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!