How lovely it was to meet my longtime penpal Diaslen, and her esteemed spousal analogue. How nice it was to get the chance to explore a new city on a whole new continent. How awful, on the dark side, to be sick once again and have an awful plane journey. Such is the way of life. This must begin with a great thank you to my wonderful hosts, who drove me around, fed me, organised activities, and were generally far too nice! How wonderful it is to have such friends, and great wishes for their future are attached herewith.
Miami is a lovely city, but one not suited for the pedestrians! If I had travelled to all the places I saw by foot, the trip would have to have been twice as long, with ever more plane trauma added in for karmic retribution! Not only was there the traditional Gatwick rock and roll landing, but on the outgoing trip the lady next to me collapsed and had to be taken away by paramedics on landing. I hope she was okay after all that. Flying is a nasty business. I may never do it again, if it can be avoided.
Points of interest around and about Miami include Vizcaya House, a mansion built by a wealthy resident who wanted a picturesque house to live in and entertain in. The breakfast room is nice at Vizcaya, but the rest seems stuffy. The Cuban restaurant called Versailles is rather awesome, and has some wonderful fish. The Loewe Museum of International Art is also well worth a visit, as is the long long walk across the Venetian Causeway that links the island of Miami Beach to the mainland. Dania Beach is lovely and quiet in comparison to the famous South Beach, with its wonderful artist-designed lifeguard stations, and if you're lucky you might stumble across a marathon as I did. How bizarre it is to be wandering around at dawn in Miami South Beach, and stumble over a major marathon. Things like that don't normally happen, do they?
Sadly, the Venetian Pool was closed for refurbishment, as was the Bass Museum of Art, while the Science Museum was closed due to moving to a whole new building. The old building looked pretty nice, though, as did the sea whenever the beach was visited. You can't beat a green-blue sea, with rushing surf. One day, I'll get into that snorkelling experience on the Keys, or fail in my so far successful attempts to avoid the alligator swamps. Oh, next time, given the momentary insanity that will get me onto a plane or the decadence required for the sea journey, there will be snorkelling and oblivion to the mosquitoes. Actually, getting mosquito bites is pretty scary in these days of the Zika virus.
How's that for a start?
O.
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