Miami, the Little Cuba

Getting from A to B has never been so hectic. In this case, Dulles International Airport (near D.C) to Miami International Airport. Basically, flight delays due to thunderstorms clouded all hopes of reaching Orlando in time to catch my flight from Orlando to Miami. After spending a memorable night in Orlando Airport, I had to fly to Fort Lauderdale and then shuttle it to Miami.

Finally arriving and driving into Miami, I could not physically avert my eyes from the beautiful views. Scenes from my young video-gaming days (namely Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) flashed multiple times, except this time it was reality.



That morning, the heat was unbearable. Lunch was awesome, as there was a very affordable and conveniently located cafe right next to the hostel where I stayed. The Spanish influence here in South Florida definitely sprung out, in the form of quality quesadillas and a crazy volume of nachos served before the main dish.

Seeing that I got a good few minutes of decent sleep the night before, I decided to capture the mindset of a nocturnal animal for a day, napping during the warmest hours surrounding midday. It was late afternoon and still sticky as ever when I ventured out to Miami Beach. My first encounter with locals came with two girls in bikinis asking me "Do you like our outfits?" Whoa.



Ocean Drive, stretching down the coast of Miami, convinced me with its Art Deco hotels.



Colourful mopeds were trendy means of transport,



and I saw an unbelievable amount of foreign people in the area ranging from Hispanic/Latino to Jamaican to French, but hardly any Asians. I witnessed long and novel tools that were used to pick out coconuts from tall trees, and beach volleyball galore.

I saw on my map a neighbourhood called Sunset Islands, but unfortunately it was a residential area with rich private property concealing all possible regions for public use. So instead, I walked over to Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, where I could see the famous Miami skyline through dusk (CSI: Miami styles).

As the day drew to a close, I realized that I had heard more Spanish spoken around me than English, a phenomenon experienced for the first time since Tijuana.

Lincoln Road nightlife was action-packed, with smartly-dressed people swarming this entertainment and shopping area.

I woke up at 6:00am the next morning to catch the sunrise (since I was on the East Coast).

Immediately afterwards, I tripped quite a distance by bus to pick up my bag from Miami International Airport (finally!) which had been camping in who-knows-where for the previous few days. After cleaning the shower-gel explosion aftermath that was the sticky interior of my just-arrived bag, I had the long-awaited shower that I truly deserved. Fresh clothes have never felt so damn good.

Later that day, I went to Little Havana to explore this suburban region that Miami is so famous for. This neighbourhood, and the city by and large, has had a huge Cuban population since the rise of power of Fidel Castro and the subsequent emigration of Cubans. Little Havana was almost entirely Spanish-speaking, and here I had a shot of Cuban Coffee.

Miami was upgrading by the hour, with newer and taller apartment buildings near the water.

I ended up spending the rest of the day's hours hiding under the shelter of Bayside Shopping Centre, because of seemingly endless thunderstorms that ravaged downtown late that afternoon. I envisioned the possibility of deja vu occuring the next morning for my flight from Miami back to San Diego.

Heading back across the bridge from West to East Miami, there was a very interesting character on the bus right next to me. I'm not sure if he was brainwashed or not, but he basically suddenly rose from his seat (inducing an irregular heartbeat), slid to the front of the bus, and started pretending he was Prince in front of stage. This was for a good ten minutes, with no-one else on the bus saying a word. Only muffled giggles facing the bus windows were seen and heard. To be honest he seemed a bit talented, but I am certain his sanity was questionable.

I had Johnny Rockets for dinner that night, to have the classic American burger. The nightlife was very colourful and showy, with almost all pedestrians dressed sharply in their going-out clothes.

Miami was my final city, and two aspects of it stood out - the beach-life, and the nightlife. It was sticky and humid even at midnight, so I was literally walking into every other shop to be rewarded by the A/C. I don't think Miami is a place where I'd wanna live, largely because of the climate. I left with the image of Miami as the "party central" city of America. It is likely that in the future, after the age of 21, I'll find myself back there for a proper vacation!