Still in recovery mode from Key West I waited out the Miami storm then hit Ocean Drive very much in a world pain. I felt like I was a pedestrian in the computer game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I have never seen so many expensive and exotic cars outside of a car show. There were Bentley's, Ferrari's, Porsche's, Rolls Royce's, Maserati's and a plethora of the far more run of the mill BMW's, Mercedes, Audi's and Lexi (my attempt to come up with the plural for Lexus). There are some suitably cool period cars floating about as well. About the only car I didn't see was an Aston Martin but it's not like I was trying that hard.
The architecture is just stunning and when the sun goes down and the neon comes up it takes on another life. I've always been more a Bauhaus school design guy. The German's had their act together before WWII. I like the idea of using simple clean lines and taking into account the product you make something from with a view to not only ensuring it is eminently functional but also to hopefully improve the lot of its user and the world itself. Art Deco was always a bit more flashy and elite and dare I say it French, with the theory of thirds and symmetry coming into play. I have never witnessed deco done on such a scale before and I have to say it is really growing on me.
The architecture is just stunning and when the sun goes down and the neon comes up it takes on another life. I've always been more a Bauhaus school design guy. The German's had their act together before WWII. I like the idea of using simple clean lines and taking into account the product you make something from with a view to not only ensuring it is eminently functional but also to hopefully improve the lot of its user and the world itself. Art Deco was always a bit more flashy and elite and dare I say it French, with the theory of thirds and symmetry coming into play. I have never witnessed deco done on such a scale before and I have to say it is really growing on me.
I needed to get some laundry done and I enquired at reception, the only option was to send it out at a cost of just shy of $200. Unless it was going to be done by lithe Cuban virgins dressed in white who smiled winsomely at me as they washed the sweat from boxer shorts there was no way I was paying that. As it seemed unlikely that would be an option, I mean there is no sweat on my boxers, I went looking for alternatives. I did a quick consult with Dr. Google and found a laundromat less than 220 feet away where I could pay $12 bucks and sit and wait for 3 hours or pay $25 bucks and pick it up tomorrow. I chose the later. What do the kids say? Mind Blownnnnn!
Going to the beach is a unique thing here. Every hotel has a resort access charge that includes a chair and a towel along with permission to use the beach. I mean it makes sense and I'm not even here in peak season and there are thousands of people. There would be a riot if we tried that in Australia though.
I had the worlds largest Bloody Mary and a gourmet pizza, followed with a lip sip suck at some tourist trap on Ocean Avenue. The Bloody Mary was $25 and the size of half a yard glass, the fire brigade could have used it to extinguish a small house blaze. It was well made but not the refreshing pre dinner drink I was hoping for. There was a nice little bar across the road from the hotel so upon completing dinner I went there and ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. That about finished me for the day after my exertions in the Keys. I fell into bed and slept the righteous sleep of the drunk.
I awoke refreshed and ready to explore Miami. Breakfast was on Washington Avenue at a sidewalk cafe called Havana 1957 where I had an awesome meal. The police had cordoned off a street just around the corner where a film crew were shooting a scene. It could have been somebody or something famous but like I'd know. The cafe was far more interesting as I watched the world go by just like in Vice City. There were old bag ladies pushing shopping trolleys through busy traffic, cute girls riding motorised scooters with their hair billowing in the breeze, Cuban guys with five o'clock shadows wearing too much gold and smoking cigars, young black kids riding long handled pushbikes talking loudly on their cell phones and the entire population speaking Spanish. I even saw this old fat white guy open the door of his Lamborghini so that the young hottie he had hanging off his arm could get in. The coffee was so good I ordered another and spent a couple of hours watching the world go by.
You would seriously have to learn a few phrases of Spanish to get by here. English is very much a second language. Anyway I'm off to the beach so I can add the Atlantic Ocean to the list of places I've swum. Cue the Jaws music.
I awoke refreshed and ready to explore Miami. Breakfast was on Washington Avenue at a sidewalk cafe called Havana 1957 where I had an awesome meal. The police had cordoned off a street just around the corner where a film crew were shooting a scene. It could have been somebody or something famous but like I'd know. The cafe was far more interesting as I watched the world go by just like in Vice City. There were old bag ladies pushing shopping trolleys through busy traffic, cute girls riding motorised scooters with their hair billowing in the breeze, Cuban guys with five o'clock shadows wearing too much gold and smoking cigars, young black kids riding long handled pushbikes talking loudly on their cell phones and the entire population speaking Spanish. I even saw this old fat white guy open the door of his Lamborghini so that the young hottie he had hanging off his arm could get in. The coffee was so good I ordered another and spent a couple of hours watching the world go by.
You would seriously have to learn a few phrases of Spanish to get by here. English is very much a second language. Anyway I'm off to the beach so I can add the Atlantic Ocean to the list of places I've swum. Cue the Jaws music.
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