South Beach, Miami is known for its beach and party scene. It’s a vibrant mix of glamorous socialites walking tiny dogs wearing sunglasses, bronzed elderly gentlemen strutting their stuff in banana hammocks, and tourists drinking cocktails the size of their heads in mid afternoon. It’s loud, touristy, glitzy and lots of fun.
To take a break from the South Beach scene we took a couple of buses over the bridge to reach Miami (actually a different city from Miami Beach) and see a different side of the city. Accompanied by Corinna from Little Havana Guide walking tours we explored the sights, sounds and tastes of the Cuban neighbourhood Little Havana.
We arrived in Miami exhausted after a nine hour flight and Simon had a migraine coming on. All we wanted was to collapse into bed so we were lucky to have the quickest check-in ever at our apartment hotel Chic Place at Lincoln: no check-in at all.
We’ve spent the last week in Miami and one of the things we love most about South Beach is the art deco architecture found on Ocean Drive. Most of the buildings these days are expensive boutique hotels, and although we couldn’t afford to stay in one we got to peek inside some of the gorgeous hotel lobbies that transport you to the 1930s on our Art Deco walking tour.
Fantastic art is one of our favourite things about San Francisco and the De Young Museum is great place to experience it. Not only is there an extensive and impressive collection of American, African and Oceanic art but it has a distinctive contemporary building and a wonderful location in Golden Gate Park which it has taken advantage of with this sculpture filled garden. Have a drink in the cafe and enjoy the views like we did on a sunny San Francisco day.