Jan 30
We decided to have a quiet day today, paying bills, running some errands, driving around New Orleans a bit to get a feel for the city. Then we returned home to make supper, and spent a quiet evening at home.

Our piece of New Orleans culture today was to have King Cake for dessert . The King Cake is found in many countries, usually associated with the Epiphany. We saw similar cakes in San Jose del Cabo when we were there in Jan, 2011. There they were called rosca de reyes, and they were eaten only on the day of the Epiphany.

In Louisiana, King Cake is found everywhere during Carnival & Mardi Gras, which runs from Ephiphany to Fat Tuesday. It takes its name from the biblical three kings who, in the Catholic church, visited the baby Jesus on the Epiphany (Jan 6).

Louisiana-style King Cake is a cinnamon-roll like cake with sugary icing and Mardi Gras colored sprinkles or sugar on top (Mardi Gras colours are green, purple and gold). A little plastic baby Jesus is placed in the cake or in the centre hole of the cake (kind of weird), and whoever finds it has special priviledges and obligations.

Jan 31
Brie & Ryan's flight left this morning at 7:50 am. Lorne was taking them to the airport . They are scheduled to get into Minneapolis at 10 am, then leave for their 13 hour flight to Tokyo at 1:20 pm. They arrive in Tokyo at 5:15 pm tomorrow, and then get to Bangkok, Thailand at 11:55 pm that nite. For this first leg in Bangkok (until Feb 7), they are staying at a hotel called Lamphu Tree House Boutique Hotel. Then they are off to Cambodia, Malaysia & Borneo.

They are away until March 2. We plan to be home in time to welcome them home at the airport. Maddex is staying with Bernie & Geri while they're gone.

Well, I think it rained here last nite, but it turned out to be a nice day with a high of 72 degrees. Since streetcars have been an integral part of the New Orleans' transportation system since the first half of the 19th century, we decided to ride the rails today. There are only three lines remaining in operation: St. Charles Avenue Line, the Riverfront Line, and the Canal Street Line.

The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St . Charles Avenue Streetcar, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world. Like the San Francisco Cable Cars, the St. Charles Streetcars have been declared national historic landmarks. They have been running along St. Charles Ave for over 165 years, and it is the only line that has operated continuously throughout New Orleans' streetcar history, although service was interrupted after
Hurrican Katrina in August 2005 and resumed only in part in December 2006.

We are a 10 minute walk to the Canal St Line, which goes by the New Orleans Museum of Art just down the street from us. We rode the Canal St Line to the edge of the French Quarter, then changed over to the Charles St Line to ride thru the incredible Garden District with its amazing houses/mansions.

When we returned home, we stopped and walked thru the famous above-ground St. Louis Cemetary No. 3 (also just down the street from us) . The cemetaries in New Orleans are also called "cities of the dead", because of the aisles of above-ground tombs. Apparently, the early settlers had trouble burying the dead due to the high water table. It was common for coffins to pop back out of the ground as they filled up with water.

Often several bodies from the same family are buried in the same tomb, stacked one of top of the other. We were amazed at the number of bodies buried in some tombs - there just wouldn't be enough room. However, according to a local ordinance, as long as the previously deceased family member has been dead for at least two years, the remains of that person can be moved to a specially made burial bag and put to the side or back of the vault.

So, changing the subject ... after the cemetary, we stopped at the local market and bought some fresh catfish, which we fried up for supper with Dirty Rice. We were very impressed with ourselves! ;o)