Mardi Gras 2006

In February 2004, I attended Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It kicked ass. I can barely remember all the details, but I think it was something like this:




Ok that wasn't fair - New Orleans is a beautiful city and Bourbon Street deserves more respect than that:




Now in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the city has again come together to celebrate Mardi Gras. Even if it was shorter than the normal Mardi Gras, it still proved the point that a city must continue its traditions in order to get through the toughest times. New Orleans may never look exactly the same after Katrina, but its spirit hasn't gone anywhere.

The celebration still continues on the streets and balconies and you can see Katrina's effect on the parades and floats:







Not far away from the celebration the city still looks like this:



It is kind of strange that people are taking tours of the devastated areas. The fact that destroyed homes are a tourist attraction creeps me out - but I guess New Orleans needs all the visitors it can get right now - and if seeing the homes keeps people remembering what happened then that is a good thing.

I am proud of New Orleans and its desire to keep the Mardi Gras tradition and rebuild its city. I hope that this celebration moves the city in a positive direction of reconstruction and that 2007's Mardi Gras will be better than ever!

(Pictures courtesy of Yahoo News)