Currently I’m sitting in MIA waiting for my flight to Havana, Cuba, which takes off in a little over an hour. Before I head to the land of cigars, salsa music, classic American cars and uncertain internet, I thought I’d quickly write about my time in Miami before I forget the details in the undoubtedly fun and colorful blur that my month in Cuba will be. I arrived in Miami after a series of travel ups and downs–two window seats in a row, the world’s rudest flight attendant, flights arriving early, and forgetting to really eat anything at the airport. After getting my luggage and checking it into storage I found the Metrobus station and bought my Easy Ticket, then was directed to the correct bus stop and I sat there for a while, happy, thinking Wow, that really was “easy”.

That feeling did not last long, however. The bus I was going to take almost straight to my hotel in Miami Beach was supposed to be there less than a half hour after I had arrived at the bus stop. At 50 minutes after it was supposed to arrive, I hopped onto a different bus to Miami Beach. I knew it would take a little longer, but at least I was moving. Then that bus broke down just 10 minutes from the airport. I waited with the other passengers for a while, thinking they would solve the issue but after a while I gave up and got out. The stop was between two used car dealerships and an auto repair shop, so it seemed a bit sketchy. I had to call three different cab companies because I kept getting “oh that’s not in our range, you need to call this number.” Finally, while on hold with the third company and in pretty deep frustration, I was able to hail a taxi. The driver was really nice and I got to see a bit of the city of Miami along the way, and I was quite happy sitting in the air-conditioned car while watching skyscrapers and palm trees, yachts and the blue waters of Biscayne Bay go by. I had him drop me off at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, because I wanted to go there before it closed (it was now 4:30 and the garden closed at 5pm; to give you a better sense of my frustration, my plane landed at 1:30 and if I had taken a cab to start with I’d likely have been at my hotel by 2:30).

The botanical gardens were really pretty, and I got some nice pictures. They were a bit smaller than expected, but it was free and there were some nice statues, fountains, and beautiful tropical plants. There are pictures below to give you an idea.

I left the botanical gardens a bit before 5pm and started on the walk to my hotel. This was really not that fun. It was extremely hot and humid and there was little shade along the way. It was about a half hour walk and I decided to head to the beach and then walk south along Ocean Drive to the hotel, since I’d heard there was great art deco architecture to be seen there. I’d heard that Miami Beach/South Beach was a really walkable area, but it certainly didn’t feel like it to me. Through the streets anyways there were very few people walking around and a lot of traffic, plus as I mentioned no shade along the sidewalks. I also expected that at least along the beach there would be some kind of street food or maybe people selling ice cream or something, but there wasn’t so for dinner I ended up eating a sandwich from CVS–not so glamorous. I eventually made it to the beach though and walked through Lummus Park until I got to Ocean Drive. Along the way there were some nice views of the ocean and the vibrant lifeguard stands and some random vendors selling coconuts, jewelry, and pictures with their pet python. To be honest, when I finally got to Ocean Drive I wasn’t very impressed with the architecture. The other probably most famous art deco city I’ve been to is Omaha, and there is some awesome architecture there, but in Miami Beach everything was painted in pastels and a lot of the details on the buildings seemed more tacky than artistic. Along Lincoln Road Mall, where I shopped later, there were some weird fountains that actually reminded me of the stone age, but I think they were supposed to be art deco.

I was quite happy when I finally got to my hotel, as it was air conditioned and I had an awesome view of the beach. After resting in the AC for a while I headed out to Espanola Way and Lincoln Road Mall for some pictures and shopping. Again, the area between the two seemed less than pedestrian-friendly and I was often the only one walking on the block, which seemed strange. Once it was starting to get dark I began the walk back to my hotel, and had to walk through all the tables on the street outside Ocean Drive restaurants, which was an experience in itself. Every place seems to have its own version of the giant margarita–often with two Coronas overturned in them, which seems disgusting to me–and all the customers, young and old, were having them. The walk back was interesting and not very fun, as I was tired and everyone was drunk. I was quite happy when I finally got back to the hotel.

Madison, a sorority sister who is also going to Cuba, came later that night when I’d been asleep for a couple of hours. We were up talking and realized we were starving, as we’d both eaten almost nothing that day with all the airport layovers and excitement. We didn’t exactly want to go outside to the madness, as we could hear the music, blowhorns, and whooping people from our room, and realized that since it was South Beach, we could order pizza to our hotel room at 2am. Which we did, from Pizza Rustica, and it was somehow cheap, delicious, came quickly AND very large. Afterwards we finally went to sleep.

I woke up around 6am the next day to photograph the sunrise at the beach. I’d assumed with all the partying the night before, everyone would be hung over and I’d basically have the beach to myself. There were more people there than expected, including two creepy guys who tried to talk to me–one wanted a selfie with me and when I said “no thank you” he left, so I assume they were harmless. I did get some nice pictures though, before going back to the hotel and slept for a little longer. Once Madison and I woke up, we brought our luggage to the hotel the rest of our group was staying in that night and then headed to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

I’m not sure what I expected from Vizcaya, but it completely blew me (and Madison) away. It was so gorgeous, especially the gardens, which were full of tropical plants, architectural structures, and sculptures, and the rooms were opulent without being gaudy. Indoors was also richly decorated without being stuffy, with the wonderful courtyard in the minute and gorgeous views out every window, whether they’re of the bay, the gardens, or the unique barge structure in the ocean on the east side. It was built by James Deering between 1914 and 1916, and made to seem as if a family had been living there for centuries, and he definitely accomplished it with antiques, furniture, and artwork from many different centuries, but all blended together wonderfully. We’d planned on only staying a few hours and then heading onto the Miami Seaquarium, but it was so gorgeous we wanted to go through all the gardens and the house twice, as well as eat at the great cafe there, that we stayed 5 hours and skipped the Seaquarium altogether! I highly recommend it if you’re in Miami! I’ve included pictures but we both agreed that they can’t do it justice.

Afterwards we returned to the hotel and took a dip in the pool before heading to Little Havana. We were rather relieved when it was more of a drive-around-in-a-van-and-look-at-stuff tour than a walking tour (we were pretty tired of walking) and had fun seeing the monuments, Domino Park, and checking out the wealthy Brickell district which is worlds away though just blocks away geographically. We then ate at a great restaurant before heading back to the hotel and trying to sleep for a few hours before arriving at the airport.

I can’t believe that in just a few hours I will be in Havana, Cuba! This visit to Miami was a nice transition I think, getting used to the climate, the culture, and of course, more Spanish! I’m very excited for this next month, and I think it will be an amazing experience. I will try to post when I can, but we’ll see how the internet is there, and I don’t want to spend most of my time online of course. One of our cab drivers who was from Cuba said that when we come back we’ll be “speaking Spanish and dancing salsa.” We’ll see about that, but I’m sure it will be amazing!

Happy Travels!