24/11/2009
After a short stop at Cornelius, North Carolina where I visited C. and J. for a relaxing few days, I moved on to New York, or as it's commonly known, the Big Apple. Once again, boy was I taken by surprise!
During my ten days in the city, although I was trying to insert my own, slow and relaxed pace of living every day, the amount of things I crammed in there is simply unreal. To get an idea of how those days felt for me, try to read the following paragraph in one breath and as fast as you can.
Arrive, make monocle and dress up as the combination of a drug lord/professor/duke, go to indian-themed party, convince everyone your name is Socrates and that you lived in a bathtub, go to brooklyn, go to party involving kiddie-pools, movies and beer, walk up all 5th avenue and hate it, meet your mom for lunch, visit statue of liberty, meet annoying greeks and remember why you fled the country, walk around more, view crazy streets performances, scare the locals, do a photo project in the subway, look for the perfect burger, walk all the way to times square (they do not show the time anywhere), go to burner happy hour (yeay), find secret underground bars, have an international food tour all around New York, learn how to walk and jump on stilts, look for the perfect bagel, get served chocolate wine (horrible) by a hyperactive bartender high on cocaine, be an extra in a burning man filming (don't wash the playa dust off), walk up 5th avenue (again), explore central park, look for the perfect pizza, meet your friend from Colombia, get in to the museum of modern art for free and watch the Tim Burton exhibition, look for the perfect cheesecake.
The duke! (?)
A very morbid image
Eastern Manhattan by night
The Brooklyn bridge (and again below)
The lady herself
The Manhattan skyline
Burning Man filming
http://www.tilesforamerica.com/
Times Square (Am I the only one thinking that it's so bizarre that they do not show the time anywhere?)
Delicacies in Chinatown
Central Park
At the Tim Burton Exhibition
Are you still alive? Coz I barely made it... New York is a very fast-paced city. Lots of things happening all the time, lots of things to do, lots of people to meet, streets to walk, experiences to try, neighborhoods to explore. Everyone is always in a hurry and if you're walking slowly, it feels as if you're in a completely different dimension. The world around you is passing by in ridiculous speeds and you're observing it as everyone is getting so stressed out.
Despite all that, ten days in New York are far from sufficient! I could have easily spent as much more (and more and more) and would have still been discovering hidden little corners and gems.
As someone very correctly pointed out to me, in order to live in New York, you need to be determined and have a purpose. You would need to make a lot of sacrifices, so you better be ready to be fully committed to what you want to achieve, otherwise you'll never enjoy yourself. Personally, as a tourist, I enjoyed myself to the max! Let's see if my path brings me here for a more temporary visit next time. :)
M.
While in Birmingham, I chilled for a couple of days at a friend's place out in the fields.
Zach, who was introduced to me by D. is a craaaaaaaaaayze dude who lives in a dreamy house in the middle of nowhere, amongst the cotton fields. At night, you hear nothing but the crickets and the coyotes. During the day, you hear nothing but Zach's insane, louder-than-Harleys laughter and his 2 dogs. To get an idea, his back yard has a huge, peaceful pond in the middle.
I spent a couple of days out there doing nothing but relaxing and chatting for hours on end with someone I consider a close, new friend.
Feeling rested and rejuvenated, I'm headed up north for a few skydiving stops. :)
M.
Due to a couple of things that were thrown at me (referring more to ideas, rather than bottles), I decided to leave New Orleans a bit early and head up to Alabama. Birmingham to be more precise. The first place I was taken to visit was -dramatic music and deep voice applied- THE SLOSS!!!
Sloss Furnaces used to operate as an iron producing furnace that got shut down almost 40 years ago. Nowadays, it operates as a museum. Most interesting thing about it though is that it is considered to be one of the most haunted locations in the US, due to its history of work accidents and murders that took place.
Have a look at the photos below and let me know if they give you the chills or not... ;)
Maybe the dude just hiked the Grand Canyon...
The terror is obvious in our eyes!
We need to get out of here, FAST!
I ain't afraid of no ghosts...
Sloss from the top (I was not supposed to be there).
Did I mention that the best Halloween Haunted House party is held here annually? hehe
M.
The day of the dead is taken pretty seriously in New Orleans. Not only do they create big props and costumes for it, but they also combine it with a commemorative service for a lost loved one.
