When we woke up today it was a cold, dark, rainy morning, and it's a bit unsettling to hear thunderstorms in the distance when you're in New Orleans! On the other hand, we took a moment to acknowledge how unbelievably lucky we were to enjoy a beautiful, sunny day yesterday: if we'd had this rain… Continue reading Road to Memphis, Beale Street
Oak Alley, Houmas House
Some time ago I decided that we couldn't leave the South without seeing at least one plantation, and what better phase of the trip to see plantations than New Orleans? There are quite a few to choose from: Destrehan, Laura, Nottoway, San Francisco... And then I saw pictures of Oak Alley, and I knew that… Continue reading Oak Alley, Houmas House
The Presbytere, the Historic New Orleans Collection, Preservation Hall
Our third day in New Orleans and we're still the Only Europeans Left Alive in the whole state of Louisiana, or so we thought until we crossed some Italian guys today. Other than that, almost all tourists here are American, with a few Asian and Latin American representatives. It's an odd feeling when all the… Continue reading The Presbytere, the Historic New Orleans Collection, Preservation Hall
Lee Circle, Riverwalk
Today I woke up half an hour later than yesterday! I'm gonna get over this jetlag just in time to get jetlag when I come back!While doing research for the day's itinerary in the morning, I found out that ALL the museums in the French Quarter are closed on Mondays: the New Orleans Historic Collection,… Continue reading Lee Circle, Riverwalk
The French Quarter, the Steamboat Natchez
The wonders of jetlag: After having travelled for 22 hours yesterday, today I woke up at six in the morning lucid enough to perform surgery. It didn't help, of course, that right outside our house was a talented songbird that could effortlessly switch between the tunes of "backing forklift", "pedestrian crossing streetlight signal" and "burglar… Continue reading The French Quarter, the Steamboat Natchez
Down in the Treme
It's the start of a new adventure! For this new edition of This Is A Lake, we're going on our very own tour of the South of the United States, and the first port of call is New Orleans!The trip began, as all trips out of Paris must, with train troubles, when the RER B… Continue reading Down in the Treme
Naschmarkt, Schönbrunn Gardens, Spittelberg
Our last day in Vienna! Today we began by taking a quick peek at Naschmarket, a pleasant food market that happens to be just two blocks from our hotel. It's located in one long strip of pavement between rows of houses, so you can enter from one end of the street and just make your… Continue reading Naschmarkt, Schönbrunn Gardens, Spittelberg
The History Museum, Albertina, Neubau
The culture is coming out of my ears! Today, for the very first time these holidays, the weather was cold and rainy, so we took refuge in the History Museum, which is located in the same building as the Nationalbibliothek and the Ethnographic Museum (now called the Weld Museum). The building itself is grandiose and… Continue reading The History Museum, Albertina, Neubau
Leopold Museum, Nationalbibliothek, Prater
I'm exhausted! This was just our first full day in Vienna and it already feels like we've done three tours of the city. After so many days of walking, I get tired sooner every day...For our first visit today we went to the Museumsquartier, a complex off Heldenplatz that houses several museums and galleries. We… Continue reading Leopold Museum, Nationalbibliothek, Prater
Arriving in Vienna
Last night we bid farewell to Budapest in style, by having dinne at the New York Café, this gorgeous classical café where everything is gilded and basically just exactly the same as it was back when it was the meeting point of Budapest's literary elite. They even had a pianist at the hotel lobby that… Continue reading Arriving in Vienna