Welcome to the 5th edition of the Carnival of Cities.

We have a jam-packed group of goodies for you this time, with posts from all sorts of bloggers, both new and quite experienced, and from all over the world (naturally!) Let’s get started….

** Cities in the Americas **

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Expat blogger Jul steps away from her normal European perspective to write about a few more New Orleans neighborhoods at her blog This non-American Life. She thinks that it is “very important for people to see what New Orleans still looks like today, with 50% of the city still uninhabitable a year and a half after [Category 5 Hurricane] Katrina, in what is supposedly the richest country in the world.” (If I might be so bold, her experiences and photos pretty much match my own sobering impressions from a visit to New Orleans with my kids.)

Chicago, Illinois, USA. Praveen writes that for a successful Olympic bid, Chicago needs “skin in the game”, or some monetary commitments. He blogs at My Simple Trading System.

Butte, Montana, USA. David isn’t tired of St. Patrick’s Day yet, so he says, “Kiss Me, I’m From Butte!” posted at the Big Sky Blog. Did you know that Butte hosts one of the largest St Patrick’s day celebrations in the US? Hey, any excuse to get out of the cold weather….

Seattle, Washington, USA. Mary Jo Manzanares knows how to get out of the cold as well; just head on over to the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. Aawww, go on, it’s ART! (and the video in the post is not what you think….) Mary Jo blogs at The Seattle Traveler.

San Diego, California, USA. Carole Lane writes that the San Diego Latino Film Festival “is the largest and most prestigious of its kind in Southern California. This is an international event, as Hispanic/Latino films from countries around the world are represented. If you’re interested in foreign films, start your list of must-see movies here.” Carole blogs at The San Diego Beat.

Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Josh updates us on the progress (with a few bad 1980s decorating burps) of the hot new downtown 111 City Lofts. Writing at his blog Downtown Des Moines, he gives a good look at the amenities, which I see includes heated indoor parking on the first floor. All of the photos of Josh have snow as well. Hmmm. Way too brisk for me….

Yosemite, California, USA. On the other hand, Silicon Valley Blogger and family have a blast in the snow (and give us some family travel budgeting tips) while walking in a winter wonderland for $1,300, posted at The Digerati Life.

Great Falls, Montana, USA. David asks if Presidential rock star candidate Barack Obama is coming to Montana? Blogging at GreaterFalls.com, he mulls the possibility of Obama speaking at the June 2007 Great Falls High School graduation ceremony.

Chicago, Illinois, USA. J.E. invites us to join the throngs in The Wiener’s Circle, which is a popular hot dog and burger joint in the Windy City. They seem to be big on putting cheese on everything; must be the proximity to Wisconsin. J.E. blogs at Mishmash Musings.

** Cities in Europe **

Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dank u wel (thank you) to Dutch contributor KoffieVerkeerd, who writes about a pretty good experience (in the Rembrandtplein area of the city) with the Dutch Starbucks, AKA The Coffee Company. KoffieVerkeerd blogs about restaurants and service issues at DaarZijnWeWeer (”Here we are again” in Dutch.)

Paris, France. Myra says, “Hello? can anyone understand me?” at parties where she’s surrounded by French speakers but can’t communicate herself. She blogs at my life with depression.com, where she’s taking back control of her life, one day at a time.

Florence, Italy. Jennifer Miner gives us an arts two-fer that I can’t resist, even though we usually only run one post from a blog at a time. Here are the details on the Accademia and Uffizi, which are the two top museums in Florence; if they’re too crowded and crazy there are lovely gems in the best smaller museums in Florence. Jen writes at Suite 101’s Luxury & Resort Travel.

Graz, Austria. Naughty Pam Mandel was found guilty of criminal intent with guidebook by a snarky certified tour guide for the city of Graz. Apparently her family’s self-guided walking tour of the city looked like a rogue event, and that’s “not allowed.” Pam is married to an Austrian and blogs at Nerd’s Eye View.

Paris, France. Mother_Road gives a quick Paris overview for the time-pressed and generally harassed in her post Paris in a Nutshell at Disney’s new Family.com Web site, where she blogs at Kid Trippin’.

** Cities in Asia **

Shanghai and Beijing, China. Dan Harris (and a very active bunch of commenters on his blog) give us lots of insight into housing prices and cost of living in these two cities, especially for expats. The discussion takes off from his post about the magazine Economist’s City Guides for Shanghai and Beijing. He writes at the China Law Blog.

Mauritius, Indian Ocean. Alfa King gives us a few tidbits about the beautiful island of Mauritius, posted at Alfa King Memories.

Thanks very much, and that concludes this edition of the Carnival of Cities. Submit your city-related blog post to the next edition, using our carnival submission form, by 2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, March 25th, and we’ll publish Monday, March 26th. Any established blogger who is interested in hosting this carnival in the future, please contact us.

Technorati tags: carnival of cities, blog carnival, travel.