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The last day we went to explore the swamps. New Orleans is known for its vast swamp areas and are full of mysterious stories. Again we signed up on a tour with a group. We met in French Quarter and took a bus for about 40 min out from town. When we arrived, there was a boat waiting to take us on the tour. The boat took us around the jungle-like vegetation and the guide told us about the animals and the culture around the swamp. It was very beautiful and definitely worth too see.



When we got back to our little Indian hostel we had to hurry up and take our bags, cause our plane was leaving in two hours. The trip back to Stockholm was pretty calm and we slept most of the way.

Now where home again in one piece and looking at the pictures from our trip.

New Orleans

At Saturday in Miami we had to find a new hostel. I found one on the main land witch wasn't too expensive where we slept for two nights. It had the classic baby-blue balconies and palm trees outside. We spent the remaining time mostly chilling out on the beach and looking around in different stores for cool souvenirs.
Meanwhile I booked a flight to New Orleans.

New Orleans is a city in the state of Louisiana. I wanted us to go there because it's known to be the capital of Jazz.

We left to the airport on Monday afternoon after having pancakes (again) in the hostel cafe. The flight only took 2 hrs and was surprisingly cheap. Only $150 for both of us.

So later that afternoon we arrived in at the New Orleans International Airport. I had booked a hostel in Mid-City - witch is where it sounds, for two nights. It was a crazy looking hostel called India House Backpackers Hostel. And inside it was a very nice atmosphere.



The weather was great that day so we went and left our louggage at the hostel and then took a walk to find a restaurant. We walked around in Mid-City and found a place called "Snug Harbor" witch was a classic New Orleans restaurant with pictures of musicians hanging on the walls, very similar to the club "Fashing" in Stockholm. We took the Baked Idaho Potatoes with mushrooms. Really tasty!



The next day we went to see the New Orleans Museum of Art. There was an exhibition about glass made by Jack M. Sawyer. Witch was not too interesting but worth to see. I'm not the biggest fan of vases and such but anyway they looked nice.



Later on we checked out a bit of tourist information and found out that there was a "voodoo tour" in the French Quarter. So we signed up and met with the group at 4.00 pm in a voodoo shop. First the group headed to the St. Louis cemetery, witch is the oldest in town. They told us the history of voodoo practice and about queen Marie Laveau, who had a big influence on integrating the voodoo culture in New Orleans. The tour ended up in a voodoo temple.

Miami

We arrived late Thursday night at south beach, Miami. It was so nice that the climate is warm cause I'm getting tired of the snow and winter. Maybe it wasn't the best Miami weather when we landed because of the storms but became better and better. It wasn't too difficult to find the hostel but we were pretty tired so we fell asleep a soon as we got home.
The next day we contacted Elin who was in Miami with her family. We took the subway back to the main land an met with Elin at the 18th street cafe. There she was and we were all happy that we actually met here in Miami. We sat down at the cafe and ate a sandwich and a soup. We hadn't eaten anything since we landed so we were starved.
Elin had the brilliant idea that we should go and see some dolphins at the Dolphin Harbor. It was located at Virginia Key Park, witch is a little island connected to the mainland only by bridges.
Miami is full of tourists everywhere. Everyone with funny hats, ice creams and silly sunglasses. But then I'm also a tourist so I shouldn't complain. But this dolphin place was really jammed with people in funny shirts so it was almost to much. But when we at last saw the dolphins our mood changed dramatically. They tend to spread a good vibe around them. I even petted one on the nose!



Later that day we decided to go to the Miami Science Museum to see the ongoing exhibition about latino music. It was really interesting and had a lot of both historical aspects on the latino music and also scientific. I found the exhibition very meaningful because I work a lot with music and rhythms myself.



The next day we took a breakfast at "the French Bakery" and then went down to the beach. We laid in the sand for hours just listening to all the people swarming on the beach. After a short swim in the Atlantic Ocean we left the South Beach Island and headed downtown too look in some stores. We found the Miami Arts and Design District and it was entirely made of all imaginable types of futuristic buildings containing everything from exhibitions to design furniture shops. There were many new impressions witch was a bit tiring.

Later on we decided to go to a typical Miami club. We'd heard about a place called "the Opium Garden" and we were told that it was one of the biggest clubs in Miami so we decided to go there. We arrived to the place at about 2.00 am and the line was huge. I think we stood there for one and a half hour. We met lots of good people even before we got inside. Well inside everything was crazy and lots of people everywhere. It was decorated with statues of Buddha and Chinese lanterns.



