🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘

My first time in New York. After five days in the Big Apple, we joined some friends for a road trip from New Orleans to Austin.
A real American road trip, visiting amazing cities, stopping at gas stations and eating at local fast foods. Read more

Follow Insights Calendar Photos Share

🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The Central Synagogue of New York✡️
August 13, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
The Central Synagogue is the most important synagogue in New York City and a key landmark for the city’s large Jewish community.

The building was completed in 1872 and is heavily inspired by the synagogue in Budapest, that I visited in one of my previous trips. Its interior is stunning, decorated with geometric patterns typical of the Moorish style.

We were very lucky to arrive just 10 minutes before the end of the tour!Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Coney Islad amusement park & beach 🎢🏖️
August 13, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Located in the South of Brooklyn, Coney Islad is famous for its beaches and amusement park 🎢🏖️
It’s over an hour by subway from downtown New York, and the decaying area of the amusement park attracts many tourists.

The gloomy sky and clouds enhance the amusement park’s decayed atmosphere, making it even more fascinating. The roller coaster dates back to 1927 and has survived hurricanes and storms.

Despite the choppy sea and the not-so-inviting water color, plenty of New Yorkers still go for a swim.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Times Square in the rain 🌧️✨
August 13, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
Passing through Times Square again, this time in the rain.

The same square we saw a few days ago feels completely different under the rain, giving off entirely new but equally amazing vibes.
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
End of first part, beginning of the second part!
August 14, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
The first part of the trip in America, in New York, comes to an end, and the second part begins: the road trip.

LaGuardia Airport is very nice, especially compared to JFK.
We decide not to eat and just grab a Starbucks. A terrible decision in hindsight, as the worst flight I’ve ever experienced was about to begin,Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The WORST flight in my life
August 14, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Once on the plane to New Orleans, the aircraft stayed on the runway for hours. Inside, the air conditioning wasn’t working, the temperature kept rising, passengers grew increasingly frustrated, and a woman almost fainted from the heat.

After finally taking off with a 1.5-hour delay, the plane circled around the airport, and then we were informed that we’d have to make an emergency landing. The woman next to me, terrified, started messaging her family and friends and praying.

We landed safely and found ourselves in Charlotte, about 1,000 kilometers from New Orleans, where our friends were waiting for us.

The only positive note: the view from above of the Charlotte swamps and floating houses.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Charlotte: 1000KM away from our destination
August 14, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
We’re allowed to disembark at Charlotte Airport. We take the chance to eat a pizza and relax, waiting to find out whether we’ll sleep here or be put on a new flight to New Orleans.

Interestingly, the bathrooms, besides their normal use, also serve as shelters against hurricanes and tornadoes.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Finally, we’ve arrived in New Orleans!
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
After a huge delay and an emergency landing, the worst flight of my life is over, and we reached New Orleans, ready to start the second part of our vacation in the USA ... a road trip in Lousiana and Texas!Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Our house survived Katrina (?)🌪️
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Among the various hotels and homes we stayed in, the one in New Orleans was the only one that was in bad conditions.

The floor was uneven, the doors crooked, and the walls had cracks. Everything makes us think that the house survived Katrina 🏚️🌪️Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The Caesars Superdome🏈
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
The Caesars Superdome is the iconic American football stadium of New Orleans.
It’s a massive, covered structure, famous for its circular dome roof.

It was damaged by Katrina, but was repaired and today hosts football games, concerts, sporting events, and large-scale gatherings.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Swamp tour in Louisiana 🐊🚤
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
One of Louisiana’s main attractions is taking swamp tours on airboats to see alligators and other wildlife of the wetlands.

The swamps around New Orleans are part of the famous Louisiana bayous, a unique and fascinating ecosystem home to dozens of animal species 🌾🦆🦎Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Finally, Benji appears! 🐊
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
Our guide, who in the middle of the swamp was just wearing Crocs, stops. He throws marshmallows into the water, and the snout of Benji, a massive crocodile, appears.

Our guide pets his head and even tosses marshmallows directly into his mouth. During the tour, we see smaller crocodiles as well as various types of birds.

The guide also explains that aquatic plants are threatened by nutria. Introduced for hunting and their fur, they’re now eating the roots of aquatic plants, destroying entire areas of the swamp.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Rain in the middle of the swamp 🌧️
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
We were happy it was cloudy, so we wouldn’t get burned or suffer from the heat during the tour. Then, halfway through the swamp tour, it starts pouring rain.

The guide stops, wearing a rain jacket and Crocs, watching us get soaked on the boat.
The rain passes, we’re drenched, but the show must go on! The wind from the moving boat makes us feel cold, but it also dries us quickly.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
A baby alligator between my hands🐊
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Our guide opens a small plastic container, takes out a baby alligator, and asks who wants to hold it.
What a unique opportunity!
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Popeyes: the most famous fast food of Louisiana🍗
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
Popeyes is a famous American fast food chain born in New Orleans, renowned for its spicy Cajun-style fried chicken.

