Winterbreak - Christmas in Miami and meeting my parents (Week 18)

After a short stop in Tallahassee (the capital of Florida), where we stayed because we couldn't go by bus to Miami at once, we arrived in Miami Beach at December, 23rd. The weather was really nice, it was about 30°C and I obviously had to swim in the sea that day. We also went to the South Point Park, where you have a nice view of Miami Beach.

At December 24th, we went on a day-trip to Key West. We departed really early in the morning and it took us about 4 hours to go there and we went over about 43 bridges, including the famous 7-miles bridge. In Key West I decided to do parasailing, and I had a really nice view over all the little islands besides Key West. After this we had some good burgers and visited the lighthouse museum and the southernmost point of continental U.S. After we came back, we spent Christmas Eve at our hotel, where we played some Christmas songs and made us some pasta.

On the December 25th, which is the real Christmas Day for Americans, we spent the day at the beach until around 2pm and went to Lincoln Road, a street with a lot of restaurants and shops and also to Espanola Way where there is also a lot of around.

At the morning of the next day, I did a tour to the Everglades, which included an Airboat ride, as well as a Gator Show. The Airboat tour was really fun, but I was a little bit disappointed because I only saw the eyes of one alligator... At the Gator Show, it was shown how to catch an alligator, what was pretty interesting and I could also hold a baby alligator afterwards.

At the evening I went to the hotel, where my parents were staying for the rest of their round trip in Florida. They arrived at around 6pm and I was really glad to see them again. I also spent the next two days with them, mostly at the beach, where we went swimming (the weather was really nice, 27 - 30°C) :D.

Over all Miami was awesine - when I arrived I really felt like the typical holidays at the sea in summer - the tropical air smell and the really high temperatures (and that in December!). Also meeting my parents was really nice and I really was looking forward to that for a long time. Next stop San Francisco B-) !!!

Winterbreak - New Orleans (Week 17)

At Tuesday (December 16th) we caught our bus to New Orleans. It took about six and a half hours. The hostel, where we stayed was this time not that great - everything was really fine except our bedroom - we shared a messy room with 12 other people and it was pretty cold inside.

Except from the hostel the first day was really nice - we went to Bourbon Street, the most famous street of the French Quarter with a lot of bars, where they play great live music (Jazz, Blues, Reggea, ...). We also met Denny again (the guy we met in Houston) and went to a nice bar/club where an awesome jazz band was playing.

On Wednesday (our second day) we went to Jackson Square and visited the St. Louis Cathedral. Furthermore, we went around in French Quarter and visited a Voodoo Shop and the Louis Armstrong Park. After a little break at the famous Cafe Du Monde, where we had some Beigneits (French Doughnuts, which are somewhat comparable with the Austrian Schürfel, we listened to some live jazz and spent a nice evening with some other international travelers at the hostel (I met the first Austrian there, while I am in the US, also an exchange student, who is traveling around).

The next day we visited some of the famous New Orleans Cemeteries. We also went to the Garden District, a neighborhood where there are a lot of nice looking old houses, with beautiful arranged gardens. After we had some Poboys (some typical sandwiches of New Orleans), we visited the Mardi Gras Museum and went again to a little park, where they played live music. At night we went out, with the people we met the day before, to Frenchmen Street, where there is a little bit better music than in Bourbon Street. We went to "The Spotted Cat", a club where they played really nice jazz.

At Friday, our last day, we planned to do a Voodoo Tour, but as it heavily rained and stormed we just decided to stay at our hostel and played games with other guests and went out again to Frenchmen Street at night.

Another thing I'd like to mention: there were a lot of homeless people in the city and they kept telling me that they'd know where I bought my shoes and I have absolutely no clue why :). Over all I liked New Orleans a lot - the most thing I liked about it was the live music. It was also really cool to meet so many people from different countries (including two Austrians) and go out with them.