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Sunday, February 18, 2018

New Orleans (USA) - The Big Easy

NEW ORLEANS (USA)
18 February - 22 February 2018

In many ways the US is still haunted by what hurricane Katrina did to this town in 2005. The epic failures of Congress, the Bush Administration & the Federal Emergency Management Agency , exacerbated a situation that was already diabolical.  I truly remember as a kid,  watching Great Mysteries of the World on a Saturday afternoon and in one specific show, them singling out New Orleans as a disaster in waiting. Failure to secure New Orleans, to build in redundancies, meant that the soothsayers only needed to wait for aberration of Mother Nature, in the right location, to be able to say, ‘see, we told you so’. There’s 1800 people who lost their lives that wished, I’m sure, that some of the authorities could have taken notice earlier.

Communication failures, failures of proactive management, confusion, all led to a catastrophe of such wild proportions, in a country that prides itself on being the greatest, on being earnest, on supporting the weakest and being brave. It was a big old pile of American ‘fuck’ and they, even now, need to take ownership for their failure.  Who can ever forget the images of those poor people in the Louisiana Superdrome!? Acting initially as a refuge from the devastation, it turned into a hell hole of filth and abuse. There’s no amount of covering up that can deny that failure.


St Ann Street - Treme/Lafitte - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

St Ann Street - Treme/Lafitte - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA


French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Driving around some of the wards of New Orleans, the physical scars are obvious, but, the mental scars are much deeper. A predominantly African American population was hung out to dry here, and as racist and as white supremacist  as the US was, and still is, this level of incompetence, which while not deliberate, certainly typified the lo lack of urgency afforded to those in need because consciously they were aware that these people were only black. And whilst the US openly denies that, deep inside their soul they know it to be true.


French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA


Hard Rock Cafe -  Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA


Thirteen (13) years is a fair chunk of time between then and now. Not enough to make all the problems disappear, and not enough to hide all physical and mental scars. It has been enough however to get the spirit of New Orleans back, because more than anything now, these guys are determined and resilient.

The city has a heady mix of cultures and is a completely bewitching place. The most iconic area, and the one that all tourists are drawn to, is the French Quarter. It’s filigree cast-iron balconies tangled with ferns and fragrant jasmine are desperately gorgeous, and the mood is always fun in a hedonistic, laissez-faire type of way. The music, the parties and the gorgeous food are such draw cards, and the fun times run from dusk until dawn in both the French Quarter and the Marigny.


Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA


We stayed in an AirBnB on St Anne street, a few kilometres away from the French Quarter. In hindsight an error on our part as getting in and out of the area meant an Uber on each occasion. Also, somewhat unfortunately, during the last day in New York I was tagged by a bit of a cold that actually hit me fairly hard for the first two days in New Orleans, so much so that I spent most of that time on my back, trying to sleep off whatever it was that I had.

In the time I did have free with Inga we spent it mostly on Bourbon street, where, true as their word, the party raged non-stop.  A week after the famous mardi gras had been and gone, it seemed that most of the idea of recovery involved going out and reliving the entire experience. Bars were full, drinks were readily available and there was just no way that you could, or would want to escape the bar hopping expectation in this town.


Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

For me, probably the highlight was Frenchman Street in Marigny. This is an area known for its Cajun bistros,  bohemian bars, sidewalk musicians and jazz clubs.  A slow walk up the street would show the music identity of this city, it was a festival every night of the week, and that was just plain cool. I wish now that somehow I could have those sick days back because this is the area that I think we could have taken a bit more time.


Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA


On one of our days we managed to take a tour out onto the bayou. For those that don’t know, the bayou is a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying area, that can either have an extremely slow moving stream or river, containing mostly brackish water, which in itself attracts plenty of fish and plankton. For me there’s something intriguing and mysterious about this area. It reminds me, a whole lot in fact, of an area of Disneyland that I fell in love with as a kid – I recall them having rides that mimicked these areas, and relating those thoughts to reality I have to say that Disneyland did a mighty job.


The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA


New Orleans, a unique city for certain, with a melange of cultures and races that have come together to build this town and give it it’s heart, perhaps not quite in the easy going manner that you would expect, but easy enough to still live up to the well earned name of the Big Easy.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

New York (USA) - Work Train Fight

NEW YORK (USA)
13 February - 18 February 2018


There is literally an abundance of everything in New York, so much so that you can easily get confused as to what you should see, where you should go, when to eat, the cool places to drink, it's mind bending.


