mardi gras Archives - Working 2 Live, Living 2 Travel

5 ways to celebrate Mardi Gras off Bourbon Street

“How did you earn those beads? *Wink *Wink”

Ever since Chris and I returned from Mardi Gras a couple of weeks ago, we’ve been giving out strands of beads to anyone we visit. Inevitably, I always get the sly question of how I earned so many beads. With that devilish look in my eye, I coyly reveal my big secret – I put my hands in the air, t-shirt (and this year, coat) fully intact. Literally, that’s all there is to it. No flashing required (unless you want to, and we’re not judging).

The Family-Friendly Mardi Gras

For those who have never been, there is this giant misconception that you can only get beads in New Orleans if you’re some drunk party girl showing off all you’ve got or if you’re a hot guy egging on said drunk party girl to reveal the lady lumps to thousands of complete strangers and video cameras. Since returning, we’ve been told how only crazy sinners attend Mardi Gras, and we’ve been asked how church leaders could ever attend such an event but avoid the debauchery.

The truth is, Mardi Gras is so much more than what is portrayed in pop culture. It’s a celebration of tradition. We’ve seen entire families, from toddlers in strollers to grandmas in electric scooters, catching throws, or the items the parade participants throw from the floats, mainly beads. One family even told us how they come out and collect the throws of toys and other goodies for that year’s Christmas gifts. The police also strictly enforce the family areas in the city during Mardi Gras, and you will get ticketed/arrested for flashing outside the zone of pretty much anywhere except Bourbon Street.

My first Mardi Gras in 2012, I had to leave about 400 necklaces of beads in the hotel room because I didn’t have enough space for them in my luggage with all the other beads. This year, we brought back probably 500 necklaces, eight Zulu coconuts and a host of other throws. I’ve never once lifted my shirt in New Orleans.

Even though I recommend you at least walk down Bourbon Street once (that’s all I do, that’s all you need) to witness the full-on lewdness, there are so many other and better activities to take in during the Fat Tuesday celebrations.

1. Parades

From the beginning of the Mardi Gras season (typically in early February but dependent upon the Lunar calendar) to the day before Ash Wednesday, parades in and around the city are happening almost every day. Krewes, or social organizations, put on elaborate pageantry to ride through uptown, downtown, French Quarter and outlying area routes. You can download various apps to keep up with parade schedules. My top three parade recommendations are the Krewes of Zulu (gives out the most throws, especially the coveted hand-decorated coconuts), Muses (all-female Krewe known for its famous footwear throws) and Bacchus (its medallions are collector’s items and the Krewe always sports a celebrity for its monarch).

2. Mardi Gras Indians

Follow the Zulu parade on Mardi Gras day to its end at the underpass on Claiborne Avenue and wait to be even further wowed. As a nod to Native Indians, these New Orleans tribes hand-stitch their regalia to mask only three times a year: Mardi Grad day, Super Sunday and St. Joseph’s Night. The battles of the Mardi Gras Indians are some of the “prettiest” sights of Mardi Gras. Only worn once a season, the regalia of beads, gems and feathers adorn the Big Chief, Wild Man, Spy Boy, Flag Boy and now even the Big Queens as tribes face-off on the streets mainly in the Tremé neighborhood.

3. Mardi Gras Balls

If you’re fortunate enough to receive an invitation to an exclusive Krewe ball, be sure to save the invitation as some go for works of art alone. Each Krewe has its own soiree, usually the evening after its parade. These elegant affairs are the social events of the year. Think Old South debutante balls, where real-life debutantes are introduced to society. We were lucky enough to catch the grand entrance of the King and Queen of Carnival into the ball where the Courts of the Krewe of Rex and the Mistick Krewe of Comus were meeting, the highlight of Mardi Gras royalty.

4. Costumes

As I love Halloween for the time of year you can dress up as anything or anyone else you want to be, I adore Mardi Gras for the same reason. Everywhere you look, and especially on Mardi Gras day, you can find the magical, mystical, funny, satirical, cute, ugly, scary, inspiring and beautiful costumes born of creative imaginations of all people.

