First Night in New Orleans

                At last we arrived in our destination.  From the minute we stepped off the train I came into the realization I was in a whole another world.  A world filled with color, life, manners, and culture.  My first assumption of New Orleans was not wrong.  Right when we walked into the train station the wall was covered with beautiful, colorful and unique artwork.  A group of us decided to take a taxi to the hotel due to our large amounts of luggage which to our surprise was very inexpensive.  Our taxi driver was extremely friendly and helpful with our luggage which was something I was not expecting.  I have been in many cabs where they were more annoyed with a large group and their luggage so I was not expecting any different here.   The staff at the hotel was very friendly and the lobby area was clean and well put together.  The room provided enough room for me and my classmates to store our luggage and sleep.  It wasn’t necessarily the cleanest hotel I have stayed at but the friendly staff made up for it.  Hallie called down to the desk to get extra sheets, pillows and blankets for the pull out couch.  They brought up the linens surprising quick.  We all felt pretty slimly after the long travel so we all showered and got ready to meet our instructors and classmates down in the lobby.  We took the street car to the French Quarter which was a fun experience because I have never been on a street car before.  It was a quick and cheap way to travel within the city.
                The French Quarter did not disappoint.  The culture, color, people, music, and life that I always thought New Orleans would be, was there in full force.  There was such a diverse population wondering around the streets that it was truly mesmerizing.   Much to my surprise, the French Quarter was much smaller than I had anticipated; I think we were told 10 blocks by 12 blocks.  While I was in the French Quarter, we ate dinner at a charming restaurant called the Original Pierre Maspero’s.  Like I said in a previous post, I recently went to Rhode Island.  While I was there I wanted to try new food which ended up not setting well with my stomach.  Though I was scared to try new food, I ordered a sample platter of entrées I have never tried before.  I split this meal with another classmate and we had the same feelings of the foods.  The jambalaya was amazing, the gumbo was salty and I am not even 100 % sure what the third item was but it was definitely different than anything I have eaten before.  For dessert, I decided to play it safe and try the cheesecake which was awesome.  For the amount of food we were given and wonderful service we received, I would definitely return to the Original Pierre Maspero’s.                Once we were finished with dinner, we ventured to Pirate’s Alley to meet with Denise, out ghost tour guide.  Denise was full of life, educated about the city, the history, the culture, the food, and all the gossip that may or may not have been true.  I am not much of a believer of ghost, spirits and all that stuff but my mother is a firm believer so I was excited to see if I could be persuaded to think otherwise.  We were taught about a pirate who married a woman while he was in jail but when he got out of jail she was gone.  He was one of the many individuals she told us about who pretty much died of a broken heart.  We heard many instances of hauntings and spirits who refuse to leave certain landmarks within the French Quarter.  The one story that could have influenced me to become a believer was that of a wealthy woman who was married three times.  This woman had many slaves in which starved and tortured.  The woman was so demented she would cut open the stomachs of her slaves so she could play with their intestines and other organs.  Denise said she was thought to have killed 71 people.  She was eventually caught but was able to buy the silence of the people who knew the truth about her.  As rumor has it, the house where she tortured and killed her slaves remains haunted and anyone who has owned the house has been cursed with bad luck; Nicholas Cage being one of them.  The picture below is that of her house.  If you look at the picture closely (because it was dark and my flash was being stubborn so it is not the best picture) there is what Denise called an orb.  Look for the white circle in the top right.  Also, if you look at the second window on the very top, the window is covered unlike the others.  That is the room in which she changed up her slaves and tortured them.