New Orleans 2003The company sent me off to New Orleans for a big technology conference. I was a little hesitant to start that whole cycle of flight/jetlag/recovery all over again, and I wasn't optimistic about how much fun the whole trip was going to be. It turned out to be a great time though (I can say that now because I'm finally over the jetlag). The tricky thing about being in New Orleans on a really heavy work schedule, is that I was pretty much obligated to go out and see the city anyway. As a result, I didn't get very much sleep at all throughout the week I was there. But I got to eat in the French Quarter again, and walk down Magazine Street in the Garden district, and see Bourbon Street. Actually, I saw quite a lot of Bourbon Street, but maybe the less said about that the better. I'm just glad that no one had a camera to record all the excess and debauchery. I did go dancing more than I have in a long time, and I found a
good industrial club and a good blues club, so all the fatigue was
definitely worth it. Also, the company hired Duran Duran for the
entertainment on the last night, which made this Eighties boy very
happy. |
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 The hotel some of my colleagues and I stayed in was really unique. It was built inside an old bank. I like how they kept the historic bank/hotel building intact, and built a supermodern skyscraper around it. |
 The dining room inside the hotel. |
 The hotel bar, where I spent some time drinking bourbon. |
 A strange but kind of charming detail—the city of New Orleans issues their work crews these Chinese-style hats to keep the sun off. |
 Henriette and Naja on the trolley from Canal streeet to the Garden District. |
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 On Washington Street, between the trolley line and Magazine Street in the Garden District, we found this cemetery that was open to the public. |
 I think the New Orleans above-ground cemeteries are incredibly beautiful and atmospheric. Maybe I've read too much Anne Rice. |
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 The Garden District is filled with loads of these beautiful houses with columned porches, and Magazine Street is wall-to-wall with cool shops and spas and boutiques. If I was to live in New Orleans (something I thought about more than once while I was there), I think I'd take the Garden District even over the French Quarter. |
 French flag hanging from a French Quarter restaurant. The architecture in the French Quarter is actually more Spanish then French though. Apparently there were a couple of disastrous fires that wiped out most of the French buildings in the late 1700s. Then the Spanish took over and built their own architecture over the ruins, before handing the city back to the French a few years later. |
 Inside stairway of one of the little cafes we ate at. |
 Shot down the French Quarter from the cafe's balcony. |
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 A shot down Canal Street. |
 My team leader Rolf, from across Canal Street. |
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 Duran Duran played for us on the last night of the conference. They've definitely still got it, at least when they were playing the old classics. It took me back to the last time I saw them in 1994. It was even better because there were only about 4,000 people in the audience. What fun... |
 Sunset from 35,000 feet, between New Orleans and Chicago. |
 Blurry shot of Chicago lights from the air. I've always loved flying at night. |