We ate fried chicken until we couldn’t eat anymore, all washed down with Coca-Cola Zero. Meanwhile, it was raining outside.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Are we in America or in early 20th-century France?
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
Walking through the streets of New Orleans, it feels like being in France.
The perfectly restored colonial houses, the streetcar crossing the city, the French street names, and the plaques recalling the former Spanish name.🏘️🚋🇫🇷
Every corner of the French historic quarter reminds us of NOLA’s past.

Founded in 1718 by French colonists, it was first ceded to the Spanish Empire and later reconquered before being finally sold to the United States along with the rest of the state. The name honors the Duke of Orléans, a French noble title.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The oldest cathedral in the United States
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
The St. Louis Cathedral, built between 1789 and 1794, is the oldest cathedral still in continuous use in the United States and dominates Jackson Square with its white walls and three towers.

In front of it stands the statue of Andrew Jackson, the general who, despite being outnumbered, defeated the British during the American War of Independence at the Battle of New Orleans.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The famous Café du Monde in New Orleans☕
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
The Café du Monde is one of the most iconic spots in New Orleans, founded in 1862. It’s located in the French Quarter, on the banks of the Mississippi River.

The typical specialties are chicory coffee (which I didn’t like that much) and the famous beignets covered in powdered sugar. The beignets are delicious, soft, light, not greasy at all ... really, really tasty 🍩.

Outside the café, there was a street artist playing live music, which made the atmosphere even more special.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The City of Jazz 🎷
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Through the streets of New Orleans, jazz was born from the fusion of African-American music and French salon music.

Artists like Louis Armstrong transformed New Orleans into a global music hub, and even today, some streets of the French Quarter are full of venues with live music, where you can sip a beer while listening to jazz.

Louis Armstrong is perhaps the most famous person from New Orleans, and the city’s airport is dedicated to him.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Time to fill up: 65 liters of gas ⛽
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
The fill-up begins, but we have no idea when it will end. 65 liters in total, and our car wasn’t even close to empty yet, so the tank wasn’t completely dry!

Luckly gas in Louisiana is cheap (only $0.75 per liter). Indeed Louisiana is one of the U.S. oil-producing states, also known for the Deepwater Horizon disaster that took place in 2010.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Dick's sporting goods
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
We have some free time, so we go shopping.

The first stop is Dick’s, a sporting goods store. As we enter, we’re faced with dozens upon dozens of products for every sport: baseball, soccer, hockey, fishing…

For each item, there are dozens of models, covering every need and price range.
Truly incredible, and a symbol of how important sports (especially basketball, baseball, and football) are in America.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
My first time in a Walmart! 🛒
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
We needed some items (and I needed a belt!), so we went into a Walmart.

Walmart is the company with the largest revenue in the world (over $600 billion a year) and, with its 2.3 million employees, is also the largest private employer globally.

We wandered through the aisles, checking out the various products, local specialties, perfectly stacked fruits, and oversized portions.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
Trying the real Cajun cuisine🌶️🍽️
August 15, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
We head to Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar and Fish House to try the local Cajun specialties.

Cajun cuisine is typical of southern Louisiana and descends from French-speaking Canadians who moved to Louisiana. It’s especially known for its spicy and flavorful dishes.

We tried different plates (including the turtle soup). The portions were generous, and everything was delicious.

At dinner another Italian guy joined us. He works at the Port of New Orleans, and gave us some tips on the city.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The road trip starts!
August 16, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We leave the house in New Orleans, and the real road trip can begin.
We leave the swamps of New Orleans behind and start heading toward Texas.

Alessandro, after New York and the awful flight, takes advantage of the sombrero for a refreshing nap.Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
A stop in Sorrento (not Italy, but Louisiana)
August 16, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We stop at yet another gas station this time in Sorrento.
At the Coffee House, I get an iced coffee, which was really good, and one of us grabs some delicious beignets that we share. ☕🍩

The curious thing about this gas station is that it’s built on a swamp. About 50 meters away, behind a fence, a huge prehistoric alligator is basking in the sun. 🐊

A little further on, a store with signs that would cause an uproar in Europe… but here we are in America, or rather, Texas. 🔫Read more
0 likes
🇺🇸 New York, Texas and Louisiana 🚘Leonardo Floridia
The first signs that we’re in Texas! 🤠
August 16, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
Just past Lafayette, we’re in Texas and everything changes.
On the road to Houston we see: billboards about fallout shelters, signs about Jesus Christ, graffiti and stickers praising Trump, huge cars, and endless soft drink displays.
On the horizon, oil refineries as big as cities.

Yep, finally we’re in the Lone Star State… we’re in Texas ⭐🤠Read more
0 likes