So… You know the story of my way to NOLA. Was the rest of my stay as adventurous as the suitcase drama?

Thanks to the night spent at the airport, my brain felt like if it could just turn off at any time. So, as some of you may have already guessed – the first thing I did in the magnificent city of New Orleans was taking a nap. Yep, you heard right.

I woke up by the time when it already started to get dark. (Actually, without the alarm on my phone I would probably wake up the next morning, completely confused.) I made my hair look at least a bit more presentable and asked the lady at the hotel reception for a tip on a place where I could try some Cajun food. I like to ask people who actually live in the place and who know the best spots (usually well hidden from tourists) to have some food or just hang out. It gives you a much better experience of the true nature of the place you are visiting.

I was told there was a small place close to the Lafayette Square. Let me stop here for a second and give you a warning. I’m usually not the person, who writes poetry about food. I’m not a food critic and English is not my first language (but I guess you have already guessed this because I don’t have so high self-confidence to think that all the text I’ve already written is completely without mistakes) so my vocabulary is really not so florid. Besides “amazing” I can use “amazing” and “amazing”. And somewhere in my brain, there’s saved “great”, but that’s it.

So it is the best of the best I can say when I describe the jambalaya I had at the restaurant as an amazing food with a great combination of taste. Some people could describe it as a spicy risotto with a spicy sausage. But NO. People, what are you doing with your life if you describe this top of Cajun culinary arts as risotto? No again – this is jambalaya – something you can eat a thousand times and every time it will still feel like a completely new experience. Every family and every family-owned restaurant have their own unique recipe on how to cook “the best jambalaya under the sun”.

♥

With my stomach so full that it was about to explode, I headed to Lafayette Square. Lafayette Square was… well, Lafayette Square. Tons of birds (and probably poisonous spiders) sitting in the trees above the bench where I sat and waiting for me to drop some food (or to stop being aware because in that case, I would be the food for the poisonous spiders – I know, I should do something with this spider paranoia). I came back to the hotel on time to join the party going outside for their first beignets ever. I mean – why not? I didn’t pay for that, our two young guides did.

Walking through the dark streets of New Orleans boiling with life and music made me feel so alive that I almost wanted to start dancing. It was spectacular. And, oh, the beignets! I think I lost a part of my soul there. It’s probably just standing there on French Market and watching people in Café du Monde eating these culinary masterpieces, with only one wish for my body to come back so it could enjoy the taste again. People – whatever you’re doing, wherever you are; beignets is your reason to book your flights to NOLA right now! I even encourage you to stop reading (and that is something that no blogger with a clear mind should do) and go straight to your nearest airport to try to catch some last-time flight.

With beignets in my stomach, I walked along the Mississippi river. Thick fog was flowing out of the river around my feet and I could feel the cold. It was like if the river was alive and wanted to pull me down into its depth. It felt so real and so scary – and I loved it. I could imagine all the scary stories from and about New Orleans coming true. I believed every single word about the undead people and other creatures living in tombs and drains and wherever else they stayed during the day and just waiting for some human to come close enough to… Yes, I know, my imagination is too strong. But I swear, something in the fog grabbed my ankle for a second and I almost fell into the dark river. Or maybe it was just my clumsiness and I tripped over something on a perfectly smooth pavement. But I swear, there was a hand grabbing my foot in the fog…

You can watch my video blog from New Orleans HERE.

And read the first part of the article HERE.

And have a spectacular day! 🙂