NEW ORLEANS — Bathed in spring-like warmth and showered with trinkets, beads and music, New Orleans reveled in the excesses of Fat Tuesday. A seemingly endless stream of costumed marching groups and ornately-decorated float parades led by make-believe royalty poured out of the Garden District, while the French Quarter filled up with thrill seekers expecting to see debauchery.

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And they did.

Some in the Quarter had a sleepless night after Monday’s Lundi Gras prequel party. The drinking was in full swing again shortly after dawn, and with it came outrageous costumes and flesh-flashing that would continue until police make their annual attempt to break up the merrymaking at midnight, when Lent begins.

Tom White, 46, clad in a pink tutu, bicycled with his wife, Allison, to the French Quarter. “I’m the pink fairy this year,” he said. “Costuming is the real fun of Mardi Gras. I’m not too creative but when you weigh 200 pounds and put on a tutu people still take your picture.”

His wife was not in costume. “He’s disgraced the family enough,” she said.

Brittany Davies struggled with her friends through the morning, feeling the effects of heavy drinking from the night before.

“They’re torturing me,” the Denver woman joked. “But I’ll be OK after a bloody mary.”

Indeed, the theme of the day was party hard and often.

Wearing a bright orange wig, a purple mask and green shoes, New Orleans resident Charlotte Hamrick walked along Canal Street to meet friends.

“I’ll be in the French Quarter all day,” Hamrick said. “I don’t even go to the parades. I love to take pictures of all the costumes and just be with my friends. It’s so fun.”

Police reported no major incidents along the parade route.

Across the globe, people dressed up in elaborate costumes and partied the day away. In Rio de Janeiro, an estimated



850,000 tourists joined the city’s massive five-day blowout

. Meanwhile, the Portuguese, who have suffered deeply in Europe’s debt crisis, defied a government appeal to keep working.

Steeped in tradition

In New Orleans, the streets filled with hundreds of thousands of people.

The predominantly African-American Zulu krewe was the first major parade to hit the streets, shortly after 8 a.m. Most krewe members were in the traditional black-face makeup and the Afro wigs Zulu riders have sported for decades. They handed out the organization’s coveted decorated coconuts and other sought-after trinkets.

In the oak-lined Garden District, clarinetist Pete Fountain led his Half-Fast Walking Club on its annual march to the French Quarter.

Fountain, 82, gave a thumbs-up to start off and his band launched into “When The Saints Go Marching In” as they rounded the corner onto St. Charles Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. It was the 52nd time that Fountain’s group has paraded for Mardi Gras. This year, the group wore bright yellow suits and matching pork pie hats for its theme, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.”

Costumes were the order of the day, ranging from the predictable to the bizarre.

Wearing a purple wig, New Orleans resident Juli Shipley carried a gallon of booze down Bourbon Street and filled her friends’ cups when they got low. “We’re going to wander all day and people-watch,” Shipley said. “That’s the best part of Mardi Gras — the costumes. They’re amazing.”

Partygoers were dressed as Wizard of Oz characters Dorothy and the Wicked Witch, bags of popcorn, pirates, super heroes, clowns, jesters, princesses and lots of homemade costumes with the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.

At New Orleans’ antebellum former city hall, Mayor Mitch Landrieu toasted Zulu’s monarchs and special guests. Among them was New Orleans native and former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young who was on a float with National Urban League President Marc Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, his wife, Michelle, and their two children.

“It’s good to be home,” Young said. And saluting the good weather of the day, he added, “God always smiles on New Orleans when it needs it.”

After Zulu, the parade of Rex, king of Carnival, made its trek down St. Charles Avenue and to the city’s business district. Along the way, parade-goers pleaded for beads and colorful aluminum coins, known as doubloons.

Small groups of families and friends had parades of their own. The Skeleton Krewe, 25 people dressed in black skeleton outfits, wandered along the parade route, heading toward St. Louis Cathedral.

Along the parade route that follows the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, die-hards had staked out prime parade-watching spots as early as Monday. Some had a Carnival-esque tailgate party under way early.

Excitement reigns

Stephanie Chapman and her family claimed their usual spot about 4 a.m. Tuesday and would be staying for the duration.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46472887/ns/travel-destination_travel/

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.

Stephan Ferry was visiting Lake McDonald, which lies at the west entrance of Glacier National Park, in the fall of 2011 on a windless, sunny day when he captured this image.

Glaciers carved this lake, the largest in the park, which reaches 10 miles in length and nearly 500 feet deep. The valley in which the lake sits features hiking trails, plant and animal life, historic chalets and Lake McDonald Lodge.

“Every day in Glacier is unique … but this day was simply incredible,” Ferry told TODAY.com. “The problems of the days, weeks, years slip away as soon as you set eyes on the beauty of the park.”

See more of Ferry’s photography at his website.

If you have photos you’d like to share, submit them for a chance to be featured in the weekly gallery.

In the meantime, be sure to check out this week’s It’s a Snap gallery and vote for your favorite photo.

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Article source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/21/10408721-travel-photo-of-the-day-sunny-day-at-lake-mcdonald

RIO DE JANEIRO — English speakers get their moment in the Carnival sun on Monday as a wild, Beatles-themed street party shakes it up, baby, with a samba swing to “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”

“Sargento Pimenta,” Portuguese for “Sergeant Pepper,” is one of more than 400 raucous street parties that spring up throughout Rio de Janeiro during Carnival season. Hundreds of thousands of people turn out for the largest of the “blocos,” packed, sweaty open-air dance parties where the crowd sings along to a repetitive medley of Carnival songs — usually in Portuguese, of course.

As many as 850,000 tourists descend on Rio for the five-day-long Carnival free-for-all, and blocos offer plenty of nonverbal opportunities for fun: If drinking till you pass out doesn’t suit your fancy, you might try racking up as many snogging partners as humanly possible during a single street party, a common Carnival game here.

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But even with such tantalizing diversions, it must be acknowledged that singing along to the blasting music — usually played live by a band atop a sound truck, with a cordoned-off percussion section trailing behind — is at least half the fun.

