Mardi Gras - More parades and more beads! (Throwback post)

After our three parades and huge haul of throws from Thursday, we concluded that to go to parades everyday would probably not be either necessary or sensible.  Indeed most people from NOLA just go along to one or two sets and so do most tourists.  So we skipped Friday and our next parades were on the Saturday.

Having seen how early people reserved their spaces for Thursdays parades, knowing that we were never going to beat them to it, and as we had a whole afternoon and evening ahead of us, we decided to book some places in the viewing stands for the daytime parades. That way we could get there a bit later, have a seat while we waited for it to start, and still be in a good position to see all of the action.

We got there early enough to get seats at the front, and so had a great spot and not such sore feet by the end, so we were still in a fit shape for the evening ones later, where we were going to be back at the side of the street.

The only disadvantage to the stands - and in fact the whole of the end section of the parade where there are railings along the road - is that you cant get alongside the floats if they are trying to hand something out to you specifically.  But as we weren't really there for the goodies that didn't much matter.

The Krewes this afternoon were Iris and Tucks and this evenings was Endymion.  Established as a Krewe way back in 1917, though not parading until 1959, Iris is the oldest and the largest of the all women parades.  They have traditionally followed very strict rules, wearing full length masks and white gloves.

They were a good parade, themed around New Orleans festivals and events, with a few nice quality throws including chunky necklaces with pretty irises or representations of the festivals, such as lobsters, Mardi Gras emblems, saxophones and the Bourbon Street lamppost.

Mind you, whilst it was great to get these, they were quite heavy around the neck by the end of the day and you had to be careful not to get hit in the head by one when it was thrown!

The Tucks have been going since 1969 and have an irreverent and humouristic approach to the parade.  They don't have the prettiest of floats, but they are good fun.

They have a toilet theme to their parade, with the King's throne being a giant toilet, and toilet related throws, including rolls of Tucks loo paper, which are thrown around like streamers getting caught up alongside the strands of beads that fall onto the trees, lights and the overhead tram rails.

We caught a plunger and a toilet that squirts out water amongst other things.

With a gap in the parades until this evening's one, we found a close by restaurant for a quick meal before heading out to find a spot to stand for the next parade.

This wasn't easy, as the crowds were already four or five people deep, but we found somewhere where we could get a good view.  As we started chatting to people, they were pleased to hear it was our first Mardi Gras, and before long we found ourselves hustled to the front of the railings.

Endymion, who go back to 1967 are one of the superkrewes.  Their floats are huge and are lit up with neon.  They often have celebrity guests; this year it was pop star Kelly Clarkson.  While some of their floats were very good, the parade somehow lacked some of the fun that the others had.

Perhaps it was that there were fewer throws to go around and that many of them were just the basic beads rather than anything more interesting - after all part of the fun is seeing what you have managed to catch and finding that it is a medallion necklace or something else specific to that Krewe.

But I think that mostly the difference was that the crowds were so big here that you didn't feel as personally involved and connected as you do with the smaller ones.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed the parades today and again went home laden with goodies.

Taipei - more sightseeing

Taipei 101

We spent a few days happily wandering around Taipei. Unfortunately we didn't have the best weather, so our attempt to get up the Taipei 101 tower was foiled by heavy mist, which made paying to go up rather pointless, but we did pick up some very tasty pineapple cake in the foodhall downstairs.

Dihua Street, Taipei

We quite enjoyed a walk down Dihua Street, which has sections dating back to the mid 1660s, making it the oldest street in Taiwan, and still an important commercial area.

Peacock Bistro, Dihua Street, Taipei

But there are some nice little shops there too now, and some nice cafes. We enjoyed a stop at the Peacock Bistro, where we enjoyed lunch and trying some of their fruit liqueurs.

Something we hadn't expected to see, was a man sitting outside a cafe with what looked like a pet frog on a tiny lead next to him. Disappointingly, we later saw a shop that sold all sorts of frog souvenirs, so we suspect that his was just a fake frog from there.

Dihua Street, Taipei

We also checked out the Taiwan Brewery, one evening, not to do a tour, but just to visit their on site bar Beer 346, where you can buy their beers by the bottle or barrel, and sit outside to drink them. They sometimes have live music, but it was quiet when we were there, and we didn't stay that long, as they weren't serving food.

Instead, we found nearby Huashan 1914 Creative Park, which is an old wine producers factory from 1914, which was abandoned. It was 'discovered' in 1997 by members of a theatre company, and they started transforming it into a creative space. Eventually it was done officially,and it is now a thriving place for the arts. Of course it was mostly closed by the time we arrived, and we just went to the popular Alleycats Pizza place.

Dihua Street, Taipei

 

Dihua Street, Taipei

Talking of food, we did go to a little cafe that is famed for a real Taiwanese specialty, beef noodle soup. We had been recommended to go to Yong Kang, near Dongmeng station, which has been serving up its broth since 1963.

Lantern Festival, Taipei

It is something of an institution, ranking amongst the top in the competitive beef noodle soup world. They were certainly busy, with lots of people queuing up to get in when we arrived. We joined the queue, and before too long we were ushered upstairs to a shared table and presented with a menu, and a list to tick what we wanted.

Lantern Festival, Taipei

Of course the words on the menu didn't match the words on the order sheet, but with a bit of help, we ordered our soup. There is actually a lot of choice here, people only come for one thing, the only real question is what bits of beef and how much comes with it.

