Cathedral, Convent, & Cannolis

Today was jam packed with many different experiences to please everyone in the group. I was most excited about the cuisine tour as I love Louisiana food. We make it all the time at home, but to be here and try the local’s take on the signature dishes is always an intriguing one. I will discuss this later.

I woke up ready to start the day; well, I can’t say that much. My roommate’s alarm went off at 6:45 in the morning and five more times afterwards. Both roommates were up and talking, moving around, making noise as they got ready. However, I never woke up from all the rustling! I did not start to awaken and become aware of my surroundings until they went down to get breakfast. The door creaked as it slowly closed, but when it almost closes it slams shut. I figured this was the best time to get up. My alarm was not to go off for another 15 minutes, so I just rested my eyes. Once they arrived back, I went down to get breakfast: scrambled eggs and a toasted plain bagel. After having some food in my stomach, it jump started my engine and got me going for the day.

Our first stop was to the St. Louis Cathedral. The sun was shining and hit the cathedral in a way that made it seem to be the center of attention. It made for a great photo opportunity to get the sun-lit cathedral and partly cloudy skies in the background. I am not religious myself and can count the number of times I have gone to church on one hand, only because of family practices. My community church cannot be compared to this one whatsoever. The Catholic people have made this cathedral into something one of a kind. I could hear every step someone took echo through the room. The ceiling splashed with every color of the rainbow, but in dark, tasteful hues. Gold was prominent at the front. I am always mesmerized by stained glass windows and the ones within the church surely did not disappoint. I did not catch any shots though as there were people there praying. Personally, I felt it was disrespectful to interrupt their religious practice time by taking pictures here and there in front of them. I felt it necessary to not bother them during their religious time. The tour was informative from what I could read from the tour guide’s lips, but he spoke quite softly. Seeing as I do not practice any religion, I offered my space to the front of the pack to others as I could because even when I did hear the tour, I did not understand a lot of it. He was speaking about Catholic faith and the saints; I did not understand those stories. On the other hand, getting to see such a beautiful cathedral was pleasant.

Next, we went to the Old Ursuline Convent. Again, this is a religious area so I did not have much that I could really correlate myself to. We saw the church and were able to see all of the different ethnic contributions to it. The church was the only part we had an actual tour and history given to us. The altar was very beautiful. White pillars with gold accents surrounded the entire front of the church. Blues and pinks lightly tinted the area as well. The centerpiece of the whole altar was the large medallion which was made up of jewelry donations from the community. Gold, silver, platinum, ruby, diamonds, and many more precious jewels created the backlit medallion which was protected by plexiglass. I took glances at each area of the convent, but could not immerse myself in it. So I ventured to the front garden to meet up with peers and we headed down to the French Market.

I did not do much at the French Market. I walked around and saw all of the vendors lined up perfectly in rows with their offerings. I could not get myself to purchase anything though as I am very picky on what I spend my money on. Plus, whenever I passed jewelry vendors I almost felt like I could just see all of the “silver” turning green in front of my eyes. Instead, a friend and I got a delicious pulled pork sandwich to hold us over until the cuisine tour.

The moment I had been waiting for all day had finally arrived. I could feel my stomach tying in a knot from not only excitement, but hunger took over as well. I had just eaten a tangy pulled pork, but my body knew to make room to be able to fit as much creole and Cajun delicacies as possible.

First, we went to Toujague’s where we tried a New Orleans staple: beef creole brisket with a creole horseradish sauce. The brisket was warm with a comfort food taste, but the horseradish came in for the kick at the end. It was a great start; I was not sure how it could get better. Then we went to Creole Delicacies and had Mardi Gras Dip. It was sour cream and mayonnaise mixed with a bag of spices. I do not eat lots of dips because I am quite picky, but I was quite satisfied with this one! The saltiness of the potato chip complimented the herby dip incredibly. We then had red beans and rice, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of as it was not too flavorful, but I ate most of it nonetheless. We were off to our next destination, not before I bought myself a few Mardi Gras Dip spices.

Up next was La Divina, an Italian café. Here, we had my favorite food of the tour: muffulettas! I have had these at a deli at home, but they do not compare to La Divina’s. The ciabatta bread was warm and toasty; the olive spread just the right ratio with the meat and cheese. I have nothing negative to say about it. In fact, I was so in love with the portion I had that I took on a second. I did not want it to end. Also, here we had strawberry and buttermilk gelato. The strawberry was so refreshing after having the muffuletta. It was cool, light, and fresh – just like drinking a strawberry lemonade on a hot summer day. Lastly, we had a pistachio cannoli. I was unsure of this treat as I did not like the cannolis I’ve had before. I was proven wrong – this one was delicious! The crunch of the outside was a perfect pairing for the cool filling in the middle and the powdered sugar added a little sweetness.

Next we went to Leah’s to try butter pecan brittle and I was pleasantly surprised; I was not sure how those tastes would mix. The bacon was not too strong so it let the pecan take over a little more. It started crunchy and had a slight meat taste of the bacon, but then it changed to sticky like caramel and the taste changed into the nutty pecan. I had my few pieces and my mouth was watering for more, but we had to move on to the next place. We went to Antoine’s and had seafood gumbo, which I was not fond of. I do not do well with seafood so I only had the broth. There was shrimp and oyster and another sea creature in it so the broth tasted as if I licked a fish fresh out of the ocean. Not the best. But I tried a peer’s alligator soup which was scrumptious! It almost had a blackened taste with many herbs and spices. I could eat a cup of that every day.

To end the tour on a high note I tried turtle soup. Yes, you read that right. Turtle. Soup. It was not half bad! I dipped a piece of French bread into the soup, which was more of a stew, and took a taste. I was not sure how to describe it as it is unique in its own way. I am glad I was able to try something as new and uncommon of an appetizer that turtle soup is.