We all had a lot of fun and made many new friends and the DJ's were the really twisted music witch really got you dancing.

Leaving soon

Right now me and Sanna are packing our bags because we're going to Miami today. Yesterday we went for sushi at the Japanese restaurant "Shinju".



They seem to have a good variety of food in this town, but I still want to try a "traditional American" place. Maybe we'll eat pancakes for breakfast today!
I feel quite rested today cause we went home early yesterday night, satisfied with the good restaurant by the bridge and the art museum.
I was told our friend Elin from Berlin is in Miami with her family, so maybe we will hook up with her when we arrive. There is a hostel right near the beach called the Tropics witch cost $29 per night so I booked it until saturday.

Well now we have to run to catch our flight!

Day 2

Ach! Woke up too late today. We came home around 6 in the morning, so we were a bit tired.
Today we started of to find a nice cafe to eat brunch. We went through the snow to a supernice cafe/restaurant with a view of the Brooklyn bridge. It wasn't the cheapest place around but I thought we could reward ourselves with something nice. I think we ate for at least $20 each. I took the Arugula salad with grilled eggplant and Sanna ordered the Green Salad. It was all lovely and the view was fantastic!


the Brooklyn bridge

Then we decided to go to the Brooklyn Museum witch is an art museum. There was an exhibition with Hernan Bas from Miami who makes romantic/classic style paintings, witch by the were very impressing.


the Blue Line

I have to go for now but later I'll tell you about our club night this morning.

So yesterday night we decided to go to this club "Deep See" on Manhattan. We took the subway to 2nd Ave - Lower East Side Station and walked for 2 minutes just around the corner. Eventually we found the place and stood in line for about 30 min. At last we got inside around 1.30, and it was packed. We stayed there many hours and met a lot of freaks and cool people.

Arrival

Yesterday we arrived in NY. We were very tired when we arrived because we've been traveling for more than twelve hours. First the train to Arlanda, then the plain to Reykjavik, from there to NY and then carrying around our luggage on buses and subways, witch by the way was a bit confusing.
The United States is a pretty different thing. The streets are packed with people and there is life every were. Brooklyn was actually more chaotic than i thought and the neighborhood we chose was maybe not the most luxurious, but we couldn't afford anything else at the moment. I forgot to mention that I travel together with my girl and she was also pretty chocked when we arrived. Our hostel is pretty ok but the breakfast was not very tempting so we went to look for a good cafe down town. We found something called "Red horse Cafe" on 12th street Park Slope. It was really nice with an ongoing art exhibition, so we took an espresso and a toast for breakfast and looked at the paintings surrounding us. The paintings where made by an artist called Lisa Murgo and was truly inspired by the graffiti that covers the streets in Brooklyn. It's really a creative atmosphere here, and there are plenty of things too see.


Lisa Murgo

To night we're going out to see the club life. I've heard about a place called the Sapphire on 249 Eldridge St. and they have a house club called Deep See at Tuesdays. It costs $10 at the door but they have plenty of decent DJ's. I guess we'll go there around 1.00 am to be sure the club is warmed up. Eldridge Street is on Manhattan, so I'm looking forward to go there.
I also asked the people in the cafe if they knew about any restaurants in the area for dinner tonight. They told us to go to the recently opened General Greene witch is a type of "underground" restaurant located at 229 Dekalb Avenue here in Brooklyn. It seems really cosy and a good place to dine our first dinner.


the General Green restaurant

On Thursday we leave New York for Miami. I just booked the tickets and the flight leaves JFK airport at 2.55 PM. It was pretty expensive though. They charged $274 per ticket.
Well I'll get back on that later, we have barely landed here in NY.
Now we are about to walk around the streets to get the vibe of Brooklyn.


streets of Brooklyn

Going to the states

The tickets to New York are booked! We're leaving on monday from arlanda airport at 1.20 PM. First we fly to Reykjavik to change plains and then we head on to New York. The price wasn't too bad, we pay 6 479 kr per ticket in just two days notice. The flight just takes us about five hours so we arrive in New York at 6.00 PM. I found a hostel located at 249 Varet St., Brooklyn, for two nights and it will cost 983 kr for everything. I hope Brooklyn isn't the most caotic part of town because i guess we'll be pretty tired when we arrive. I think we'll take the bus from the airport and then the subway to brooklyn, wich will take about an hour, so we'll probably arrive earliest 8 or 9 PM. Ok, gotta go for now.