Enter Sargento Pimenta, the brainchild of Gustavo Gitelman, a music lover and doctor by trade.

Gitelman quickly rounded up an enthusiastic group of Beatles aficionados — so many, in fact that the Fab Four became more of a Fab 70 at the party’s debut last year.

The group gives the Beatles repertoire a Brazilian tweak, adapting “All My Loving” to the peppy beat of a traditional Carnival “marchinha,” or march, and infusing “Hard Day’s Night” with a Rio funk sound. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” morphs into a samba. Even the melancholic “Hey Jude” is spiked with an infectious upbeat energy.

All the songs are sung in English, much to the delight of Anglophone visitors, many of whom can fully participate in the bloco experience for the first time.

The group’s debut last year was so successful that the crowd was packed so tight it became something of a health hazard. It has moved to a more spacious location for Monday’s show. Tens of thousands of costumed revelers are expected to flood the Flamengo Park, off of Rio’s iconic Guanabara Bay, for the event.

Sargento Pimenta is not the sole offbeat bloco offering. There’s also the “Blocao,” an animal-themed street party where pet owners in shorts and flip-flops parade their cats and dogs, dressed up as pirates, princesses and cave-pets; and Paraty, a coastal colonial city south of Rio, is home to the “Bloco da Lama,” or “Mud Bloco,” where revelers tramp through, dive into and otherwise cover themselves in sticky mud.

And for those who like to take a less participative role in Carnival celebrations, Rio’s iconic Sambadrome samba school competition moves into its second and final day on Monday night.

Nearly 100,000 paying spectactors turn out for the all-night spectacle, which includes troupes of samba dancers whose costumes consist largely of body glitter and oversized feathered wings, older women in pup tent-sized hoop skirts and giant floats covered in outlandish, oversized decoration. The parade starts shortly after sundown and doesn’t finish till dawn, with the winner out of the 13 participating schools announced later in the week.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46454398/ns/travel-news/

A wine trip through Germany includes stops at historic wineries, such as Maximin Grýnhaus near the town of Trier.

I blame it on the fact that I grew up in Texas. By which I mean, at some point it occurred to me that driving from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, one of France’s greatest wine regions, to Piedmont, one of Italy’s greatest wine regions, would be only a slightly longer trip than driving from Houston to Dallas. (Not to mention that at the end I’d be in Piedmont, a more appealing place than Dallas.) After that, the mental dominoes fell into place: What if I flew to Europe and hit the road, visiting five iconic wineries, in five great wine regions, in five different countries, in five days: the Priorat in Spain, Châteauneuf, Piedmont, Germany’s Mosel and finally Austria’s Wachau. I’d visit five legendary wineries, and I’d also have the pleasure of founding an entirely new pursuit — extreme wine tourism — in the process.

Slideshow: America’s best road trips

Mile 0: Spain

My starting point was Alvaro Palacios’eponymous winery in Spain’s Priorat. The Priorat, about an hour-and-a-half southwest of Barcelona, is a steep, severe place that produces some of Spain’s most sought-after red wines. People have grown grapes here for hundreds of years, but the region only recently came to prominence.

Palacios was one of the small group of winemakers that recognized the Priorat’s potential back in the 1980s, and he is now its most famous producer. His top wine, one of Spain’s greatest reds, is called L’Ermita. The grapes come from a single, old, steep vineyard in the shadow of a 16th-century hermitage (it’s still in use; apparently, there’s even a waiting list to be the resident hermit). L’Ermita is a stunning expression of Grenache, a grape that reaches a pinnacle in the Priorat. “It’s one of the few grapes that can transform heat and aridity into something vibrant and refreshing,” Palacios said.

As I walked that morning in L’Ermita’s vineyard, there was certainly no lack of heat and aridity. With each step, I crunched through gravelly schist, kicking up red and brown dust; the sun was fierce. Palacios farms L’Ermita with mules, as the slope is too steep for tractors. As I hiked back up the slope, sweating, I felt fortunate not to have their job.

Palacios’ winery is a spare, modernist structure, its big glass windows looking past the town of Gratallops to hills scored by the terraces of old vineyards. We tasted a number of his wines, ending with the 2009 and 2010 L’Ermitas, which cost roughly $800 a bottle. The ’09, from a warm year, was a study in power, with immense tannins under its dark fruit; the ’10 was even better — extravagantly aromatic, perfectly balanced. They were both wines to sit with and ponder; wines for long, lingering, unhurried reflection. Instead, I checked my watch. “Uh-oh,” I said. “I’m sorry, Alvaro. I’ve got to get out of here!”

Mile 359: France

The drive from the Priorat to Châteauneuf-du-Pape takes you from dusty and scruffy (Gratallops) to drab and industrial (the northern outskirts of Barcelona) to sunlit and idyllic (France’s Mediterranean coast). Four hours in, I was sailing along the E15 past Nîmes, under a glorious Provençal sun. To my right was the pastel-blue Mediterranean; to my left, maniacal French drivers, rocketing past me with fine Gallic disregard, even though I was doing 90 miles per hour.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape shares three important things with the Priorat: the sun, the Mediterranean and Grenache. The Priorat is a hardscrabble, impoverished region, despite the success of its wines; in contrast, the southern Rhône Valley, home to Châteauneuf, feels like an extension of Provence, all sparkling light, picture-postcard villages and gentle hills. The place is charming, not harsh. If a local farmer from the Priorat were to wake up here, he’d think he’d gone to heaven. At least until he realized everyone was speaking French.

I spent the night at a bed-and-breakfast; the next morning, I drove to Château de Beaucastel, one of the greatest producers of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Marc Perrin, a lanky 41-year-old whose family owns Beaucastel, looked surprisingly relaxed — surprising since it was the middle of harvest and his wife had had a baby three weeks before. “I’m not getting much sleep,” he admitted.

