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This America page contains some pictures from my third trip to the States.
In 1997 I went to the Deep South together with Linda and Ragna. We visited Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia again. After that we flew to Washington DC and spent a few days there.
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One of the places we visited on our trip was
New Orleans, "The Big Easy". Coming from Natchez, Mississippi, we entered Louisiana via Route 61. There was a tourist information
centre on the stateline where two nice ladies asked us if we were going to New Orleans. When we said we were they told
us they were certain we had never seen anything like that city. I told them we were from Europe and expected it would look
rather French and, having been to Paris a few times, we didn't expect to be very surprised. They maintained New Orleans
was unlike any other city we had ever seen...
Not so, I'm afraid. It does look very French,
especially the French Quarter (hardly surprising, is it?) and it also shows some Spanish influences. So we absolutely didn't
feel we were experiencing anything that was unique.
This is not to say that New Orleans wasn't
nice, because we certainly liked it! One huge drawback as far as I'm concerned though was the temperature and the humidity.
It was really awfully hot (over 40 Celsius) and very humid (way over 90%).
Here are a few pictures I took on the day
we spent in downtown New Orleans. They're all clickable.
| New Orleans |
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| Somewhere in the French Quarter |
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| Lafitte's, reputedly the oldest purpose-built bar in the States |
| New Orleans, Louisiana |
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| The Mississippi River |
WASHINGTON, DC
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| The Capitol as seen from the Washington Monument |
Aftr two weeks in the Deep South we flew to Washington
DC and spent a few days there. I had been there before on a one-day trip coming from New York City, but this time we had plenty
of opportunity to see everything. My favourites: the Mall, its museums, Ford's Theatre, and the National Geographic.
Among the museums I liked the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of American
History, and the Hirshhorn.
| View from Lincoln Memorial |
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Click here to visit the National Mall site.
| View from Arlington, Virginia |
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NASHVILLE, TN
The photos below show how boring and dull most American
cities are when you are downtown: and Nashville was no exception. There are virtually no shops, there's little streetlife,
and just offices. Shops have been moved to the malls on the outskirts of most towns. On the one hand that's very convenient,
because there's plenty of parking space (a big problem in most European cities), but on the other hand I value the hustle
and bustle of European town centres. There are exceptions of course: New York City, San Francisco and New Orleans spring
to mind here, but they remain exceptions. Even Washington's downtown area is pretty dull outside the vicinity of the
Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue. It's a shame, really...
| Downtown 2 |
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| Advertising near the Planet Hollywood |
| Nashville trolley: Linda and Ragna on the right |
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MEMPHIS, TN
| Downtown |
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| View from the rooftop of the Peabody Hotel |
Downtown Memphis isn't all that exciting, either...
The Peabody Hotel was interesting with its ducks in the lobby and nice view from the rooftop, but otherwise only Beale Street
had anything like the feel of a bustling place... We weren't there at nighttime, though...
I regret we missed the museum dedicated to Martin Luther King, but we did see
Graceland...
| Mississippi River |
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| Across the river in the distance: the I-40 heading into Arkansas |
| Beale Street |
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| A Schwab's is on the right |
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| CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON MEMPHIS |
Even though I've never been an Elvis fan, we decided
to visit Graceland when we were in Memphis. It was quite impressive, if only because the house showed Elvis' total lack of
any good taste. The house itself isn't too bad, for one thing it's not all that big. Inside the house we were quite amazed
to see how anyone could wish to furnish his home with such kitsch.
Graceland has become a real moneyspinner: you can make different tours, one
of which includes his personal plane and his collection of monstrous cars. We just stuck to the house and felt that was quite
enough...
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