Day 3

Our dinner venue last evening was a true American diner, taken apart, shipped from Pennsylvania and reassembled here in Miami Beach. Old diners don’t die, they go to Florida! 

On the recommendation of the New York Times, I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken but I was disappointed! I trust, as the Remain side of Brexit do, that it was not chlorinated chicken!!

On leaving the diner, we noticed the impressive Police and Courts facility. 

Afterwards, we took a stroll down Ocean Drive to see the Art Deco buidings in their evening dress

The Drive was awash with people enjoying the New Year week-end. 

Today we commenced the morning by taking a tour organized by the Miami Design Preservation league, an organization set up in 1979 to protect the c.1,000 historic Art Deco buidings in the one square mile beach area. 

Miami Beach reached its hey day in the 1920s and 1930s as a playground for the rich and famous. The city did not welcome Alcapone in the winter of 1928!!

When the Americans joined WW11, the city’s hotels were used as barracks to train the soldiers before they departed for Europe. 

After the war, the Beach became a centre for the Mafia in the 1950s. 

In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the hotels in South  Beach fell into disrepair and were converted to condominiums for the poor and elderly. Today, as one observed all the rejuvenated Art Deco, Mediterranean and MiMo hotels, it is hard to reconcile that their porches were once occupied by the old, sitting in rocking chairs or the poor with their lines of washing hanging from clothes lines flung out to the nearest tree! 

In 1980 Andy Warhol, the pop artist painter visited the area and put it on the map. 

In the 1990s, it was a retreat for the gay population at the height of the HIV outbreak. They came to Miami Beach to live it up, as they expected that death was imminent! In 1992 Versace bought a mansion on Ocean Drive and the rich and famous visited here, including Elton John and Princess Diana.  

Eyes are raised when he demolished an Art Deco Hotel next door. In 1997, he was assassinated on the steps of that mansion. The mansion is now the hotel Villa Casuarina and if this is your wont, you may stay here and experience the site where not only the famous designer lived and died but where a film of the assassination was made!!

It was not until c 2,000 that the area became an attractive holiday destination. 

Our tour guide, a volunteer with the League, gave us an excellent, informative tour and took us inside the hotels to admire the Art Deco features. 

We were taken onto roof tops, where in the heddy days of the 1920s and 30s, they danced the night away. 

At the conclusion of the tour, we adjourned to a nearby restaurant for a healthy, Green breakfast - note the portion!!

We are now about to spend the afternoon in Little Havana, in Miami proper. 

More tomorrow..... or when I get internet connection again. We board the Silhouette tomorrow afternoon and set sail for the Caribbean - first port of call San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

Day 2

Last night we had intended to eat at Spiga Restaurant in the Impala hotel, a sister of our hotel, located next door. However, much to our displeasure it was booked out!! The owner was helpful and directed us to Espanola Way, a two block pedestrianised, palm tree lined mall, designed by NBT Roney in 1925 and conceived to resemble a Spanish/Mediterranean village with its chalky pink stucco and Spanish roof tiles. 

Tonight it was bustling with people. Hostesses lined the way, encouraging us to eat at their restaurants. 

The choice for the most part was either Italian, Spanish , Mexican or Cuban. A large proportion of Florida’s population is of Spanish decent - many Cubans fled here after the Revolution when Castro came to power and in addition emigration from South America swelled the Spanish speaking population. Spanish is now widely spoken. 

We were warned to avoid the expensive restaurants on Ocean Drive!! 

We chose La Piccola, an Italian restaurant claiming to make their pasta in house. A plate of spaghetti with Porcini mushrooms for me and a ghnocci for CC sated our appetites. The portions, though delicious, were huge!! One dish would have sufficed. We returned to the hotel. 

This morning, the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was 20 with a promise of 26 in the afternoon. We ate breakfast at the sister hotel - Eggs Benedict for me and 3 fried eggs for CC - again why 3? The portions were too large!! 

We’re off now to do some retail therapy - to Aventura Shopping Mall - a mere 1hr bus journey!! We boarded the number 120 - bus stop conveniently located on 13 and Washington opposite the beautiful Art Deco Post Office - minutes from our hotel -  ($2.60) for a 50 minute ride.  

One interesting nod to transport history was a seat devoted to honouring Rosa Parks

On 1st December 1955 in  Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa refused to give up her seat in the ‘colored section’ of the bus to a white passenger , when the ‘white section’ was full. She wasn’t the first to resist segregation but it was thought that she was the one most likely to succeed in a court challenge for civil disobedience. The case became bogged down  and another similar case succeeded, yet she is known as ‘First Lady of Civil Rights’ 

On arrival at the Mall, we entered a very well presented area where all the usual upmarket shops were located.