Beaucastel, unlike Palacios, is open to visitors by appointment, and the Perrins also own L’Oustalet, a tree-shaded restaurant with a great wine list in the nearby town of Gigondas. I had a superb alfresco lunch there with Perrin, but even so, the transcendent moment of this visit for me was back at the winery, tasting five vintages of Beaucastel’s great Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We tasted the 2009, 2008, 2001, 2000 and 1990. All were remarkable, but the 1990 soared above the rest. It had a transparent, dark ruby hue, with a tremendously complex flavor that kept sounding different notes: truffle, sandalwood, black cherry, cured meat, a little bit of black olive.

“There have been vines growing here since Roman times,” Perrin told me, “but my family purchased the estate in 1909. We’ve been organic since 1950, and working biodynamically since 1974, but we never claim it on the bottle. It’s like something my uncle used to say: ‘Some people go to church just to be seen at church, and others go simply because they believe.’”

Mile 676: Italy

Heading north out of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I skipped the rest of the Rhône — St-Joseph! Hermitage! Côte Rôtie! Oh well! — then stopped for croissants and coffee at a bar overlooking the Isère River in Grenoble. From there, the road curved up into the Alps, then down into Italy and to Piedmont.

I’ve always harbored a fantasy of moving to Piedmont, so it was extremely convenient to find that the 17th-century castle at the top of the hill in Castiglione Falletto, next door to the Vietti winery, was currently for sale, according to Vietti’s Luca Currado. And only $2,500,000 for an entire castle! “But you have to maintain it,” Currado added. This was a good point; for instance, one might have to repair scratches to the exterior walls caused by people (like me) who drive by without paying attention to how far their side mirrors stick out.

Currado’s family has grown Nebbiolograpes in Piedmont since the 1600s; today, they own vineyards in all nine villages of the Barolo region. They also produce some of the region’s most acclaimed wines, like the 2007 Vietti Barolo Rocche that I tasted with Currado over dinner in Alba that night, a polished, luscious red with tea leaf and dark cherry notes. Currado mentioned that when Alba was a Roman town, the emperor talked about “the fog grape” (nebbiais Italian for fog; hence, Nebbiolo). “In Tuscany, they have ‘under the Tuscan sun,’” he said with a shrug. “In Piedmont, we have ‘under Piedmontese fog.’”

“I’m still blown away by that castle being for sale,” I said.

“You know, in old times, the owner of a castle had the right to spend the first night with the bride of anyone who got married in the village,” Currado said thoughtfully. “I don’t think that’s the case anymore, though.”

Mile 1,191: Germany

Switzerland’s mountains are scenic, its water is pure, and I have fond memories of falling asleep one time in a Swiss meadow and waking up surrounded by cows (different story). But when you’re trying to drive swiftly from Italy to Germany, Switzerland is just a big, mountain-filled problem.

Nevertheless, nine hours after leaving Piedmont, I arrived at the gates of Maximin Grúnhaus. One of Germany’s greatest estates, it’s in the Ruwer valley region (Germany’s Mosel wine region is made up of a trio of river valleys — the Mosel, the Saar and the Ruwer). Dr. Carl von Schubert’s family has owned Grýnhaus for five generations; originally it belonged to the Abbey of Saint Maximin, and there are written records of the property that date back more than a thousand years.

The Ruwer is known for delicate, precise Rieslings, which is especially true in the 2010 vintage. The 2010 Maximin Grýnhaus Abtsberg Kabinett I tasted that evening (along with 15 other wines) was a sublime German Riesling — fragrant and polished, its sweetness and acidity in perfect balance. It was unexpectedly good with the wild boar stew that von Schubert served to me and the 25 wine salespeople from New Jersey who happened to arrive via minibus exactly when I did. (I suppose, from their point of view, I was the interloper.)

“I used to shoot about three boar per year in the vineyards,” von Schubert said as we ate. “Now it’s about 60. Perhaps it has to do with global warming.”

“They destroy the vines?” I asked.

“They love the sweetest grapes. But if they penetrate the vineyard, they have to risk ending their lives as salami.”

Mile 1,707: Austria

This was my fifth and final day. When I pulled up at Nikolaihof, in Austria’s Wachau region, I’d driven more than 1,700 miles and spent nearly 35 hours behind the wheel.

Nikolaihof is ancient. The oldest winery in Austria, it was a Celtic holy place, then a Roman fortress until 511 AD. Then the Romans left and, as Nikolaus Saahs, whose family now owns it, told me, “after that, the history is unknown until 777 AD, when a monastery was founded here.”

Hearing the story of Nikolaihof brought something home to me. Every single region I’d hit on my five-day journey shared one specific thing, which was that Romans had been the first to cultivate wine grapes there. (After 1,700 miles of driving, it also struck me as amazing that the Romans held together their empire with no mode of travel other than foot and horse.) All different countries, all different cultures, but a single unifying thread: wine. It was heartening, somehow.

Over a seemingly endless succession of Austrian dishesat the winery’s restaurant that night — Saahs’s mother, Christine, is a well-known Austrian chef — I tasted the Nikolaihof wines. If I had to pick a favorite, it would most likely be the family’s Vinothek Grýner Veltliner, which is only bottled after it has aged for a decade or more in huge wooden casks. I love the fresh white-peppery spice of Grýner, Austria’s signature grape, and it can last (and improve) for far longer than people realize. The 1993 Vinothek, the current vintage, had intense, lasting flavors, yet was amazingly alive, ending on an ethereal honeysuckle note.

Earlier that day, Saahs had taken me down to the oldest part of Nikolaihof’s cellars, built more than 1,800 years ago. The room had been a wine cellar back then, and it was a wine cellar now. While we were standing there, Saahs said, “I’m just a small part of the history of this house, and I know it. Two thousand years of history, and I’m living here 70 years? That’s nothing.” True, 70 years was nothing. But here we were, in this small stone room, talking about making wine. And 1,800 years ago, two other people had no doubt been standing right here, too, in exactly the same place, talking about making wine. In between, what had there been? Wars, famines, revolutions, discoveries, nations rising and falling, people living their lives, and through all of it, no matter what, in every single place I’d visited, someone making wine.

