 |
| MOST OF THE TRAINS WERE A LITTLE BETTER THAN THIS ONE |
 |
| SOME NEW ORLEANS HOUSES COULD DO WITH A LITTLE WORK |
The rail journey from Toccoa to New Orleans was over 14 hours and since I had travelled into another time zone I had to put my watch back by another hour. As I watched the urban and rural landscapes pass by from my window-side seat, the immense scale of the USA compared to the UK was apparent.
A group of lads, I would guess in their early 20's, came aboard at Birmingham, Alabama. They asked if I would swop seats so they could all sit together, and I was happy to comply as long as they arranged the swop through the attendant. They helped me move my bags and then insisted I take a $20 tip. I had been getting used to the tipping culture in the USA, but this was the first time I had been a recipient of one.
Only then did I open the book given to me by Todd and Joy to find that they had signed it with love.
The train was much noisier than before due to the rowdy banter of two groups of youngsters on their way to N'awlins (as I now understood you pronounced it) for weekend stag parties.
When I finally arrived at Union Passenger Terminal, my initial impressions as I stepped out of the station were not good. Whilst many of the wooden buildings looked colourful and quaint from a distance, close to they were dirty, shabby and poorly maintained, with paint peeling and rubbish strewn around.
I walked to the Bourbon House Hostel, to be greeted on arrival by Ty, who gave me a tour of the facilities. I had a room on my own because I was an oldie. When I told him about some of places I planned to walk to, he was concerned, not because of the distance but because of the danger of being mugged along the way. Apparently I had already walked through some potentially dangerous areas on my way from the station.
I was clearly seeing another side of the USA here. I took his advice and booked a 'City Orientation' tour for the following morning. I then walked a 'safe' route to Walmart to buy provisions. As I walked around the store I was conscious that people with my skin colour were in the minority. I wondered if black people sometimes feel that way in predominantly white areas.
