5 reasons to visit New Orleans

Food

With world-class cuisine reflecting its rich eclectic history, New Orleans is one of the culinary capitals of the U.S. One dish that you should try on your next trip is gumbo, a stew with okra, chicken, sausage or seafood, served over rice. Another specialty served with rice is étoufée, a rich Creole dish of crawfish or shrimp smothered in a stew. If you’re tired of rice and stews, you can grab a po’boy, a Louisiana version of the submarine sandwich consisting of meat or seafood, dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise, and held together within two halves of flaky, soft French bread. The story goes that po’boys were first eaten by poor workers (poor boys) who went on strike in the 1920s, hence the abbreviated name. If you have a sweet tooth, you should try beignets, similar to Slovenian “miške”, but literally buried in powdered sugar. The beignets at New Orleans’ Café du Monde and Café Beignet are unbeatable.

Music

New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz. Jazz is – just like many other great things in the city – a blend of many musical genres: from ragtime, blues, European classical music to African and Cuban rhythms. Some say jazz developed from the drumming and Voodoo rituals that took place in New Orleans' Congo Square before the Civil War. Many early jazz musicians played in the bars and brothels of the red-light district called Storyville. One such musician is Buddy Bolden, the father of jazz, as well as the famous trumpeter, Louis Armstrong.

As such, the city is home to a number of intimate concert venues that generally charge cheap admission fees. Even if you’re not a big fan of jazz music, you will surely find something that will make you go out and dance.

Magic

New Orleans can be a spooky place. It is here that enslaved West Africans merged their religious rituals with those of the local Catholic population. This gave rise to Voodoo, a religion about connection to nature, spirits and ancestors. Voodoo gained popularity in the 18th century during the slave uprising in the Caribbean when many of the planters from Haiti fled to New Orleans, bringing their slaves (and Voodoo) with them. At the time, many Voodoo practitioners were spiritual and political figures of power, for example Marie Laveau, the legendary queen of Voodoo. You can visit her tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. To learn more about the belief you can also visit the Voodoo Museum, attend a Voodoo walking tour or visit one of many Voodoo shops to buy gris-gris dolls, potions and talismans.

Nightlife

The Crescent City is known for its vibrant nightlife. The French Quarter is packed with bars, concert venues and people hopping from one party to another carrying along the “to-go” cocktails – yes, New Orleans is one of the few cities in the US where it’s allowed to drink outside. Due to the city’s significance in the development of music, there is almost always a festival of some sort happening. The most famous one is Mardi Gras, which takes place every year on Shrove Tuesday at the beginning of March. It is a two-week long festival, full of colourful parades, extravagant costumes, shining beads, all-night partying and general good spirit.

Architecture

New Orleans is a city of rich history and multicultural heritage, which is reflected in its diverse architectural styles. The city was founded in 1718 by the French and it developed around the Vieux Carré (Old Square in English) from which the French Quarter evolved, regarded by many as the hub of the city. There you can admire quaint creole cottages and brightly coloured townhouses with intricate iron and woodwork that add a romantic touch to the city. Further uptown and in the Garden District you can find urban versions of French-Colonial plantations with porches and columns that stretch all the way across the front. Besides its historic charms, New Orleans also has many examples of modernist and contemporary architecture.

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