Day 10 - More train and arrival in New OrlANs

This train travel is the way to go.  Rachel our attendee arranged for breakfast in bed!  It arrived about 7.30am so I could gradually wake up.  I had a pretty good sleep, just a brief interruption with a rattling panel which responded well to a torn out page from a magazine folded up and stuffed in the crack.  I stayed in my pj’s most of the morning reading the paper then labeling all the photos I have taken so far.  It was good to get them on the pc, and save a copy on the USB.

How funny it is having a shower in a moving train.  I giggled a couple of times as I tried to stay upright, but generally it was just really great being clean.

The vegetation is changing all the time, as is the look of the houses and areas we pass through.  As we travel south, everything is greener and more lush, with bursts of colour eg wild wisteria growing.  Pat knows her plants, and writes a blog on it (www.commonweeder.com – Pat Leuchtman) so I will check it out when I can.  Henry has provided great knowledge on the areas we pass through though it is also new to them so sometimes they aren’t certain. 

At lunch I sat in the dining car with Henry and Pat, and with an Argentinean woman who was in New Orleans last week and is returning after visiting friends.  She told us fascinating information on Argentina, and places to see in NO.  I am getting excited as the weather is going to be a lot warmer and the lady said that it is fascinating place to visit and experience.

To arrive in New Orleans the train goes over a bridge that crosses a big body of water...it is a bit like going across to Phillip Is. You then hit the outskirts and very quickly see that despite the fact Hurricane Katrina was about 6 years ago, there is still a lot of evidence of the devastation.  A number of houses we went past were obviously abandoned as no longer habitable, but there are a number of new houses as well.

We arrived in at the station about 7.30pm, and I said farewell to Henry (my American educator) and Pat.  I caught a taxi (not certain if that is the term, huge Lincoln car, passenger door nearly falling off, driver possibly doesn't have a licence but is a huge Stevie Wonder fan) to the bed & breakfast that I booked on line.  The proprietors were waiting for me, and checked me in.  Phillip and David are originally from Texas but moved here 7 years ago - they fit right into the laid back lifestyle.

Phillip gave me an orientation of the house...13 foot ceilings, weatherboard 2 storey with servants quarters out the back, hot tubes in the courtyard and a fountain, old style furnishings, and huge bedrooms.  He also explained about New Orleans, places to go, things to see, restaurants/cafes to eat in.  He said the main attractions in New Orleans are the food (mixture of Spanish, French, with a few other nationalities thrown and loads of seafood - not so good for me), the climate (to be about 26-27c the next couple of days when it is 4c in NY and snowing!!), the architecture, the music, bars and the relaxed lifestyle.

Spent the night in...really tired and after the train trip feel as if I am swaying (as if on a boat).