Lantern Festival, Taipei

Honestly, I can't say we were that impressed. Other people were definitely enjoying slurping their soup and sucking and chewing their beef, but, having spent years cutting all of the fat and gristle off of my meats, I couldn't enjoy beef that was more cartilage than actual meat. In all honesty, unlike many people, I don't think I will every truly enjoy most Asian food.

Lantern Festival, Taipei

Leaving the beef noodles behind us, our final stop was at the expo centre, where they had a huge display of lanterns, some of which were part of a competition. They were quite impressive.

Toilets, Taipei

Oh, there are two other things that I have to mention - both of which involve toilets. The first, we noticed in the stations, but it may be some other places too. The toilets have a little electronic board outside which shows a plan of the toilets, so that you can see how many there are of disabled, squat and western styles, and it also has a little coloured light next to each. The colour of the light indicates whether the toilet is occupied, vacant, out of use, or somewhat ominously, under investigation (presumably waiting for someone to deal with a blockage or something).

The second was a restaurant, that sadly we never managed to get to, but saw photos of. It is a toilet themed restaurant, where you sit on toilets, eat from miniature toilets, and some foods are shaped like poos. Now that is something I've never seen before or since, even in Japan.

Lantern Festival, Taipei

If you've really got to go ....

For the sake of the wildlife that lives there and to give future visitors an equally beautiful place to look at, there are firm rules in place to prevent waste being left behind.  When it is necessary, the expedition team take emergency supplies, but generally speaking no food is taken ashore.

And no human waste is allowed to be left behind.  There is no peeing behind a bush - or lump of ice - here; you have to wait until you get back on ship.

 That is OK most of the time, as shore landings are generally a morning or afternoon, and there are zodiacs that can take you back early if you are desperately crossing your legs.  But sometimes it is trickier.  Our next landing was a flight to an island, then a forty five minute walk each way across the sea ice to the penguin colony, so we were going to be ashore for quite a while, and as we were using the helicopters, there was always a possibility that we could get stuck there for a while.

So when we were briefed on the trip we were told that just in case anyone got caught short, they would be taking a portable toilet ashore.  The task of explaining how it works fell to Sarah, an English woman on the expedition team.  She did an excellent job of this, and in a typically British way, made us laugh too.

Mind you, whilst we may have found it amusing to think about, none of us especially relished the idea of actually using this toilet, which was basically a bit like a rubbish bin.  It was a seat with a space where you put your plastic bag. You go in the plastic bag, add some powder to the bag to 'set' and neutralise whatever you have done, tie it up securely and pop it in a box.  And at the end of the day, everything gets taken back on to the ship.  Effective, yes, but not especially inviting, and the expedition team aren't exactly fighting for the job of carrying back the box!

And then of course there was the fact that it was set up behind an iceberg, so it was definitely going to be a chilly experience.  Thankfully we didn't have to make use of it, but I guess if you've got to go then ....

Toilets

The toilets during our journey on the truck have perhaps not been as bad as we thought they might, but have still been dubious at times.  Some of us have taken to grading the toilets.  When we arrive at a loo stop, those that most need to go will do so, but the others will wait until they come out to report back on the standards. A one or two, will mean that if we can we'll hang onto the next stop, but a three and above means everyone will take the chance while it's there.
 So what constitutes a good or bad toilet. There are a number of factors that score to make up the ranking.  Cleanliness is always one factor, and this can be variable from filthy to, very occasionally, absolutely spotless.  But there is also the quality aspect.  In this the requirements for each ranking are roughly as follows. If there is a toilet that can be sat on or hovered over, but there is no way of flushing at all then it is a zero.  If the toilet actually flushes, or can be adequately flushed through means of a bucket of water, then it rises to a one.  A toilet seat and water for washing hands raises it to a two.  Loo roll and soap bring it to a three, and adding something to dry your hands on raises it right up to a four.


Toilets that didn't even score a zero



Thankfully there aren't too many zeros, most fall around the one and a half to two and a half zone, there a some threes, and occasionally, just occasionally, you are lucky and get a four.

The look of the toilet can add a half point too, so the ones we stopped at after leaving the coffee plantation for example had all of the above requirements, were spotless,and had nice tiles and flooring etc, so they were graded a four and a half. High praise indeed.

There is a suggested further option of five star, which is when you can flush the toilet paper down the loo, but as the last time we could do that was in Buenos Aires, that doesn't really seem a fair test.

Of course in some places, mostly the north of Argentina and southern Bolivia there simply isn't a toilet to be found along the road, or maybe there was but it was a zero that no one wanted to use, so it was finding a convenience place to go by the road.  This was easier for the guys, but the girls would normally want some cover, usually a bush or a ditch, that they could squat behind.  Mostly this could be arranged, but occasionally there was absolutely no cover.  Those times the truck was brought into play, and girls used the kerb side, to provide some cover from the passing traffic, while the boys went across the road.

The toilet standards question doesn't just apply on the road of course, as the loos in hotels, restaurants and bars can be just as questionable, but generally the standard is better, with mostly twos or threes.  Where there is a real problem, it is often because some tourist doesn't know how it works and blocks the toilet by flushing the paper, or doesn't know that the big vat of water with a scooping bucket is used to flush the loo.  That can get nasty and is best avoided at all costs!

But overall, I have been pleasantly surprised, and it is always nice when you pull up at a manky looking petrol station, expecting a toilet in the one or even zero category, to find that in fact it is a three.  There is nothing like long term travel to help you appreciate these little things in life!