5. Ste. Anne’s Memorial Ceremony

If you would like to honor a loved one passed, ashes or other mementos can be spread out upon the waters of the Mississippi River as the Krewe of Ste. Anne dips and waves its ribbon-covered hula hoops over the crowd, baptizing them in the muddy water. Started in the 1980s to honor AIDS victims, the ceremony follows the end of the Krewe of Rex parade on Mardi Gras day to the river bank. I have already provided for this in my final wishes to Chris.

What is Mardi Gras?

More than screaming girls flashing for beads, more than drunk guys getting into fights, more than Hand Grenades drinks, Mardi Gras is a New Orleans tradition dating back to before the inception of the city. It’s a celebration open to all, no matter your preference of bead obtainment. As one friend and a member of the Krewe of Eve was quoted, Mardi Gras is more than a “bucket list thing.”

What would you most like to see at Mardi Gras?

-Monica

Where in the world is home?

Miles on Ponty = 8,000. Oil changes = 2. States visited = 12.

Where we’ve been

I’ve been keeping track of our lives through stats such as these since Chris and I returned to the States. I’ve been back since the first of January when I flew into New York City for my residency with Syracuse University. Chris has been back since the start of February when he flew into Jacksonville, Fla., just in time for the Super Bowl. I’m sitting in Alabama as I write this post, but I expect I will be on to another state by the time it posts.

We’ve visited friends and family in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. We’ve been tourists in Arkansas checking out Eureka Springs, Tennessee visiting Al Green’s church, Mississippi touring the birthplace of Elvis Presley, taking photos with Superman in Illinois, and catching beads at Mardi Gras in Louisiana.

Where we’re going

All this traveling has been between Chris working distantly for the office in China and me doing my freelance jobs and schoolwork. We are waiting on work visas to get back into Switzerland where Chris has officially accepted a (more) permanent position with his company working in the nuclear platform. Though we’re not sure when the visas will come in, we expect we’ll be leaving the U.S. in mid to late spring.

While we’re in the States and since this may be the last time we get this flexibility for a long time to come, we want to squeeze in as much as we can. We want to see as many of our friends and (likable) family members as we can, and we want to see as much of home as possible.

Where is home?

Speaking of home, we’ve been asked many times now where home is. We don’t really have a concrete answer for that. Is it Alabama where Chris’ family is, Georgia where mine is, or is it Virginia where our house is? Should we say Zürich since we’re heading there? Guest books now present a 10-minute discussion for us. Sometime we even just put Ponty down, my 13-year old Pontiac Sunfire.

Does home even have to be a physical place? Are we even from just one place? I was born in Germany, then moved to Texas, and I did almost all of my schooling in Georgia until I started at SU. Chris was born and raised in Alabama, but he now has been out of the state for more than a decade. Check out this TED talk and you be the judge of where home is.

What does this mean for Working 2 Live?

In the coming weeks, we’ll be focusing on WorkLife Travel Destinations posts mixed with some event recaps and visa instructions. Until we get back into Switzerland, we most likely will be slim on cultural posts. As always, though, we would love to hear from our WorkTrotters about what you all want to read. Any ideas? Let us know in the comments.

-Monica

WorkLife Destination: New Orleans

Want to know our favorite city? Of all time? It’s the Crescent City, the Big Easy, New Orleans.

We fell head-over-heels in love when we spent New Year’s there, ringing in 2009 listening to one of our favorite bands, native sons Better Than Ezra at the House of Blues. From the music to the architecture to the food to the people, there is just a culture and vibe there that can’t be found or topped anywhere else in the world. Somehow, someway we plan to make a home here one day.