Iconic bottles

Germany
2010 Maximin Grýnhaus Abtsberg Riesling Kabinett ($37). Dr. Carl von Schubert makes several terrific wines from Abtsberg, his top vineyard. This slatey bottling is one of the easiest to find.

Austria
2010 Nikolaihof Grýner Veltliner Hefeabzug ($30). A peppery white, it’s a great introduction to Nikolaihof’s Grýners. Also look for the powerful, spicy 1993 Vinothek bottling ($170).

France
2008 Château de Beaucastel Châteuneuf-du-Pape ($98). Great producers make superb wine even in tough years. This violet-scented, complex red is a perfect example.

Italy
2007 Vietti Barolo Castiglione ($48). The ’07 vintage in Barolo is spectacular, something this cuvée shows with its depth and elegance. It’s made with grapes from several grand cruBarolo vineyards.

Spain
2009 Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofí ($70). Palacios’s legendary L’Ermita runs $800 a bottle. Dofí costs a fraction of that, yet it’s still world class — powerful yet subtle, with intense fruit and a mineral edge.

How to visit

With the exception of Alvaro Palacios in Spain, each winery on Ray’s tour is open to visitors by appointment (with a fair amount of advance notice).

Chateau de Beaucastel, France
Visits to and tastings at Beaucastel, in Courthézon, can be arranged through its website (beau castel.com). To book a table at L’Oustalet, the Perrin family’s restaurant in the town of Gigondas, go to restaurant oustalet.com.

Vietti, Italy
To arrange guided visits to Vietti’s winery and cellars, in the small town of Castiglione Falletto, go to vietti.com.

Maximin Grýnhaus, Germany
Located near the town of Trier, along the Ruwer river, Grýnhaus offers tours and tastings Monday through Saturday (vonschubert.com).

Nikolaihof Wachau, Austria
At Nikolaihof, in Mautern, visitors can taste wine and try traditional Austrian cuisine at the winery’s tavern (nikolaihof.at).

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/10096115-a-wine-geeks-ultimate-road-trip

Three rooftop pools at the InterContinental Hong Kong provide views of Victoria Harbour and nearby Hong Kong Island. A butler is on hand with a selection of beverages and facial mists.

 

The Skypark pool atop the Marina Bay Sands hotel, in Singapore, might be one of the most magnificent pools on Earth: It’s an infinity-edged oasis 650 feet above ground with a mind-blowing view of the city’s skyline. It’s part of a massive rooftop entertainment platform perched atop three skyscrapers.

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While it may vie for the most dramatic, this high-altitude hot spot is now one of many built in major metropolises. These days pools are popping up on top of skyscrapers from New York to Sydney and everywhere in between, often with bars and restaurants that help transform the pool deck into a social scene all its own.

“In densely populated cities where space is at a such a premium, if you want to build something new and innovative, the only place to go is up,” says Thompson Toronto project architect Rob Cadeau, who turned the hotel’s rooftop into a gathering place by designing a bar adjacent to the pool area. Other designers have used increasingly dramatic effects — infinity edges, cantilevered pool tanks, see-through flooring — in order to distinguish and gain international attention for their offerings.

“Every time someone does something new, someone else has to up the ante,” says Cadeau. “In the future, we’re going to see even more acrobatic engineering on rooftops, features that will stretch our perception of the pool edge, the height and the sensations you experience once you’re swimming.”

The trend to create entertainment hubs above the hectic urban bustle started a decade ago in New York, where 35 hotels now feature a rooftop bar, many of which have pools. Boutique properties like the Soho House were the first to get in on the action, and other hotels followed suit, from Hotel Frasano’s Phillipe Starck–designed rooftop pool in Rio de Janeiro to the Joule in Dallas, where part of the pool hangs off the building.

Eventually the laws of physics may keep designers from pushing the envelope any further. In the meantime, the sky’s the limit.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10226303-spectacular-hotel-rooftop-pools

Snowy owl at Damon Point, Wash.

In this bonus edition of the daily travel photo, we’re highlighting last week’s It’s a Snap gallery winner. Though the competition was stiff, with great photos from around the world, the majority of voters settled on Talia Rose’s shot of a snowy owl.

Rose told TODAY.com that she had read about a gathering of snowy owls at Damon Point State Park, which is located on the coast of Washington state. Rose and her son headed out there on Jan. 13.

The weather was ideal, and the two hiked along the beach as the sun rose. When the light brightened, they found themselves amid a half dozen snowy owls. The two spent much of the day taking photos and enjoying the rare sight.

If you have photos you’d like to share, submit them for a chance to be featured in the weekly gallery.

In the meantime, be sure to check out this week’s It’s a Snap gallery and vote for your favorite photo.

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Article source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/14/10408428-travel-photo-of-the-day-snowy-owls-pay-a-visit

Rick Diamond / Getty Images file

Guitar legend B.B. King performs at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival on May 2, 2010, in New Orleans.

Between voodoo, Mardi Gras, the music, and the food — oh, the food — New Orleans has a heritage few American cities can match. But how does your knowledge of the city measure up? Take our quiz and find out. Get 11-15 correct and you’re ready to laissez les bons temps rouler — let the good times roll! Six to 10 right is respectable; you can probably tell the difference between boudin and a beignet. If you score 5 or less, hop on the next riverboat down to Louisiana. You’ll be speaking Yat — the local dialect, as in “Where y’at?” — in no time.

1.  New Orleans is considered the birthplace of which musical genre?

a.      Funk
b.      Blues
c.       Jazz
d.      Country

Answer: Jazz. With more than 300 music venues inside the city limits — that’s one for about every 1,000 residents, you could hit a different joint each night, hearing everything from soul ensembles to honky tonk bands to dueling DJs. But it’s jazz — born in the early 1900s of elements of blues, ragtime and African drumming — that defines New Orleans as a music town and serves as the soundtrack to the city.