It is noticeable in Florida that there is little acknowledgement of the festive season - perhaps it is the weather ? Miami certainly does not emulate NYC but here in the Mall was the only nod to the season that I have seen so far!!

We did some damage in Macy’s, which offered better options than Bloomingdales and Nordstrom’s. 

Unfortunately our return trip hit Friday evening traffic but as we left Miami, we were distracted by the multi-storey, beach side apartment blocks and international hotels whose gardens were lit by numerous lights - not I suspect for X-Mas but all year round. After a time, the beach came into view with its drunken palm trees (as a result of the hurricane), dressed in pin sized lights, waltzed to the gentle breeze, against a dusky sky tinted by the crimson of the setting sun. 

It was dark as we arrived back after 1. 3/4 hrs on the bus! 

 

Miami Beach Day 1

Last night’s late arrival meant that we could go to bed immediately. As a result, thankfully,  this morning, we had no symptoms of jet lag. 

We breakfasted at a local cafe, populated by locals and tourists alike. The temperature was a pleasant 25 degrees  as we strolled  down Collins Ave to admire the Art Deco buildings. 

If you are interested further check out: freetoursbyfoot.com Miami Art Deco District Free Walking Tour  for an excellent article and photographs on Art Deco South Beach. 

John Collins was a farmer and land developer, who in 1913, built the first wooden bridge connecting mainland Miami to Miami Beach but it was Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railroad that made Miami possible, when in 1896 the railroad made the movement of goods in and out of Miami possible. However, while Flagler is considered the ‘Father of Miami’, Julia Tuttle is known as the ‘Mother of Miami’ as it was she who badgered Henry Flagler to expand his line from Palm Beach south to Miami. Flagler stubbornly refused until the Great Freeze of 1895, when Julia send Flagler fruit to Palm Beach to prove that Miami had escaped the Freeze. Flaghler capitulated and the railroad was extended to Miami and thus the American Riviera developed with its Art Deco buidings of South Beach providing a playground for the rich and famous. 

At 5th Street, we turned towards Ocean Drive and Lumus Park, which separates Ocean Drive from the Beach.  

We walked onto the beach, an extensive public beach, which accommodated  many sunworshippers 

Returning to Ocean Drive, we continued our admiration of the Art Deco buildings, standing side by side - the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the world.   

We sat and observed young people playing volley ball in Lumus Park. 

We continued down Ocean Drive passing more Art Deco buildings as we walked. 

and once again turned into Collins Avenue and back to the hotel for a rest. 

We left the hotel again and walking up Washington Street, we boarded a free trolley bus which took a most uninteresting route through the south loop of the city - a disappointing 1hr 20 - the best of the city is on Collins and Ocean Drive! 

Tonight, we are dining at  an Italian restaurant which is part of our hotel which for the most part has had excellent reviews - I’ll reveal all tomorrow .........

Dublin - Heathrow -London - Miami

Miami here we come!

The landing at Heathrow was ropy - due to dense cloud. 

Flying Business Class,  we enjoyed the comforts of the BA Club Lounge where copious food and wide variety of champagne, wine and spirits were available. The Lounge at Dublin Airport was a disappointment by comparison! 

The boarding was chaotic!! First Class, Business Class and Priority Boarding, of which there were many, vied to board!!

Once boarded, we were invited to partake of a choice of champagnes. We were due to depart on time at 14.15 but a discrepancy in the baggage paperwork has delayed our departure!!  It may have been our fault as BA appeared to make a mess of our booking. When we tried to check in on line, we are refused and it took two phone calls to BA and one to AA to sort the problem or so we thought!!  However, on arrival in Dublin airport, we were informed that there were two bookings in our names! 

It was most comfortable to turn one’s seat into a bed, have proper headphones and a wide choice of movies. I watched Churchill, My Cousin Rachel and an interesting documentary on the Director Steven Spielberg. I slept for 4 hours. 

We had an aperitif, dinner of choice - mine - wild mushrooms with artichokes, followed by a delicious main course of mouthwatering beef , together with a choice of wines and desert or a cheese board together with a digestif. An hour prior to landing, a delicious afternoon tea was served. All meals were served on a tray covered with a white linen table cloth and real cutlery!!! (My apologies, I forgot to take photos.) 

The 10 hour journey was to increase to 11 hours due to the baggage debacle. However, we made up some time and arrived a half an hour earlier than scheduled. We departed at 15.15 and arrived at 19.45 local time - a gain of 5 hours. 

Luckily, our luggage was there when we arrived at the carousel, having cleared Emigration surprisingly quickly. 

A quick 20 minute taxi ride ($35 flat fee) brought us to La Flora, an Art Deco 

hotel at 1228 Collins Street in the heart of the Art Deco District,  where a very pleasant young man checked us in - as it was now 21.30 local time - 02.30 GMT it was straight to bed!!