MIAMI

I visited it in 2001 together with my daughter and her mother during a trip of about ten days in Florida, crossing by car from Orlando with its amusement parks then following the Atlantic coast to Daytona Beach, Cap Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood (there is one here too, but it is a seaside holiday resort)) and immediately after Miami which is a large city with its Downtown made up of skyscrapers including the beloved Freedom Tower. the business district and everything that big cities have, a very popular boulevard and a park facing the beautiful Byscane bay which separates it from Miami Beach which is practically a thin and long isthmus between the bay and the Atlantic. Miami is full of museums and aspires to become one of the cultural centers of the country. There are popular neighborhoods inhabited by Haitian and Cuban immigrants where it is best to go for lunch to taste their specialties and spend a little but it is better to stay away in the evening because they are quite dangerous. There are two very luxurious districts with well-kept villas towards the south, on the tip. The top is Miami South Beach from 15th street down to the tip. On the one hand, the vast and long 16 km beach with white sand and crystal clear blue waters that become blue further out. There is an area of lawns and palm trees and then Ocean Drive lined with low art deco style houses and hotels dating back to the early twentieth century when they were built on the initiative of a millionaire after the area intended for coconut cultivation had been swept away from a violent hurricane that caused around 400 deaths in 1926, the year after the Paris Expo which had launched art deco made of delicate pastel colours, parallel lines, rectangular and cubic shapes embellished with drawings and neon lights. There are about a hundred of these splendid buildings, especially hotels in the so-called Deco District along Ocean Drive and the parallel Lincoln Avenue while the third avenue Washington is more modern, equipped with large hotels, skyscrapers and modern restaurants but ultimately connects to the beach. Miami is visited all year round, the best season is from February to April because afterwards the tropical humid heat arrives and from June to November there is the danger of encountering hurricanes which increase in intensity from year to year with climate change in act. ​In Miami South Beach the nightlife is raging and you won't sleep all night with many clubs suitable for every taste, from those with Latin American music to the most popular discos with international DJs. Miami made up of "normal" workers wakes up when the pleasure-loving night owls go to sleep. In the Decò District along Ocean Drive there is Casa Casuarina, a luxurious villa that was owned by the designer Gianni Versace who was killed one morning in front of the entrance door by a fanatic boy who was then hunted down by the police and found dead in a holiday home where he had taken refuge and committed suicide after killing half a dozen wealthy men, his probable ex-lovers. It was sold by Versace's heirs and today it is a luxury hotel. Naturally there is life on the beach, but also jogging, cycling and taking walks in the numerous parks, one can go to the zoo or to see the rich aquarium or to the science museum or visit the fine arts museums, for all tastes and then restaurants for every taste. Various events are organized in Miami throughout the year, from electronic music to street food prepared by great chefs at affordable costs and supplied directly on the beach, to fashion catwalks. You can take boat trips in the bay or on the ocean or head to Key West, the southernmost point of the USA, a small island 80 miles from Cuba where you can visit the house of Ernest Hemingway who spent several years of his life here his life. The Keys are an archipelago of islands that start from Miami South Beach, continue in a southerly direction and are crossed by a high highway that overlooks them and in my opinion is ruinous at least from an aesthetic point of view even if it is convenient for transfers. Furthermore there is a parallel abandoned railway damaged by a hurricane, in short two monsters that disfigure the natural landscape which must have been splendid before their construction. As an alternative to the Keys, you can continue along the coast that goes up towards the Caribbean Sea and visit the Everglades park, a huge swamp that is crossed by fast boats that fly over the water making an infernal noise. There are mongroves, crocodiles or caimans and many birds. After passing the park you arrive in Naples, a beautiful town with luxurious villas and a beautiful beach and further on a bay with two important cities Saint Petersburgh where you can visit a museum with gigantic paintings by Salvator Dalì and further inland Tampa a military port city and home to large banks. Not far from Miami it is worth visiting the beautiful villa Vizcaya on the sea with a garden and even a stone boat and poles reminiscent of Venice. The three-story white villa was built in the early twentieth century by an American millionaire who enjoyed it for a few years. There is beautiful furniture from the 15th to the 19th century and decorated tapestries, a jewel! In my opinion, Miami is the right place for winter holidays both for those who only love the sea and a beautiful beach and above all for those who love the nightlife between one club and another and have a lot of money to spend, but it is definitely a nice place, my second favorite American city after San Fracisco .