Heck, they even named the airport after local jazz hero Louis Armstrong. Preservation Hall, a tiny time capsule of a tavern in the French Quarter, stages nightly jazz performances in homage to the city’s homespun rhythms (admission $15), while Tipitina’s — a favorite among locals since 1977 — offers new takes on the old classics and hosts contemporary acts like the Mountain Goats and They Might Be Giants (tickets from $8). And don’t forget the annual New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival, which is held at the Fair Grounds Race Course and draws some 400,000 attendees annually; many say the springtime event (April 27-May 6) is the best time to visit the city (tickets from $45).

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2.  Which of the following foods is NOT associated with New Orleans?

a.      Gumbo
b.      Crawfish
c.       Alligator
d.      Pork barbecue

Answer: Pork barbecue. Plenty of American cities and states claim their own signature riffs on pork barbecue — Memphis, Kansas City, Texas, the Carolinas — but New Orleans is not one of them. And that’s fine by New Orleanians. The city’s wholly unique culinary melting pot incorporates French, Spanish, Creole and Cajun influences (to name a few), and its most beloved dishes are inextricably linked with the local landscape.

The bayous and the Gulf surrounding the city provide the crab and shrimp for the popular (and fiery) seafood gumbo at Mandina’s in midtown (from $5.25), as well as the crawfish for étouffee (eh-too-fay), a thick stew that makes use of the “holy trinity” of Cajun and Creole cuisine (bell peppers, onions, and celery). Try it at Bon Ton Cafe in the Central Business District ($24.50). Adventurous eaters should head upriver (that’s “uptown” in local parlance) to Carrollton, where Jacques-Imo’s Cafe cooks up savory shrimp-and-alligator-sausage cheesecake ($7.50). And finally, for a fresh spin on a quintessential New Orleans meal, try Yang’s Po-Boys, an upstart sandwich joint that serves its specialty roast beef on crispy, local Leidenheimer French bread ($8.50).

3.  Which of the following is not a nickname for New Orleans?

a.      The Crescent City
b.      The Big Easy
c.       NOLA
d.      The River City

Answer: The River City. Like any historic city, New Orleans has earned its share of nicknames over the years. To many on the inside it is simply NOLA: New Orleans, Louisiana. For visitors drawn to the city’s laid-back culture, New Orleans is “The Big Easy.” And it’s the “Crescent City” for its shape, carved out by the curves of the Mississippi River, which has guided the city’s development since its founding near the turn of the 18th century.

In fact, the Mississippi’s influence on the city’s history is so deep, it’s surprising New Orleans hasn’t added the River City to its list of monikers. Even today, one of the top attractions in town is an old-fashioned sunset jazz cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez — a pitch-perfect replica powered exclusively by 1920s steam engines and topped with an antique steel whistle — just like the riverboats Mark Twain himself used to pilot down the “Big Muddy” in the late 1850s ($41 for a two-hour cruise, children 6-12 half-price).

4.  Public transit in New Orleans includes buses, ferries, and what other type of transportation?

a.      Streetcars
b.      Railway
c.      Cable cars
d.      Subway

Answer: Streetcars. New Orleans’s streetcars are not only a cheap, convenient way to travel; they’re also genuine artifacts — by law, the cars on the St. Charles Avenue route are preserved in their early-1900s state, down to the mahogany seats. Taking a ride on one is easy — the streetcars operate like a bus system, with predetermined stops; a one-way fare is only $1.25, and a three-day, unlimited-ride Jazzy Pass costs $9 and can be bought from any conductor. (See the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority website for schedules and maps.)

The St. Charles cars run through the heart of the Garden District, a historical neighborhood noted for its oak-lined boulevards and stately homes — some of which have recently been converted into chic boutiques and BBs. The adults-only Green House Inn, a Greek Revival townhouse on Magazine Street, has nine understated-but-cozy rooms, a well-stocked lending library and a tropical garden surrounding a clothing-optional saltwater pool (doubles from $119). For more family-friendly lodging options, see Budget Travel’s citywide listings.

5.  Which of the following local words refers to a type of fried doughnut?

a.      Beignet
b.      Lagniappe
c.      Roux
d.      Muffuletta

Answer: beignet. Thanks to its gumbo of ethnic influences, New Orleans has a culinary dialect all its own. To keep things straight, here’s an abridged regional dictionary:

BEIGNET (ben-yay) — a fried doughnut, usually piled high with powdered sugar. If you try only one, make sure it’s from the original open-air Café du Monde in the French Quarter, which opened in 1862 and serves the doughnuts around the clock ($2.65). But arrive early to avoid the breakfast rush: The café fills up quickly, and competition for tables is fierce.

LAGNIAPPE (lan-yap) — A little something extra; a freebie or gift added to a purchase at many New Orleans shops, restaurants and hotels. Be nice to the staff at the Buttermilk Drop Bakery in the Tremé, for example, and they just might toss in an extra one of their signature deep-fried pastries (504/252-4538, $6 for a dozen).

ROUX (roo) — The base for gumbos, étouffee and various other Cajun and Creole foods, it’s made from flour and fat.

MUFFULETTA — A popular (and traditionally gigantic) New Orleans sandwich made with a variety of Italian meats and a thick layer of olive salad. The Central Grocery in the French Quarter claims to have invented the sandwich in 1906, but it can be found all over the city — including in the Central Business District at Cochon Butcher ($12).

Place names can also be tricky — many are derived from French but have long since evolved into something uniquely New Orleanian. Sound like a local when you mention Chartres St. (char-ters), Lake Pontchartrain (pahn-chuh-train) and the Tremé (truh-may).

6.  New Orleans sports teams compete in all of the following professional leagues except one. Which is it?

a.      National Football League
b.      National Basketball League
c.       Arena Football League
d.      Major League Soccer

Answer: Major League Soccer. Sports run deep in the south, and the New Orleans Hornets NBA club and the VooDoo arena football team have no shortage of ardent supporters. But for sheer sports-induced agony and ecstasy, no other local team tops the Saints football franchise. Once a source of acute shame for New Orleanians — during the team’s darkest days, dismayed fans nicknamed them the “Aints” — the Saints rose to superstar status with their 2010 Super Bowl win, an event that served as a sorely needed morale booster during the city’s long post-Katrina recovery. The stadium’s been sold out in perpetuity since 2006, but you can still get into the gameday spirit at Cooter Brown’s, an Uptown sports bar with its own devoted fan base.