Part of the reason we fell in love with this City Care Forgot is the resiliency of its people. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005, the city struggled to return to its former glory. Chris was fortunate enough to see pre-Katrina New Orleans in 2002 and comprehend the overall destruction through comparison. We saw major improvements between 2009 and 2012 when we returned for Mardi Gras. The city and its people never gave up on rebuilding, and little by little it has been returning and becoming better than ever.

Our Favorite Places

Jackson Square

Beautiful in its own right, we love to walk around the Square and admire the many paintings on display by art vendors. The walls of our living room in Virginia were decorated with the scenes of jazz musicians and French Quarter homes. At night, the sculpture of Andrew Jackson on horseback and the St. Louis Cathedral cast remarkable shadows over the square.

St. Louis Cemetery
Anywhere we visit, we enjoy walking through the cemeteries. The resting places for the departed can serve as art museums all on their own with magnificent sculptures and beautiful inscriptions. Some of the stateliest of these graves can be found in all three of the St. Louis cemeteries of New Orleans. Home to massive angles and other spiritual works, you’ll find the grave of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau in St. Louis Cemetery 1 marked with three Xs and statues desecrated by the stars of Easy Rider. Since the cemeteries can be sketchy, especially at night, we recommend taking guided tours.

Marie Laveau House of Voodoo

You won’t find Bourbon Street on our list of favorite places in New Orleans, but everyone should experience walking through the craziness at least once, as that will probably be all it takes. It’s the best way to get to the end where you’ll find a unique store that sells all the charms you need to conduct any voodoo ritual. Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo is full of interesting artwork and you can receive palm and tarot card readings here by an unique staff of New Orleans locals.

Mardi Gras World

Mardi Gras is one of the most extraordinary events we’ve ever witnessed. The atmosphere in New Orleans is even more extreme during this time, and it’s an experience you’ll cherish. It’s not just about co-eds flashing for beads and drunks acting like fools (but if that’s your thing, you’ll find more than enough on Bourbon Street), but there is a sense of community and family pride. The floats that carry the krewes down Canal Street are masterpieces; the rich traditions behind these parade clubs are masterful; and the regalia of the Mardi Gras Indians are stunning.

If you can’t make it to the city in February for the festivities, check out Mardi Gras World across the Mississippi River in Old Algeirs. Here you can take a tour and see how the floats are made, learn about the history of Mardi Gras, and try a piece of King Cake.

Backstreet Cultural Museum

Found in a small house on Henriette Delille Street, this museum is the life work of Sylvester Francis, starting with photos of Indians as the marched in the streets of the Tremé neighborhood. Francis is a grand storyteller, explaining the duties of a Wild Man and how the Chief personally works on his own suit for the entire year before Mardi Gras. One of the most intriguing activities we’ve ever watched, an Indian club practice is mesmerizing with the chants and drums.

New Orleans, like New York City, is a place we could write for days-on-end about. There is a plethora of sights to see and activities to enjoy no matter your taste.

Eats

Growing up, I have fond memories of my granddaddy and me watching Justin Wilson’s cooking show as he prepared everything from gumbo to jambalaya to alligator stew. Wilson was my first view of New Orleans cuisine and my cousin, Janet, a Louisiana native, gave me my first tastes of gumbo and jambalaya. I was hooked.

When I first visited the beautiful city, I couldn’t seem to get enough of its famous foods, especially the red beans and rice. So, first time to ever happen on our blog, but we don’t have any restaurant suggestions for New Orleans (other than you must at least once try the world-famous beignets and coffee at Café Du Monde in the French Quarter). This is because we try new restaurants, from upscale to hole-in-wall type places, every time we’re in town. There are so many great places to go. We usually get muffalettas somewhere on Decatur Street; red beans and rice can be found at quick places off Canal Street; and we had a delicious gumbo at a more upscale restaurant at the entrance of Bourbon Street.

Have a restaurant recommendation for New Orleans? Let us know, and we’ll try it out during our next visit.

