Miami, Florida (2)

Little Havana is the hub of the Cuban community in Miami. The main street in Little Havana, Calle Ocho (8th Street), showcases Cuban culture with street art, a Walk of Fame (celebrating Latino artists of whom I am woefully ignorant), music and food. Everything is colourful, bright and lively. Even the till slips are decorated! And cigar shops, plenty of cigar shops.

There are festivals and celebrations of Cuban culture throughout the the year, but on the day we were there, we had to settle for a thunderstorm. Despite that, local elderly residents continued to play dominos at the Calle Ocho domino park.

Spanish and Latin American food is definitely one of our favourite cuisines. We had our fair share of Cubanos in Miami. (I also had a spicy margarita cocktail with jalapeño. Not to be repeated.) And the pastries in Little Havana ... los pasteles son para morirse! Translated: yummo.

Key lime pie (to the right of the last picture) is everywhere in Florida, particularly in the Keys. Key lime pie and lobster. More about the Keys in a later blog post.

And if you had any doubt about the Latin influence in Miami, look at the names of the people seeking election in Little Havana.

Did you notice the recurring rooster motif in the pictures above? Feral chickens and roosters are everywhere in Miami. We were surprised to see chooks wandering round the financial district in the smartest parks and areas, and it's fairly bizarre to hear roosters crowing at sunrise in the city. Turns out that Cuban immigrants brought their chickens with them to Florida — and even more importantly, their fighting cocks. When cockfighting was eventually banned, the chickens were let loose to fend for themselves. The feathered crew have succeeded admirably in adapting to life on the loose, have spread their wings and conquered greater Miami, and are now protected by law. If you kill a chicken accidentally on the road, you'll be fined. If you're DUI and kill a chicken, you'll be jailed. That's what we were told, anyway.

Fairly close to Little Havana is Miami's Design District, which has been developed to encourage the creative industries. Art galleries and design stores abound. A movie was being made as we passed through and numerous police vehicles were on hand to support the camera-people ... but they held up the traffic for ages. I'm all for cinema art, but hey guys, don't hold up the tourists. We have places to go and things to see. However, I was heartened to see that the modern design world has not eradicated the traditional woo-woo skills such as psychic readings, including aura cleansing's with a stray apostrophe. I think the signwriter must have run out of paint by the time they (definitely they) got to tea leaf and palm.

Still on the subject of art, the downtown statue of the boy on crutches with a house on his back commemorates Operation Peter Pan in the early 1960s, when 14,000 children were sent unaccompanied to the US from Cuba. Their parents were terrified that the new Castro Communist government would 're-educate' their children, so sent them to Miami rather than take that risk — rather like the Kindertransport from Germany in the late 1930s. (The fear of Communism is apparently still prevalent in Miami. I wonder whether that may account for so many Trump supporters?) Some of the Peter Pan children never saw their families again.

The nude woman, on the other hand, is rather more lightweight. She/it breathes. Yep, she/it has 16 motors inside that make her/its chest expand and contract. The statue appeared at the Burning Man festival and is now in South Beach. From the sublime ...

Another trendy area in Miami is Wynwood, celebrated for its street art and community vibe. We've been to other places with heaps of street art (La Boca in Buenos Aires comes to mind and Melbourne is no slouch) but Wynwood is street art on steroids.

At the heart of Wynwood is Wynwood Walls, an outdoor street art gallery. The collection was created by local and international artists, and has become a big deal in the art world. It has a lovely calm atmosphere, with a park to wander through while admiring the art. What I particularly liked was the community involvement: people are employed from the neighbourhood, local kids act as guides, there is a sense of community ownership and pride. The art is very multicultural, there is a wide range of art styles and techniques, and artists are continually creating new work on site. A stuffy art gallery it ain't. It costs $12 to enter ($10 if you are over 65) which makes it very affordable. There are heaps of interesting restaurants and bars in the area, so I'd recommend it when you're next in Miami.

Outside the Walls, there were a few dudes from the 'hood enjoying their weed and decorating a lamp post with beads and charms. Bros-in-arts, right?

A world away from these neighbourhood artists are the artists who earn a lot more money: Julia Roberts, Sylvester Stallone, Oprah, Gloria Estefan, JLo, the Beckhams (yes, again) etc. They all have homes in Miami — more specifically, on the artificial islands in the bay called the Venetian Islands. Their neighbours are tech bros, property developers and pharma kings including the chap who invented Viagra. He has the biggest on the island. House, I mean. Look for the row of very sturdy palm trees (which were imported from West Africa, sigh) in front of the house.

The last photo shows Fisher Island, a super-exclusive island that is only accessible by boat. The first year you live there, you pay $250,000. After that it's a much more manageable $100,000 p.a. Fisher Island has the highest per capita income of any place in the United States and this is where Oprah and Julia Roberts call home.

I'll leave you to ponder living the American Dream in the Great Bastion of Democracy.

The very best view of Miami Beach is as we leave it! No, that's not metaphorical. Literally, we have the best view as we sail out of the port of Miami on our cruise to the Caribbean. Miami Beach stretches out before us in its full glory. You definitely don't have that sort of view from the land ...