I was informed about the starting point of the parade little time before it would start, so I dashed home to drop a couple of things and headed quickly to the meeting point.
Dozens of people were already there and more were swarming in. The first thought that went through my head was "shit. I forgot a costume!"
The effort everyone had put was equally impressive as the halloween night. Lots of people seem to get involved with big projects that are dedicated to just this one night of the year.
Even the dead enjoy a beer from time to time. (Too bad they got really bad taste for it.)
And suddenly a coffin arrives. It is being carried on what looks like an old hospital bed with wheels. The whole thing is decorated and altered and brings images of an altar to mind. It is all done very respectfully and tastefully. I looked inside and it was in memory of somebody called Colby. His friends and family had create this in his memory and was going to join the parade.
Soon after, the parade begins, with the coffin shrine begin amongst the leaders. Everyone starts marching down the road, going through the busy streets, smooth but firm drumming accompanies the march and someone jams along with his saxophone.
That's when I realised what's so special about this gathering. It's a silent, big party. People are dancing, smiling, breathing and spinning fire and being happy. But no one is loud. No one is rowdy. Everyone is paying their respects to the dead in a very respectful way and are dancing along this service, following Colby's coffin. Everyone is mourning with a smile on their faces. Death is not conquered by sorrow. This parade is showing that there are still reasons to smile and celebrate a dead man's life.
The coffin was taken to the river and a ceremony was held, preparing it for the last farewell. By then, the crowd that was following had multiplied.
The final step was to drop the coffin in the water and set it on fire. We all gathered on the rocks around one of the docks. Everyone was participating in their own way, but always quietly.
And then, there it was, the coffin in flames floating across the water. At that point, everyone started screaming, cheering, clapping, shouting thoughts, sending messages. It was one of the most beautiful and powerful gatherings I had ever attended.
The coffin did start floating close to the shore and it got stuck under one of the other docks, so somebody had to jump in the -extra filthy- water and drag it to safety, otherwise we would have all been in trouble, but other than that, it was a night to remember. :)
M.
Halloween is known all around the world for being a day of scary costumes, creepy decorations and parties till dawn. Some countries celebrate it while others don't. Some people dress up as a disgusting zombie, and others choose to go for the look of the slutty nurse. The people of New Orleans take things to the next level. They don't wear a costume; they are reborn! They don't decorate; they recreate! They don't party; they take the city hostage!
This city has a lot of history when it comes to the "undead", fictional monsters or however you want to classify these existences; There is the big voodoo culture and also lots of vampire fans (people not only believing in vampires, but also believing they ARE vampires), with Anne Rice as their queen.
There is also a large number of haunted houses and general hauntedness. :)
This is just someone's front yard.
Thus, no wonder everyone goes the extra mile and spend hours, perhaps even days preparing their costumes. Not to mention how they decorate their houses!
We went out both friday and saturday, but the 31st was the big shebang. With a bunch of locals I had been hooked up with, we had already picked our theme: Alice in Wonderland. Wasn't too hard for your truly to pick a character. The March Hare was obviously all mine!
I guess being New Orleans n all, I decided to make the extra effort for my costume, so not only did I pick out some sweet march hare clothes, but I also decided to build my very own march hare head. Or should I say, for the purposes of the celebration, a March Scare head!
And out we went! The place to be is Frenchmen street. Thousands and thousands of people gather up there, dressed up as anything you can possibly imagine. From the typical zombie, to swan lake, I saw Rubik's Cubes, smurfs, Towelie (yeap, special appearance), known and unknown monsters, rock stars, all sorts of fruit and the list goes on... I was amazed at the creativity and imagination of not only specific individuals, but every single person that was out on the streets. Everyone made extra effort and the result was spectacular!
The crew. About to go down the rabbit hole. ;)
Never before have I seen such a diverse parade of people being the most extraordinary of existences!!
Vicious vampire vs. cute stuffed bear. I was too traumatised to sit and watch who won.
Kiss alongside the March Hare and Chewbacka? Which movie was that in?
A cup o' tea with the Mad Hatter.
I partied all night long with random, wonderful people in the streets, only to end up sleeping on the inflatable mattress at the house of alternative energy and the tape worm.
I was told that halloween in Austin was pretty rad and the photos I saw were quite impressive. But the Nawlins experience was definitely something to remember!
M.
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