THE MAGIC CITY
MIAMI (Part II)
Miami is a city I've always wanted to visit. Even as a child, my favorite series were CSI Miami, Dexter, which were filmed in Florida, i.e. Miami. Everglades National Park has always attracted my attention and I was interested in seeing it with my own eyes, of course visiting the beautiful sandy beaches of Miami Beach, I believe it is a dream of many people in the world. After visiting the Everglades National Park my happiness was endless, especially since we saw an alligator just a few meters away, but I still hadn't seen a fraction of what Miami has to offer. The bus from the Everglades National Park left us in the center of Miami, that is, at the Bayside Marketplace. When I arrived I was thinking about how to organize the rest of the day, as I already had a busy schedule given that I had lost the first day due to the storm. It was necessary to fit more tours into the small time because I wanted to have tomorrow only for Miami Beach and explore that part of Miami in detail since it is full of history and many cultural buildings. I decided to do the hop on hop off tour first which takes about 2.5 hours if you don't get off the bus. From the Everglades bus I transferred to the hop on bus. The driver scanned my card and gave me a wristband with which I can get on and off the bus as many times as I want. Although the weather was still changeable and it was raining lightly from time to time, I settled on the upper open part of the bus. The tour started from Bayside Marketplace and continued to Miami Beach. Since I planned to spend the next day in Miami Beach, I didn't get off at a single stop here.
One of the stops on the hop on hop off bus tour is the design district in Miami. Since I'm not a big fan of shopping, I didn't get off the bus at this stop, but still you can't help but appreciate the beauty of art, especially because I love street art, I didn't remain indifferent to the many graffiti and murals that are found in this neighborhood. The Miami Design District is a neighborhood in Miami, and a shopping, dining and cultural destination. The Design District was redeveloped in the early 2000s under the direction of developer Craig Robins, president and CEO of Dacra. It is home to over 130 art galleries, showrooms, creative services, architecture firms, luxury fashion stores, antiques dealers, eateries and bars. Historically a part of Buena Vista, the Design District is located south of Lemon City (Little Haiti). High-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Saint Laurent and Hermes are located in the Design District as well as two Michelin Guide listed restaurants by Joël Robuchon, other eateries by award-winning chefs like Michael Schwartz and celebrities like Gloria and Emilio Estefan, as well as museums and galleries like the Institute for Contemporary Art, Miami, The de la Cruz Collection of Contemporary Art and Locust Projects.
The next stop on the hop on hop off tour was Little Havana, a historic neighborhood in Miami. If you are a gourmet and want to try good Cuban food, this neighborhood is the right place for you. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba. Little Havana is noted as a center of social, cultural, and political activity in Miami. Its festivals, including the Calle Ocho Festival, Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays, the Three Kings Parade and others, have been televised to millions of people every year on different continents. It is also known for its landmarks, including Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street/Tamiami Trail), and its Walk of Fame (for famous artists and Latin personalities, including Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, and Gloria Estefan). Little Havana is the best known Cuban exile neighborhood in the world. It is characterized by its street life, restaurants, music and other cultural activities, small business enterprises, political passion, and great warmth among its residents. In 2015, Little Havana was included in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of 11 Most Endangered Places. In 2017, the Trust declared it a national treasure.
Тhe hop on hop off tour ends at the same place where it started, i.e. Bayside Marketplace. it was already a little before 4 in the afternoon and I had a little over an hour until the next tour, so I used this time to walk around the market which was filled with many gift shops, cafes and restaurants. Walking along the marina I came to the big rotating wheel, The Skyviews Miami Observation Wheel, on which I decided to ride since I still had a lot of time until the next tour. I bought a ticket that cost about 20 dollars, realistically this price is too expensive for what you get, I waited in line for about 15 min while getting on the wheel. The view is nice but nothing spectacular, I have seen other much better views that cost less. But it was still an interesting experience, to see Miami from a different perspective. The ride lasted a little less than 10 minutes, but to be honest I didn't expect to wait that long to get on the wheel and I was slowly starting to panic that I wouldn't be able to make it in time for the next tour. I quickly got out of the panorama and headed to the place that was designated as the start. When I arrived at the indicated place I tried to find the ship I was supposed to board, but I could not find a single ship with the name of the company I booked through. I had to go back to where they have the information booth and ask for help finding it. The man who worked there explained to me that there was another name on the ship and helped me find it.
The tour I booked through @getyourguide included a boat ride called Millionaire's Row. The tour guide presented us the surrounding buildings and villas that are owned by a number of famous entertainers, such as Jennifer Lopez, Pit Bull, Oprah Winfrey and many others. The cherry on top was of course the incredible view of the sunset as it hid behind the skyscrapers of downtown Miami. As the cruise progressed I wondered what was more beautiful, the incredible sunset reflected in the water, or the reflection of the buildings shining in the night glow. For the rest of the cruise I used every second to soak up the beauty of the lights in the night and try to etch them as deeply into my memory as possible, hoping that they would never fade, and that in some near future I would be able to enjoy these views again. The boat ride was about an hour and a half, and I can tell you that I fell in love with the reflection of the sunset on the water.
Since yesterday's storm changed my plans, and I couldn't go on the night tour of Miami, I had to reschedule for the next day. The tour started at Bayside Marketplace so it fit in with my plans for today, but it meant that I would spend the whole day walking around the city without a break. Since I had about an hour and a half between the two tours (the night ride started at 8 pm), I had time to eat, drink beer and rest from the long day. I also booked this tour through the Get Your Guide app, it was also organized by Big Bus Tours and was an open top bus night tour of downtown Miami and Miami Beach. It was quite interesting to see Miami through the night lights, when the city transforms into something completely different. We were a small group of about 15 people and I can say that the guide who accompanied us was very entertaining and made this trip quite interesting and fun, we learned a lot of interesting and useful information about Miami and the buildings that adorn it. After the end of the tour which lasted about an hour and a half and which I paid 28 dollars for, I decided to go straight back to the hotel because I was quite tired and I wanted to rest and be fresh for tomorrow which was also filled with various activities that I had planned . Since it was already late, I called an Uber from Bayside Marketplace to my hotel in Miami Beach, which cost me $15. Tired, I entered the hotel room, took a shower and went to sleep. I have to admit that I felt guilty that I didn't go out and walk on the beach in the evening hours, but at least I will have an extra reason to come back to this magnificent city again.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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