d4: Leaving Miami: impressions

Today is my last day in Miami. It’s sad to leave Max, who has been a great host the few days I’ve been in Miami beach: friendly and helpful, we’ve had nice conversations on his scooter and over dinner. Max is the first couchsurfer at whose place I stay and it’s been a great experience. Thanks, Max! : )

Miami is a place with a great weather and beautiful beaches, which make it a target for beach tourism, of course. It seems that nightlife is big here, although I haven’t tried that, and I haven’t seen the financial district or downtown either, ergo I do not know Miami as a whole. A couple of people I met here noted that people in Miami beach are very moveable. It’s expensive: the first night we tried to eat out, at my arrival, I saw average-looking restaurants twhose cheapest main courses cost 20 bucks!

 We ended up going to a Mexican place, where we went back yesterday, on my last night -funny enough, the first time I ordered a quesadilla and Max a burrito, and we did the opposite yesterday. 

Talking about prices, I just bought a coffee at the airport for $3.20!!! However, public transportation is affordable: for short distances in Miami beach you can take a type of core shuttles that cost only $25. For longer rides, it’s $2 (or $2.50 with transfer), but I think these are new (higher) prices because Max insisted it cost $1.50 and $2 with transfer.

It’s amazing how much Spanish is spoken here. In Miami (Beach) you don’t need to speak English because most people are latinos. Whenever I started speaking to someone in English because I hadn’t yet heard my interlocutor talk at all, I would end up switching to Spanish because a few seconds later I heard them address someone else in Spanish. At the airport, many announcements are made in Spanish before they are in English (at least in the area I am sitting at while I type this, for flights with Latin-American destinations).

Besides the large quantity of hotels (esp. in Miami beach), some of which of questionable architechtonic taste, and the nice houses along the bay (big houses that must cost a lot of money with boats docked in front of the house -they make for pretty views), Miami has either more or more visible buildings for the sexual amusement of men… I don’t know if they are brothels or just “show” houses, but I’ve seen several places with announcements like the one pictured here.

This picture I took on my way to the airport, a 2-hour long trip including a bus trasnfer that lasted about 40 minutes and an hour-long bus ride with my bags and surfboard… : )

Dia 1: de BCN a Miami

Hola i benvingud@s al meu nou blog dedicat a les vivències que m’esperen a Nicaragua.

El dia 1 del meu viatge vaig prendre algunes notes que havia de desenvolupar en una entrada de blog, però com que ja vaig endarrerida (avui és el tercer dia, o d3), em sembla que no tindria gaire sentit aturar-se en detalls del viatge en avió.

De camí cap a Nicaragua m’he aturat a Miami, com qui no vol la cosa ; )

El motiu és una mica llarg d’explicar, però en definitiva havia de canviar d’avió aquí i com que el meu vol transatlàntic arribava a les 18h, ja no podia agafar cap avió amb destinació a Managua fins el dia següent.

 Els tràmits i als aeroports van ser força fàcils, amb poca cua arreu i poc sentit inquisitorial per part dels policies de torn. En el temps en què van transcórrer els dos vols vaig dormir, fer fotos, llegir, dormir, fer feina, fer fotos, dormir, llegir and so on : )   

El primer vol era BCN-Dusseldorf. I el segon Dusseldorf-Miami. 

Del menjar no tinc cap queixa: sense haver reservat àpats vegeterians, sempre hi havia opcio carnivora i no-carnivora, i estava prou bo. A la foto, el berenar vegetarià, un parell d’hores (?) abans d’arribar a Miami.

 Prop de Miami, aiguamolls (ho sento, fotos dolentes), on segons m’han dit només hi ha caimans, i a la foto, els afores de la ciutat.

Vaig arribar cap a les 6pm i entre passar per l’aduana, recollir les maletes i fer el trajecte de bus (dos busos), no vaig trobar-me amb el meu hoste de Couchsurfing a 2/4 de 9. Tot i el cansament, vaig deixar les coses a casa seva i vam anar a fer un mos.

La primera impressio de Miami Beach va ser la d’un lloc turistic tipus Lloret, ple d’hotels i poca cosa més. El clima em va encantar, aixo si! La temperatura era molt agradable: feia caloreta pero corria una brisa molt bona… (Vaig pensar que el clima que m’espera a la costa del Pacific de Nicaragua deu ser samblant.) Com que era dimecres i ja es temporada baixa, no hi havia gaire moviment (la qual cosa no sé si ajuda a una imatge positiva o negativa d’un lloc turistic, per molt que no t’agradin les aglomeracions de gent). Després em va dur a veure una mica la zona: vistes a la bahia, al costat oposat de la qual hi vam veure el centre de la ciutat (downtown), ple d’edificis alts il.luminats, i vam passejar per un carrer de vianants (peatonal) tot cuco (Lincoln).

El Max (Massimiliano, en realitat, pq és Trento, Italia) viu en un estudi en un dels carrers principals de South Beach (Miami Beach), Collins avenue. M’ha acollit de p*ta mare, no puc dir més : )

(fotos dels primers dies)