We are facing year 2000!
A change of a century! Once in a life time!
What is more appropriate than celebrating it in the USA?
But, the beginning of a year in our north part of the globe is connected with winter, and we are coming from a very hot country, not accustomed to drive in winter weather conditions!
Naturally we decide to visit the southern part of the USA, where at that time the weather is like our spring.
I read a lot about the Mardi-Grass, and I decided to celebrate it in the "center" of this event – New Orleans.
Many years ago we decided to avoid huge gatherings and we were due to break this rules, discovering later on, it was a big mistake!
Using the Internet, I found that at the year 2000 the Mardi-Grass should begin at the 5th of Mars.
We decided to arrive to the USA several days before the 5th in order to visit Washington DC.
We booked flying tickets to the USA with Continental Airlines, setting out on the 2nd
of Mars and returning on the 29th of Mars.
Washington DC.
We arrived to Washington DC after a sleepless flight over the Atlantic Ocean, rushed to our booked Super 8 motel, hopping for a new refresh wake up in the morning.
It was our second visit to this charming city. This time our main goal was to visit the new Holocaust Museum.
In the morning I had a new meeting with "Donuts", the only food there was for breakfast!
Studying the map, we decided that we could walk to the Congress Building. Indeed, it was a nice walk, bright sunny day, only few people on the streets.
We found that we could use the Internet in the Congress Library if we become members of it, so we passed the applying process, and got some American identification cards.
We wrote to our family about our safe arriving.
Our first place to visit was the FBI. We stood in the line with a very nice family from New Hampshire, sharing with them our experiences from visiting their charming state.
What impressed me the most was the collection of weapons they have and the lecture about the methods they use to solve crimes.
Our next place to visit was the Kennedy Centre. Why can't we have such a place at our home town?
The next morning was dedicated to visit the holocaust Museum.
As being the second generation to parents who were victims of the holocaust, we decided to visit it although we knew it will be a very emotional experience.
The first astonishing impression was the variety of people who came to visit this place.
It seems that suffer is a common feature among mankind and those who know the means of suffer come to share it with others.
The museum is arranged in a way that you cannot avoid any exhibition: you start from the first floor, have to continue to the top and go down to the exit.
Going out of the museum one had only one thought in his mind – not to allow it to happen again!
In the evening we booked a private tour of the city by night.
It was a delightful tour, visiting all the illuminated places of the city.
A very impressing visit was to the memorial wall for the soldiers who died in Vietnam.
On the next morning we flew the rout Washington DC – Huston Texas – New Orleans Louisiana.
On the plain from Huston to New Orleans we caught a glimpse of what is expecting us: drunk and noisy people dressed in funny clothes.
From high above Louisiana seemed to be more water than land.
Now I can understand how the area could be flooded during the Katrina hurricane.
New Orleans.
We planned to stay in New Orleans three nights, using the local public transportation.
We collected our luggage and took a cab to our motel in which we had booked a room.
It was the Travelodge motel on the rout from the airport to the city center, less than 10 miles from the airport
A very huge unpleasant redhead woman welcomed us at the reception. Ahead of us in the line for the reception desk stood a Canadian who was happy to tell us that he visited Israel and was very much impressed from our country and our people!
The redhead lady told us that she upgraded our room, so we cheered up.
I don't know by what she meant an upgrade room, but it was a standard one and the most common color in the bathroom was rust.
Unwillingly we returned to the reception desk to gather information about how to get to the city center and the schedule of the holiday.
