The South: a different way of life

Once again, time simply flew by, and it took a few days to digest all the impressions. The wildlife there is just amazing: from otters..

..over parrots..
..to a whole life cycle of butterflies basically on the same plant..

..we always felt as if we were on a safari.

However, the different lifestyle also caused a slight cultural shock, even for Matt, the New Orleanian. We had to get used to the fact that the TVs are on all the time everywhere, even when you have guests.. this would be considered rude in Austria. Also, we had to get used to not walking or moving at all.. I even had to give myself a shot to dilute my blood, because my legs were hurting so bad from sitting around all the time.

Some commercials are a little cynic..
.. and having guns is so normal that you can even find bullet casings in the streets. Never saw that before..
Racism is still an issue [well, Austria is not really innocent when it comes to that, either..], as this little monument shows.
Simply put a cruzifix on the top of that KKK hat and you can leave it there standing.

Well, we most certainly had an awesome time with our friends and families, and we are looking forward to going back asap. But still, it is also nice to be back home.

2011/01/02 Matt's Birthday

My beloved husband has turned 31.. I guess, we're not the youngest anymore. However, the party was great, since a whole bunch of friends and relatives showed up, to watch the Saints lose and celebrate with the birthday kid.

The cake was awesome, by the way.. and baby daughter had a blast as well, as meonnet shows (same password).

2011/01/01 architecture

New Orleans is famous for its architecture. But not only the French Quarter is great, but also the Garden district with its beautiful houses from the 19th century.

The surroundings of the Big Easy are stunning, too. Every year I am amazed by the camps, again. It is simply unusual for us to see houses built up that high. Enjoy the slide show.

2010/12/22-23 Arriving and adjusting

It's been over a year! We're finally back in Venetian Isles at Emile's beautiful place.

In general, travelling with a baby is actually not that bad (certainly because we have the best baby ever..). The planes on transcontinental flights have baby bassinetts, which are great to put them down to sleep or play. Our little one only had some power naps, but we could rest a little, when she was playing in there.

The jetlag was not so bad, either - she really did not mind that she had not had a decent sleep in over 24 hours. It took her a day to adjust, but now she's finally back on her old schedule, and lets us sleep during the night.

After our arrival Emile' showed us his old new place. Not only had he renovated the outside, ..

..he had also fixed up our old room really nicely.

Baby daughter made a new friend immediately. Oreo signed up for being the guarding dog and does not leave her any more. We got to be a little careful due to her huge paws, but the baby loves looking at her and sharing her little fingers to be licked (as usual, pictures of her are online at meonnet, password is still the same).

The first days we just used to overcome our jetlag, wherefore we just wandered around the neighborhood a little, ..

..hung out in the garden, ..

.. and enjoyed the view from the porch. I had almost forgotten how gorgeous it is.

Glad to be back!

2009/10/20 boat ride

after a productive day of studying and the slight feeling of exhaustion [which easily turns into grump..] matt took me out on a boat ride through the bayous. not only did we ride through the snake [a labyrinthine bayou]..

..but also did we go to lake pontchartrain and lake borgne, from where we could see the skyline of new orleans.

beside the huge amount of delicious seafood [which i am currently not really craving..], the bayous are the habitat of beautiful mammals: porpoises, which are closely related to dolphins.

enjoy the pics!

when we finally headed back, the sun was already setting.. which enabled us to catch some great impressions.

2009/10/18 saints game

back to new orleans, back to venetian isles!
just as a quick remembrance:

this is where we stay [at emile's house]..

our view from the porch..

emile on his way to work [shrimpin']..

and poor oreo waiting for him to return.
[sometimes she has company.]

sunday we had a huge party going on, since the saints were playing [and winning].


not only did i finally see matt's family again, but also did i meet wonderful new people.

matt's mom cindy

matt's brother mike and cindy's friend lydia

while matt went on a boat ride with his nephew david, we enjoyed the cakes, including the incredible bananenschnitten matt had cooked for my arrival.