Spring Break 2015: New Orleans

After visiting Tuscaloosa, the second city that I visited during my spring break of 2015 is New Orleans, Louisiana.

Instead of just traveling and sightseeing, the main purpose of my visit to New Orleans was for the education trek to learn more about New Orleans Public School system as almost all schools are charter school after Hurricane Katrina. But, there is no way that I will not take this opportunity to walk around the city and attend some museums that is available in the city. So, I planned my trip by arriving the city early in the morning before the trek, so that I will have time to explore the city.

St. Louis Cathedral next to Cafe du Monde

I started my day with a breakfast at Commerce Restaurant near the hotel that I stayed. I got a 'full' 2 biscuits & eggs "covered in spicy Cajun sausage, gooey cheese and spicy sauce." Then, I started to explore the city by walking toward the Mississippi River and St. Louis Cathedral. The cathedral was gorgeous with several horsecars parking in the front. Next to the cathedral was Cafe Du Monde, the most famous coffee shop in New Orleans. The first time I went there I did not get anything since I do not drink coffee and I figured there was not anything for me to get, plus I didn't want to wait in line since I only had one day to explore the whole city. However, I did go back to the cafe the next evening after my friend told me about beignet, a French fried dough. I knew that I definitely had to try this before I leave New Orleans. And it was not a mistake. The fried dough was warm, crunchy and sweet with some sugar on top. I would love to go back to New Orleans just to get this fried dough again.

Cafe Du Monde, a coffee shop in New Orleans since 1862

Beignet, French Fried Dough, my new favorite food from New Orleans

 After visiting the cathedral and Cafe Du Monde, I headed toward the National WWII museum which happened to be located in New Orleans. I like war museum, so I know that I will not miss a chance to visit this national war museum about World War Two. There are so much in this museum that 4 hours that I have before the closing time of the museum is not enough. I spent one hour watching a 4-D short film called 'Beyond All Boundaries' which gives a great overview of the second world war with lots of important battles and key moments in the war. The museum also collected lots of important stuffs about the war including a real Enigma Machine which Germans use as a cypher machine during the war and is the center piece for Oscar nominated films in 2014 called "The Imitation Game."

Enigma Machine, a cipher machine that German used during World War 2

They also had lots of different airplanes, tanks and weaponry that were used during the war. One rifle that I tried to look for during the visit is the M1-Garand Rifle (image below). I believe that this exact model is the rifle that Army Reserve Force Students, a military youth organization in Thailand under control of the Royal Thai Army, were used during the training. It was cool to see this rifle is kept in this museum while I, personally, have a chance to train with it during my military training in Thailand as a non-firing training rifle.

M1 Garand Rifle-I think the gun is similar to the gun that I used to practice during the military training in Thailand

I felt pretty tired after visiting the museum as I walked slowly back to the hotel and got ready for the trek that would begin the next morning.