day of tours, tastings, and learning about the city. I took so much away from each and everything we did today. I had several things that I could spend hours writing about, but I think the things I enjoyed the most were the cemetery tour, the cuisine tour, and seeing the architecture in the French quarter, so pretty much the whole day. Before coming to New Orleans, I did not know that their cemeteries placed the deceased body in vaults/tombs that are above the ground. They do this because of the water levels and the flooding would wash the bodies away. Another reason was to help the decomposition of the bodies. The tombs heat up in the sun which cremate the bodies on the inside. I learned that many people were buried in one grave and families will places all of their loved ones together. The cemetery had a very old and run-down look to many of its parts which made the tombs look kind of spooky but also so beautiful. I think that this cemetery tour really got me thinking of how the city views death as more of a celebration of life than a mourning. Our tour guide explained that families that have loved ones in the cemeteries will visit their graves once a year to celebrate and share memories as well as fix up the tombs. We also went to the French Quarter and learned a lot about the architecture and why the houses were built the way they were. Overall, I took so much away from all the tours, but I learned a lot about why certain cultures embrace certain ways of life as well as why things were built or done certain ways.





One of the houses in the French Quarter

Arrival and first experiences in NOLA

Outer Journey

Arriving in New Orleans has been eventful so far and I have had so much to look and take in. For me I feel that I started to get excited when I noticed the scenery around me on the train as we approached NOLA. We were surrounded by water and swamp land that was flooded. This is a sight I have never seen before. The trees were covered in moss and the plants and vegetation were much different than we have back home. I started to see some palm tree looking plants and a lot of beautiful trees. Once we arrived at the train station, I immediately noticed the colorful paintings the walls. There was excitement in people waiting to claim their bags and get to their destinations. Once we walked out of the train station I was greeted by some beautiful palm trees and some more rain. Me and my friends took an Uber to our hotel. The driver was a woman who has lived in New Orleans for her who life. She was so nice and offered us help to load and unload the car as well as give us travel tips. Once we arrived at the hotel and checked in, we were ready to shower and change so we could get to dinner and out ghost tour on time. We had gotten pretty soaked as well as our bags from standing in the rain so it was nice to get into dry cloths. At 5 pm we met up with the rest of our class and began our walk to the French Quarter. The sights were beautiful, and I was excited to see all of the shops and architecture that was around me. I was expecting it to be louder than it was however, it was raining so I do not think as many people were out. We did get to experience one parade that came through while we were on our ghost tour, but we did not see to many street performers yet. I did however see a lot of homeless people and their pets which breaks my heart. We also had several people try and come up to our group asking for money or selling stuff.


Taking the first views of New Orleans in was exciting and overwhelming a bit. I have been very excited to see the French Quarter and it was just how I pictured it. Really it was even more beautiful in person. We got a chance to see so much including Jackson square, the St. Louis cathedral, the Cabildo, many shops and restaurants. There were many people in the square and I saw many tours taking place throughout the night. We ended our night eating a wonderful dinner at Original Pierre Maspero’s and I had Blackened red fish with pasta which was very good. It was a smaller restaurant and had a very cozy feeling to it. The food was extremely good, and I figured it would be as you could smell it down the block. Lastly, we ended our night with a really fun walking ghost tour and history tour. Our tour guide was so fun and lively, and she explained to us how haunted New Orleans really is and why. I think this was a really interesting way to not only take in some fascinating history but also to view the city differently than I normally would have if I came alone.









This is the first sight that greeted me when I got out of the train station loved the street car in the background as well








Blackened redfish that I had for dinner.

Inner

I have had such great opportunities so far and taken in so much. I have learned a lot about New Orleans by just looking around today and also through the ghost tour we went on. I had so many nerves coming into this trip and I feel like I was able to finally relax once we made it to the train station and got to check into our hotel. It was so nice to freshen up and take a shower before heading to get dinner and orient ourselves with the city. I think by the time dinner rolled around everyone was getting hangry and just needed to eat some good food. I learned that I should have brought more food to eat on the train as I did not really eat anything for the entire 16-hour train ride beside some granola bars. Something I have found unique to this city so far is how nice everyone has been. I really have enjoyed all of the helpful advice and tips I have received from kind people along the way. As well as tips from our teachers like not to engage when people when they come to you asking for money. I think that I took away a lot of good restaurant ideas just from talking with the few locals I have met. Our uber driver told us several places to try and why the locals choose them. As our night came to an end and the ghost tour was over me and four other students decided to go to cafe du monde before returning back to the hotel and it was amazing. The beignets were as good as I had hoped for and I was so excited to check it off the list of things I really wanted to do while here. Overall, I think that I had a very successful first day in NOLA.







St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square







Hot Bennetts from cafe du monde, Yumm!