7.  A year after Hurricane Katrina hit, New Orleans was reduced to around 200,000 residents. Pre-storm, what was the population of the city?

a.       1 million
b.      755,000
c.       455,000
d.      255,000

Answer: 455,000. The Category 3 hurricane turned hundreds of thousands of New Orleanians into refugees, scattering them all across the country — but the city’s population has risen steadily since the storm, and rebuilding continues in the areas hit worst by the disaster. For a firsthand look at how historic neighborhoods are bouncing back, visitors can join a Ninth Ward Rebirth Bike Tour, a four-hour cruise through the battered-but-not-beaten Lower Ninth Ward — with plenty of stops for resting (outside Fats Domino’s longtime home), refueling with Po’ Boys (at a local sandwich shop) and meeting area residents and community figures ($55). Ten percent of the tour fees goes to the Lower Ninth Ward Village community center and other charities. Or for an even more hands-on experience, sign up online (at least a week in advance) to volunteer with a local organization such as Rebuilding Together New Orleans, a nonprofit dedicated to rehabilitating structures in Katrina-damaged neighborhoods.

8.  Which infamous New Orleans-based pirate has a National Historical Park named after him?  

a.      Edward Teach (Blackbeard)
b.      Jean Lafitte
c.       Henry Morgan
d.      John Rackam (Calico Jack)

Answer: Jean Lafitte. Honoring a buccaneer with his own national park might seem like a puzzling decision, but Jean Lafitte was no run-of-the-mill marauder. The early 19th-century Lafitte repeatedly clashed with the United States government — what he termed privateering, they called smuggling — but he earned his reprieve by contributing to the American effort in the War of 1812. Today, his legacy survives in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, a multi-site park that includes several cultural centers, the 23,000-acre Barataria nature preserve and the Chalmette Battlefield, where he helped young America triumph over the British. You’ll also see Lafitte’s name pop up on less staid attractions around the city, including the venerable Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, a bar and music venue whose building predates the pirate himself, and Cafe Lafitte in Exile, purportedly the country’s oldest gay club.

9.  Which New Orleans neighborhood is the subject of a current HBO television series?

a.      The French Quarter
b.      The Garden District
c.       The Tremé
d.      The Ninth Ward

Answer: The Tremé. Set and filmed in the historic Tremé neighborhood just northwest of the French Quarter, HBO’s “Treme” (now taping its third season) follows the lives of a diverse cast of both locals and out-of-towners — buskers, cops, businessmen and chefs — in the months following Hurricane Katrina. Naturally, the show has been subject to intense scrutiny from residents. (The local Times-Picayune newspaper runs a regular feature explaining the show’s insider references — and pointing out its rare missteps.) Still, the show has won fans for its depiction of post-storm New Orleans and for featuring some of the city’s most treasured spots, such as Angelo Brocato’s, an ice cream shop opened in 1905 that still sells gelato and lemon ice alongside Italian torrone candy ($9.25). At Bullet’s Sports Bar in the Seventh Ward, visitors can get a double dose of “Treme”: The bar was used as a filming site and features weekly performances by Kermit Ruffins, a local trumpeter who plays himself on the show.

10.  Pat O’Brien’s bar in the French Quarter is famous for inventing which of the following local cocktails? (Hint: It was very topical in 2005.)

a.      The Sazerac
b.      The Hurricane
c.       The Creole Bloody Mary
d.      The Absinthe Frappe

Answer: The Hurricane. Drive-through daiquiri shops and the anything-goes attitude of Bourbon Street may have given the city a certain reputation, but the cocktail culture in New Orleans is anything but cheap. From Pat O’Brien’s fruity, rum-based Hurricane ($8), invented here in the 1940s, to the Absinthe Frappe, minted in the 1860s and still drawing customers at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street (from $16), the creative spirits run deep in New Orleans, and the specialty-drinks scene continues to evolve with every passing year. At upscale newcomer Oak, libations like the bourbon-and-bitters Satchmo — named for the city’s favorite son, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong — and the Lagniappe, made with locally-produced rum, lemon and lime juices, and brandied cherries, pay tribute to tradition without being stuck in the past (cocktails from $8).

11.  What is Marie Laveau’s place in New Orleans history?

a.      She was an early governor of the state
b.      She helped spread jazz music across the country
c.       She became known as the city’s voodoo queen
d.      She popularized Creole cuisine

Answer: She became known as the city’s voodoo queen. As the story goes, the French Quarter-born Laveau, daughter of a white planter father and a Creole mother, gained access to the city’s elite through her work as a hairdresser in the early 1800s, becoming known for her spiritual advice and, eventually, her talents in the black arts. (Voodoo rites began to spread in the 1700s, with the influx of enslaved Africans brought to the state by wealthy French and Spanish landowners from the Caribbean.) Today, Laveau is the mascot for many of the city’s tourist-oriented ventures, such as Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo on Bourbon Street, where gris-gris (gree-gree) charms promise protection against life’s ills, and her burial site in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 has become an attraction in its own right.

12.  Which renowned New Orleans landmark was originally built in the 18th century?

a.      The Mercedes-Benz Superdome
b.      St. Louis Cathedral
c.       The New Orleans Cotton Exchange Building
d.      The Louisiana Supreme Court Building

Answer:  The St. Louis Cathedral. The city’s preeminent religious symbol, St. Louis Cathedral has stood watch over the French Quarter’s Jackson Square — a popular gathering place for artists, tarot readers and live music performers — for more than 200 years. In fact, it’s one of the oldest continuously functioning cathedrals in the nation, and visitors are welcome to explore inside when services are not being held (donations are accepted). The adjacent Louisiana State Museum, headquartered in the former Spanish municipal government building (completed in 1799), focuses on the city’s early history, displaying such artifacts as Native American artworks and the death mask of Napoleon Bonaparte (adult admission $6, children 12 and under free).

