27 March to 6 April 2016

I decided to stop for a last beach and party week in the US on my way back to Europe. What better place than Miami? I booked three different places to see Miami from different angles.

The first was an Air BnB room in Little Haiti, a 15min car journey from South Beach, but very different. Small houses, some quite run down. Some people also looking quite run down. Yet I felt safe and went for early morning runs in the nearby Morningside Park, watching the sun rise over the Miami skyline. Beautiful. In and around Little Haiti one can definitely make out signs of gentrification like first nice cafes, exactly the type I like to hang out at. My host Jason took me to trendy Wynwood with its graffiti murials and later to eat some Dominican street food. Another day I walked to the nearby Institute of Contemporary Art and enjoyed their exhibition, although I cannot remember much of it now. One of the evenings I taught Jason and the other guests, a young backpacking Austrian couple, my favourite card game: Wizzard. All had fun apart from the very attractive but very miserable Austrian girlfriend. She seemed tired of travelling and not in a good mood at all.

My second place to stay was a big hostel in South Beach, the Freehand. A couple of nights in a four bedroom and one night in a 12 bed female dormitory. The dormitory was surprisingly quiet and the other ladies considerate. I also did not have to wait for the shared bathroom and it was clean. The hostel also had a beautiful pool and gardens. I was hanging out there one evening with an older American Lady (in comparison to the very young hostel crowd, into which I also did not quite fit), but we did not join the big pool party. Instead, we went to a hostel excursion to Little Cuba and had an intro salsa lesson. I danced with an old, big bellied guy because no one else would ask me to dance. He had even less of an idea about salsa than I did and I was missing the real Cuba. I was also envious of everyone who danced so well and so effortlessly (I think I still am, even after taking some salsa courses on my return to London).

Next, I spent a night in a city centre hotel with my friend Abam and her cousin, who had just returned from a cruise. We spent the day at South Beach and in the evening dressed up for a big night out. Abam and her cousin were looking gorgeous (and maybe me, too). We headed to the Fontainbleu hotel, which was supposed to have a great RnB night in a fancy club. The club was not yet open, when we arrived, so we had drinks at the chic bar in the hotel’s foyer. I paid for a round of cocktails, but gulped when the bill for three small mixers in plastic cups came to $80. When the club finally opened, large queues formed. I had naively thought that three dressed up and presentable women had no issues getting in, but we soon found out that they were only letting people in with the big bucks, people who were willing to pay the $1,000 for a table. The cousin and I got fed up quickly and returned to the bar because the music was good and people were dancing there. Abam however waited patiently and was eventually allowed to enter. However, once she had fetched us from the bar, the bouncer refused entry again. It was demeaning and infuriating and by that point I did not want to beg further, but just leave. Abam wanted to try a bit longer and by the end we had waited a good two hours before we finally gave up. The taxi home drove us past a few clubs, but by then Abam and the cousin felt tired. The Cuban taxi driver dropped them off at the hotel and me at a Latin club in Downtown Miami. No problem getting in. I made friends with some Peruvians and had a great time. Home before dawn.

My last three nights were spent in a Hilton Grand Vacation apartment in an Art Deco building on Ocean Drive. Blizz. I went for a few runs along the wood path just behind the beach, spent time sunbathing to return to spring in Europe with as much tan as possible and relaxed in the rooftop Jacuzzi of the hotel. I ate seafood lunch, had sushi dinner with my new Peruvian friends and went clubbing once more. An unforgettable end for an unforgettable journey.

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