New York City - New York - USA

Grand Central Station - New York City - New York - USA

Grand Central Station - New York City - New York - USA

Grand Central Station - New York City - New York - USA

New York City - New York - USA

Lower West Side - New York City - New York - USA

Lower West Side - New York City - New York - USA


Lower West Side - New York City - New York - USA
Caviar, champagne and NYC


We would start our days on Broadway, in a boxing gym that had the banner Work Train Fight. I'd booked us in for personal training sessions for four (4) days of our stay which I think levelled our mindset and allowed us to deal with the pitfalls of travel. I say 'pitfalls' because they are to us, but they wouldn't be to your normal couple. As you may know, Inga & I have a fairly consistent gym regime, and when we're at home base maintaining the rage is easy within our established daily routine. The difficulties come when travelling. Being out of routine, not having gym access, wanting to eat and drink but feeling the guilt of overdoing things, it's a constant peril. If you've never been in that mindset then of course even thinking about this as being an issue would be nonsense, at the most you would probably say, 'oh come on, you're on holiday, get over it', but that line of reasoning would be like saying to a smoker, 'hey, you're on holiday, just forget about smoking for now'. The pull to do, to train and to be active is just that instilled in our psyche that when we have an opportunity like this, to actually get workouts done early in the day then our anxiety is sufficiently decreased for the rest of the day for us to enjoy whatever it brings.

Aside from Valentine's Day, which was a major day out, our next three days were still full of things to do and see. Here's a few more of our highlights during our time there.

Sleep No More - Located in the McKittrick Hotel, 530 West 27th, this is a site specific work of theatre based upon Shakespeares MacBeth. It's actually an immersive  style theatre in that the performance takes place all around you. The site, set across six floors, allows you to walk through each of the rooms/floors and have your own unique experience in the manner of your choosing.


Gallow Green - McKittrick Hotel - New York City - New York - USA


Sleep No More - McKittrick Hotel - New York City - New York - USA

Sleep No More - McKittrick Hotel - New York City - New York - USA


Being set in a dimly lit, moody, 1930's style establishment warehouse in Chelsea, each guest is required to wear a masquerade style mask as they progress through the rooms and take part in their own individual experience. It very much feels a little Eyes Wide Shut in terms of the entire escapade, both voyeuristic & intriguing.  The rooms all have their own style and the audience takes it in at their own pace, in their own manner, investigating and accepting their on singular experience.

For me personally I felt this was probably the highlight in New York, typifying what New York is about, engaging, stimulating, confronting, wonderful.


Sleep No More - McKittrick Hotel - New York City - New York - USA

Sleep No More - McKittrick Hotel - New York City - New York - USA


Sleep No More - McKittrick Hotel - New York City - New York - USA


The Accomplice - The Accomplice is Sleep No More except out on the streets of Lower Manhattan where you actually engage with the performers in formulating the experience. Part theatre, part walking tour, part treasure hunt, New York becomes the stage for this interactive theatre to play out.


Lower Manhattan - New York City - New York - USA

Lower Manhattan - New York City - New York - USA


On a certain day, at a certain location you're asked to meet a person. From there you're asked to follow a set of several clues, finding your way to bars, op shops, well known areas of SoHo, in a alternate universe in which anyone feels like they could be part of the set-up. In some ways it feels like the Michael Douglas movie, The Game. It's a pretty cool experience and a unique way to be guided around the city.

The Ride - Another interactive, immersive experience, this time led by drag queens. You gain access to a bus where you sit in a glass cabin, looking out onto the street. The bus then takes you on a 75 min interactive musical highlights tour of mid-town Manhattan, around Times Square but under Central Park. Stopping at several street locations street artists perform on the streets whilst the captive audience drinks away on the bus, enjoying the fun, frivolity and good humour of all that's going on around them



Midtown - New York City - New York - USA

'The Ride' - New York City - New York - USA

'The Ride' - New York City - New York - USA

'The Ride' - New York City - New York - USA

'The Ride' - New York City - New York - USA

'The Ride' - New York City - New York - USA


Of course New York was more than just the activities that we undertook, we also did a bit of walking around downtown and midtown, especially in the really cool areas of SoHo, East Village and West Village. For me, these areas were real highlights, cool, artsy, vibrant and bursting with funky bars that I'm certain would have so many speakeasies just waiting to be discovered. The city is just relentless when it comes to either doing things, having something to eat or drink, discovering, whatever the hell it may be. It really is a city that's switched on 24/7, which just makes for a completely engaging and at times exhausting town. And really, why should anyone confine themselves by the minutes or seconds on a clock, if people are about then why not service their wants and needs at whatever time they desire!?


Additionally we did do the standard Red double decker  bus tour, taking in a lot of Central Park and a bit of Harlem, where we took some time to have a few drinks and stick our head into the famous Apollo theatre.



All that you can leave behind
Thank you New York!


The problem with New York is that there is just way too much to see, experience and discover. We had four full days and felt like we hadn't even arrived. You would need to spend weeks here to get any sort of feel for a pocket of this place, to get into the swing of what it means to be a New Yorker. There's attitude, there's a collective vibe and it's 'full-time'. It's not even a place I'd like to come back to for a longer time, even though we probably will, its more a place that you need to live in to experience.


To you New York I say wow, you are indeed a very special place, unique and unchallenged in the space you occupy. Respect.