13.  What is the Zulu Mardi Gras parade famous for tossing into the crowds?  Hint: There’s a city law that waives the group from liability for throw-related injuries.

a.      Flowers
b.      Coconuts
c.       Masks
d.      Dollar bills

Answer: Coconuts. The Zulu tradition of lobbing decorated coconuts dates to at least 100 years ago. The various “krewes” (parade groups) are distinguished by their throws — some create custom-minted doubloon coins with a new design each year — but nothing can compete with the Zulu coconuts, which are traditionally hand-embellished with gold paint and glitter. Other parades have their own twists: Each year Rex crowns the “King of Carnival” — often a locally-sourced celebrity — and many parades feature performances by marchers waving flambeaux, torches that light the way for the parade floats.

Can’t decide which parades to watch? If you’re looking for spectacle, grab a spot at Endymion, Orpheus or Bacchus, whose elaborate floats and superstar guests showcase New Orleans at its most decadent. If you’re just seeking swag, try one of the “truck parades,” which roll with simpler floats but darken the skies with flurries of beads, toys, candy and other Fat Tuesday paraphernalia. As the holiday approaches, check local newspapers such as the Times-Picayune for parade routes and schedules.

14.  At 1,300 acres, which New Orleans attraction is larger than the combined area of the National Mall in D.C. and New York’s Central Park?

a.      Audubon Zoo
b.      New Orleans City Park
c.       The French Quarter
d.      Riverwalk Marketplace

Answer: New Orleans City Park. Packed with walking trails, lagoons, playgrounds, and sports fields, New Orleans City Park is one of the country’s largest urban parks. It’s also home to the New Orleans Museum of Art, a five-acre sculpture garden with works by Henry Moore and Louise Bourgeois (entry to museum and sculpture garden $10 for adults, $6 for kids ages 5-12), and the 12-acre New Orleans Botanical Garden ($6 entry fee, $3 for kids 5-12). There, you’ll find themed orchards (the Yakumo Nihon Teien Japanese Garden, which displays examples of bonsai and ikebana), a butterfly walk and the largest stand of Spanish moss-draped live oaks in the world.

15.  Which of the following films used New Orleans as a filming location and setting?

a.      ”Easy Rider”
b.      “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
c.       “Live and Let Die”
d.       All of the above

Answer: All of the above. Enticed by the city’s evocative scenery and historic architecture, film directors have given New Orleans frequent billing on the silver screen. The elaborate, above-ground tombs of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the city’s oldest burial ground, made an appearance in the 1969 film “Easy Rider,” starring Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. The 1973 Bond flick “Live and Let Die” opened with a stealth assassination — disguised as a Dixie funeral procession — on Chartres Street in the French Quarter. And more recently, the city had a starring role in 2008’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” part of which was filmed at the Lanaux Mansion BB, a Victorian vision of ornate, cast-iron balconies and delicate floral wallpaper (from $169).

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New Orleans has reclaimed its vibrancy after Hurricane Katrina and will delight and woo you with its mojo.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/16/10426733-15-things-you-didnt-know-about-new-orleans

One of the famous Mardi Gras Indians, right, appears at a news conference Jan. 6, 2009, in New Orleans.

Whether you have ever set foot in New Orleans during the bacchanalian days building up to Fat Tuesday or not, you have a pretty good idea of what Mardi Gras entails: drinking, parades, beads, Bourbon Street, masks and, yes, some more drinking.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

According to Ronald Lewis, founder and director of the House of Dance and Feathers cultural museum (1317 Tupelo Street), “It’s taken a long time for the outside world to realize that there is much more to Mardi Gras than just the French Quarter. Mardi Gras is what makes the people of New Orleans who we are.”

The beads, beer and Bourbon Street festival is one (very fun) aspect, but the deeper cultural event is what makes Mardi Gras so sacred to locals and visitors who venture beyond the main party. From the folk art of the Mardi Gras Indians to the culinary and family elements, Mardi Gras is not just a top New Orleans event, but one of the great American cultural traditions.

Nowhere are these traditions more apparent than with the Mardi Gras Indians. Tracing their roots back to when Native Americans aided runaway African slaves, these dancers and musicians dress in elaborate “Indian” costumes of hand-sewn beadwork. The costumes take all year to create and are worn only once.

Lewis, who has been involved with the Indians for more than 45 years, says that the costumes “have been handmade by individuals and sewing committees since the 1800s and are among of the best traditional folk art in the United States.”

New Orleans is rightly famous for both its traditional cuisine and its variety of cutting-edge restaurants. But you need not shell out big bucks to sample the local goods. A classic Mardi Gras favorite is king cake and is sold everywhere from corner stores to cafes. It is braided Danish pastry iced in the purple, green and gold of Mardi Gras colors. Hidden in each cake is a miniature plastic baby doll. The person who finds the doll in their cake has to buy the next one.

Parts of the French Quarter can get a little too crowded and too R-rated for kids during the big event. Fortunately, the party actually extends for some 45 blocks along St. Charles Avenue. According to Mark Romig, CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., “The parks along St. Charles are full of blankets and coolers as Mardi Gras and the preceding weeks are an important time for multigenerational family get-togethers and picnics. Plus, St. Charles between First Street and Napoleon Avenue hosts a family-friendly parade where the whole family can cut loose together.” 

Year round, you can check out The Louisiana State Museum’s “Mardi Gras: It’s Carnival Time in Louisiana” exhibit at The Presbytere. No matter what you do, make sure to explore the many dimensions of what is not only the country’s most grand party, but also one of its great cultural treasures.

Lucas Jackson / © LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters/Corbis

New Orleans has reclaimed its vibrancy after Hurricane Katrina and will delight and woo you with its mojo.

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More on Itineraries

• New Orleans revs up for Mardi Gras celebration 
• What don’t you know about New Orleans
• Katrina-battered hotel finally ready to reopen

 

 

Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/16/10427078-mardi-gras-beyond-beer-beads-and-bourbon-street

A member of the Krewe du Vieux parades through the streets of the French Quarter on Feb. 4 in New Orleans. The parade is one of the earliest of the Mardi Gras season and is known for its satirical themes.

