Jaunted

Mardi Gras / Food Travel / Holiday Travel / Religious Travel / → All Tags

Forget the Carnivale Capitals and Pick a Polish Paczki Today

Happy Fat Tuesday...or Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, or regular old Tuesday depending on where you are and what you're into. Tucking into big meals and giving into gluttony is the order of the day, and in the spirit we've swung by a bakery to pick up a box of Polish Paczkis (pronounced like "poonsh-skee") because this year we aren't heading to New Orleans or Rio or any of the other Carnivale capitals.

If you too can't make it to the Big Easy or even one of our six other, international Mardi Gras celebrations, then Paczkis are a reliable way to join in the fun. The only thing is that whether you're eating a Paczki or revelling in N'awlins, you're gonna get sticky.

more ›

London Travel / Shrove Tuesday / Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras / Food Travel / Britain Travel / Events / → All Tags

Flip Out on Shrove Tuesday at These Three London Happenings

While in the States the eve of Lent is marked with a profusion of beads, booze and general debauchery, our cross-the-pond counterparts celebrate in a considerably innocent fashion. The English observe Shrove Tuesday, not Fat Tuesday, choosing instead to indulge in copious pancake consumption rather than Girls Gone Wild-worthy antics.

Why pancakes? Requisite Wiki-ing informed us that the thin, flat eats (as pancakes in the UK aren't nearly as fluffy as in the US) were singled out long ago for being a convenient, buttery way to use up "rich foodstuffs such as eggs, milk, and sugar before the fasting season."

If you happen to be in London tomorrow, consider attending one of these three Shrove Tuesday happenings around town:

more ›

Party Travel / Festival Travel / Mardi Gras / Lists / Events / Sex Travel / → All Tags

Six Carnival Alternatives to New Orleans' Mardi Gras

Okay you may be totally aware that New Orleans Mardi Gras is coming up very soon...on March 8 in fact. But did you also know that a whole range of other cities around the world also let down their inhibitions to celebrate the final few days before Lent? It's true! We've rounded up six of biggest Mardi Gras alternatives, just to get you thinking about last-minute trips or next year's plans...

· Carnaval de Barranquilla, Colombia: March 4.
Hot Carnival Queen? Check. Mass sexy dancing and general revelry? Check. Loud and live body-shaking music? Check. But there's one thing the Barranquilla Carnaval has that others don't, and that's a designation as a "UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." Boo-yah.

more ›

Mardi Gras / New Orleans Travel / Festivals / American Airlines / Continental / JetBlue / → All Tags

New Orleans Already Gearing Up for Mardi Gras

It's that time of year when Americans start wondering how they're ever going to come up with the motivation to stay positive through two more months of winter, and for many of us, the answer becomes two crystal clear words: Mardi Gras.

For most, the words now evoke an over-the-top, Girls Gone Wild party scene, and while we don't have any particular problem with that, true Mardi Gras fans know that Fat Tuesday is just the culmination of six weeks of Carnival celebrations, and the parties leading up to the big event are some of the most exciting (and less tourist-y) times in New Orleans.

more ›

Spas / Restaurants / Churches / Mardi Gras / → All Tags

Post-Mardi Gras Travel: Saintly New Orleans

Come Wednesday morning, Mardi Gras will be over, and beads, streamers and beer bottles will be the only reminder of the fun. (Apart from that hangover, of course.) Somewhere in the mix, you were probably pretty naughty.

Luckily, New Orleans has just the cure for guilty partiers: Ash Wednesday! To kick off the Lenten holiday, during which Catholics give up at least one vice, we've got three recommendations for your post-Mardi Gras detox: church, fried food and spa treatments.

more ›

Voluntourism / Volunteer Travel / New Orleans Travel / Mardi Gras / → All Tags

Volunteer Travel: Pitch In, Then Party

We're in disbelief that it's already time to plan for Mardi Gras, but Easter--and thus Fat Tuesday--comes early next year. And instead of simply guzzling hand grenades on Bourbon Street, maybe you could lift a finger or two to help rebuild New Orleans?

Hands Up Holidays makes it easy with a nine-day trip from January 28 to February 6 that includes an invite to the black tie ball at Mardi Gras. You'll earn it by working at Habitat for Humanity's Musicians' Village, a development in the Upper 9th Ward designed to lure artists back to the city. Even President Bush has chipped in on the project, so you should be able to hack it.

You'll also have time for fun on the trip, with plantation and swamp tours and a flight-seeing excursion. Accommodations are at the Hotel Monteleone, which is a great place right in the French Quarter. While the price tag for the trip seems steep at $2,500, booking a hotel for nine nights on the run-up to Mardi Gras will cost you close to that. Might as well have some fun and do some good while you're at it.

Related Stories:
· Hands Up Holidays [Official Site]
· New Orleans Field Trip [Jaunted]
· New Orleans Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Video Tour of the Hotel Monteleone [HotelChatter]
· Volunteer Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Katrina / Mardi Gras / → All Tags

Post-Flood Guide to New Orleans

Due to Katrina, Fodor's never released its 2006 guide to New Orleans even though it had already been printed. Its 2007 edition won't be ready for months, but in the meantime my former colleagues have put up on the web a free 32-page PDF guide for Mardi Gras and beyond.
--John Rambow

Mardi Gras / → All Tags

C'est Levee in New Orleans

Mardi Gras itself is still a couple weeks away, but the parades began this past weekend. The first, run by Krewe de Vieux, is famous for its wit and raunch -- Fleshbot blogger Jonno's photoset makes us sorry we missed it.

Related links:
·   Mardi Gras page [NOLA.com]
·    How big will scaled-down Mardi Gras celebration be? [USA Today]
·   NOLA: Krewe du Vieux parade snapshots [Boingboing]