Working in New Orleans

Jobs have been coming back steadily in the Crescent City since the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. For Bullet Miller, a waitress working six days a week in a Midcity restaurant, the tourism trade is alive and thriving in New Orleans. She says the ease of finding work in the city’s service industry is the best thing about working in the Big Easy. She adds her customers are friendly, even more so than other Southern locations she’s been in, and she’s making good wages.

Bullet enjoys the city for its laid-back nature. “One of the most fun things about NOLA is that you can legally drink alcohol out on the street. You can go into a bar and order your drink to go and just stroll around with it. I love that simple freedom of living here.”

Her best recommendation for visiting the city is the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park. Admission is free Wednesdays, and the portrait of Marie Antoinette is amazing. “I always get so inspired and find something new.”

We give New Orleans a 10+ on our favorite places to be. What is your favorite city of all time?

-Chris & Monica

Glücklich Fasnacht

For the past two weekends, Christopher and I have seen some of the ugliest and scariest masks; been confetti-bombed a dozen times; threw back shots of Schnapps as if we were in college again; given candy to kids in every imaginable costume like it was Halloween; and danced Gangnam Style in the streets.

Who knew, but Switzerland celebrates Carnival! Here, it’s called Fasnacht, and each town has its own celebration. The first weekend, we celebrated in Chur. Everyone here was dressed in costume for the occasion, from the young to the old. We attended the afternoon parade where local groups play in full bands and pull floats, typically with a political jab. These groups are comparable to the krewes of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. Lots of candy, fruit and some toys are thrown to the spectators, but whereas Mardi Gras is known for beads, Fasnacht is known for confetti. It’s thrown from the floats, and some of the group members come into the crowd to pour bags of it on spectators. By the end of the parade, the street isn’t even visible for the confetti.

We attended our second Fasnacht celebration in Basel, which has the only Protestant Carnival in the world. Costumes were mainly worn by the children here, but it wasn’t any less of a party atmosphere. Confetti continued to be abundant and it seemed more parade participants offered shots or beer to spectators. The main difference between Chur and Basel seemed to be the parade participant’s costumes. Whereas in Chur most groups had elaborate face paintings, Basel members had intricate masks.

Each town sells its own Fasnacht pin with proceeds going to the groups to buy the masks, costumes, musical equipment, and other festival-related costs. If you’re wearing the pin, the better your odds at getting goodies from the parade participants instead of confetti-bombed.

After the parades, the bands make their ways throughout the evening into local restaurants to play inside for diners. There are also small comedy groups that perform inside, usually taking jabs at politicians, government and other organized institutions.

Outside of Basel in Liestal is the Chienbäse, a night parade that has been continuous since the Middle Ages. Firefighters carry large torches through the streets and push carts carrying burning fires with flames 12 feet into the air. If you can stand the smoke, it’s a sight to behold. The next morning at 4, we attended Morgenstreich, the world-famous parade of lanterns in the main city of Basel. All of the lights in town are turned out, and the groups march playing only piccolo flutes and drums. The participants carry lanterns on their heads while the floats are lighted from inside. Unlike the other parades, this one has no set route. Millions of people are just wandering among the darkened streets following the light and music.

After this early-morning parade, the Couchsurfers we stayed with prepared us a traditional Fasnacht breakfast of Mehlsuppe, a brown flour soup, and Zwiebelwähe, a cheese and onion quiche. We were told traditionally you would wash this all down with beer, but by that point, we had reached our limit.

Fasnacht is the one time of year that the Swiss are allowed to cut loose and enjoy themselves. All the rules the country is known so well for are thrown out the window. We had a wonderful, if not exhausting, time during Fasnacht, and we look forward to celebrating more holidays here. We’ve been told Easter is a pretty big deal, too.

What holidays would you like to celebrate abroad?

-Monica

Working 2 Live, Living 2 Travel

Tag: mardi gras

The Family-Friendly Mardi Gras

What is Mardi Gras?

Where we’ve been

Where we’re going

Where is home?

What does this mean for Working 2 Live?