The beads are ready to be tossed, the costumed crowds are in the mood to party and tourism officials are smiling.

It can only mean one thing: It’s Mardi Gras time in New Orleans.

“It is the event of the year. It’s our largest, in terms of economic benefit. It is probably the most iconic celebration for the city,” said Jennifer Day-Sully, a spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

About a million people are expected to take part in the festivities over the 12 days leading up to Fat Tuesday, which falls on Feb. 21 this year, Day-Sully said. The city doesn’t break that number down into out-of-town visitors and local attendees.

A similar attendance figure was reported last year, but Mark Romig, the CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, is hoping 2012 will end up the biggest Mardi Gras in 25 years.

“We’re working 24/7 to make sure that happens,” he said. “I think the numbers are moving in that direction.”

There’s a lot at stake for the city. A Tulane University study showed the economic impact of Mardi Gras on New Orleans amounted to $300 million in 2011, Romig said. For every $1 the city spent on services to support Mardi Gras — such as sanitation and security — it received $8.50 back in tax revenue. So officials are happy to see the party recover to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels.

New touches for 2012 include the debut of an all-female krewe — or a club that puts on a parade. Meet the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, which paraded through New Orleans on Feb. 15. (Nyx, in case you’re wondering, is the Greek goddess of night.) The parades have historically been dominated by men so it’s always fun to see an all-ladies club, Day-Sully said.

Visitors will also see new floats unveiled this year, including the highly anticipated Butterfly King float from the Rex Organization, Romig said.

“It’s going to be gorgeous,” he predicted.

A big trend this year is the growth and popularity of grassroots marching clubs, Day-Sully said. So while visitors may be most familiar with the big parades involving elaborate floats surrounded by huge crowds, the celebrations organized by marching clubs are far more informal, accessible affairs.

“Basically, they involve dressing up in a costume and meeting up in some pre-determined area. Usually there’s a brass band coming along and dancing through the street,” Day-Sully said.

“I really encourage people who are coming for Mardi Gras to really do their research and try to seek out one of these … to not just be a spectator but to participate.”

She suggested checking out Mondo Kayo, a Caribbean-themed marching club that hits the streets on Mardi Gras morning, or the Saint Anne parade that starts in the Bywater neighborhood.

Mardi Gras is bigger than Halloween in New Orleans as far as costumes go, Day-Sully said, so you’ll want to dress up, or at least wear a wig or some sparkly clothing.

Costumes often reflect what’s happening in popular culture. Day-Sully has a friend who is planning to dress up this year as one of the young beauty queens from the controversial TLC reality show “Toddlers Tiaras.” There might also be a few people channeling Whitney Houston, she predicted. It’s all part of the creative spirit of the city.

“The more you put into Mardi Gras, the more you get out. So if you dress up or you make funny signs, you’ll be tossed better presents and it really contributes to the overall feeling,” Day-Sully said.

Lucas Jackson / © LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters/Corbis

New Orleans has reclaimed its vibrancy after Hurricane Katrina and will delight and woo you with its mojo.

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• Mardi Gras beyond beer, beads and Bourbon Street 
• What don’t you know about New Orleans 
• Katrina-battered hotel finally ready to reopen

 

Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/17/10426343-new-orleans-revs-up-for-mardi-gras-celebration

National Constitution Center

“From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen” will be on display Feb. 17-Sept. 3 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

A museum devoted to the bedrock of American democracy will from Feb. 17 through Sept. 3 celebrate a more visceral sort of rock: The music of Bruce Springsteen.

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is presenting, “From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen.”

Originating at the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, where the exhibition was featured next to the likes of Elvis and Elton, The Boss will now be rubbing monumental shoulders with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

“No other artist is as steeped in Americana or has better told the story of the American dream than Bruce Springsteen,” said David Eisner, the center’s CEO. “He’s the perfect artist for a center devoted to the robust discussion of American values to feature.”

America has one national anthem, but Americans have dozens, many of them — “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Promised Land,” “Born to Run,” and “The Rising” — composed and performed by Springsteen and the E Street Band. Over the past 40 years, Springsteen has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and helped define American character as surely as Uncle Sam.

“The only other artists so connected to America are Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, but even compared to them he’s fairly unique,” said Jim Henke, curator of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. “His songs deal with the struggles as much as the dreams.”

National Constitution Center

The jeans Bruce Springsteen wore on the cover of “Born in the U.S.A.”

Springsteen also differs from other artists, Henke said,  in that he had an innate recognition that he was doing something that was transcending the music.

“He saved everything,” Henke said. “So we have the Fender guitar featured on the cover of ‘Born to Run.’ We have the jeans he wore on the cover of ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ The exhibit is a very comprehensive look at his life and his career going clear back to his childhood.”

Eisner, whose favorite album is the stark “Nebraska” from 1982, said he’s been particularly pleased to thumb through the lyric notebooks.

“His penmanship on things like set lists is very hurried, but with the lyrics you can tell he was almost reverential with the words he was composing to songs like ‘Jungleland,’ ” Eisner said.  “It’s also fun to see some of the changes he made from before recording the songs.”

With Springsteen playing shows in Philadelphia on March 28 and 29, Eisner is besieged by friends who are begging for any hint that The Boss will come to the exhibit.

Henke said it happened in Cleveland.

“I called up his assistant and said the show was closing and we’d be happy to give him a private tour,” he said. “He said that wasn’t necessary. So on the very last day of the Springsteen exhibit, on a packed weekend, many fans were treated to seeing the Bruce Springsteen exhibit with Bruce Springsteen himself. And he couldn’t have been nicer.”

More on Intineraries

• Where to celebrate Presidents Day
• New Mob Museum highlights Las Vegas’ history
• Museums highlight Black History Month

Chris Rodell is a Latrobe, Pa., freelance writer who blogs at www.EightDaysToAmish.com. Read his 2009 Springsteen album-by-album blog retrospective here.

 

 

 

Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10416565-museum-showcases-bruce-springsteens-american-dream