Monday, August 01, 2005

New Orleans

New Orleans is a very fascinating city. While in many ways San Francisco (which I visited earlier in the year) is a city in love with other cultures, New Orleans is indisputably a city in love with its own cultures. If America is the great melting pot, New Orleans is a part that hasn't been stirred in a while. The co-existence of cultures is something to see.

Lousiana has parishes, not counties, reflecting its Catholic heritage, and St. Louis Cathedral is the one immaculate building in the French Quarter which otherwise seems to take pride in being somewhat run down. And yet the short section of Chartres with a street sign naming it Place John Paul II is the daily home of psychics and tarot card readers.

Staying for only a week and frequenting tourist targets it was hard to get a feel for what's genuine and what's show, but on the whole I'd say New Orleans has some great things to contribute to the spirituality of the country.

1 comment:

LutheranChik said...

The music certainly contributes.;-)

(Welcome back, Mel!)