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It’s a lovely day in New Orleans and I managed to get a sunburn walking around the French Quarter this morning….I suppose I’m a real redneck now!
Our hotel is right across the road from the convention centre and there are now lots of physicists milling about — the excitement is building. Like myself, many of them look like they haven’t seen the sun for quite some time, so local pharmacies better stock up on sunburn cream!
After lunch I took an ancient streetcar (tram to our European readers) out to the Garden District — a leafy area of huge moss-covered oak trees, ornate Victorian houses and of course, fragrant gardens.
As I was coming back on the St Charles streetcar, I noticed that the branches of the trees at the side of the road were festooned with hundreds of garish necklaces of every possible colour. I’m guessing that these were thrown from floats during a Mardi Gras parade.
I might go back to the Garden District and try to find the City of the Dead — a cemetery where all the tombs are above ground. Maybe I can persuade the IOP crew to make the journey tonight after dark!
And I thought scientists were too clever to get sunburnt? Just shows you – this wonderful sun planet has other ideas for us…especially when us “rednecks” decide to visit the tropics! (well New Orleans certainly can feel like the tropics at times) I am all for embracing the sun and all its incredible, not yet fully understood, qualities into my life. But a decidedly red, and I am sure extremely uncomfortable, neck is a perfect reminder that too much is not a good thing!