Miami

The weather here has been quite ordinary so I while haven't been entirely confined to quarters it has not been lets hit the beach then sip mojitos by the pool. I finally got out to do some stuff today and had a bit of fun. Miami has a real edge to it and I am sure if you weren't careful then you might actually get yourself in quite a bit of trouble. There is a sign I see all over the place that is a good indication of this. If you're building has a balcony, deck or any area that is easy to access from the street you will be displaying it prominently.

The vagrants here are legion and seem to be totally ignored by the general populace.They range from old derelict hobos to bible quoting firebrands to out and out crazies who threaten to kill you. You can't complain about the variety. There was plenty of vagrancy in Sydney when I lived there so it is not unknown to me but this is on an entirely other level. I used the public bathrooms during the middle of the day on South Beach and I literally had to step over homeless guys to do so. I have never pissed so quickly in my entire life.

Anyway so now for the fun stuff. I went and checked out downtown Miami, it is a different city to Miami Beach where I am staying and it felt like I was in an episode of Dexter or Burn Notice, everything was so familiar. It has amazing skyline and it has hard not to be impressed. 

I also headed to Little Havana to check out the Cuban part of town. It is lower middle class and would not be a place to venture out to a night on your own I would dare say. It is littered with giant chickens (I nearly ran a live one over in Key West, they love the damn things) apparently they bring you good luck.

I relented and purchased some cigars from a cigar factory and will bring them home and compare them to the Cubans I have left.

From Little Havana I headed to the Coral Gables, yet another city that makes up part of greater Miami. It has buildings constructed from coral and is essentially where Miami as we know it was founded. It has some pretty impressive architecture and a world famous hotel called The Biltmore. You could pick up a home around here for about $4,000,000 US.

After checking out these places I hit the water and did a tour past what they call Millionaires Row. I should have snapped off a few shots but I mean I wouldn't want to live there. The homes were beautiful but the lack of privacy was astounding. During daylight hours they average one tour boat going past their front door every 20 minutes. You would have to love the limelight. They are located on private man made islands and are worth millions. The most expensive one sits on six acres (a massive plot in an area of already vast opulence). I didn't find out the value of the place but apparently the annual tax assessment on it is over one million dollars. It was owned by the guy who invented Viagra who is worth about $5,000,000,000.00. I guess his palm trees wont blow over in a hurricane (boom tish).

It is a veritable who's who of the entertainment world. The likes of Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Estefan, The Beckhams, Mike Tyson, Antonia Banderas, Rhianna, Shakira and so many more I have forgotten already have places here. 

Just by way of an amusing anecdote I walked passed a modelling agency, strangely they didn't clap their eyes upon me and ask me start that very moment, but I was quietly amused by the sign at the entrance. 

Tomorrow I am off to The Everglades, hopefully the weather will hold out. I am booked to do something I have wanted to do since I first saw one as a kid and that's ride an airboat. It looks like it will be an absolute blast.