Trevor's Travels In North America

I visited Miami on two occasions, the first time after having just returned from Peru during December 1999, the second occasion was during August 2000 when I attended a meeting with various colleagues from SGS, this allowed me to visit the delights of South Beach, eating and drinking to excess. I extended the visit to include travelling north to Stuart, to visit Jeanne Paladino (my Aunt) and stayed the weekend.

City Guide

Miami is arguably the most exotic city Americans can visit without a passport. On a typical evening in South Beach, you'll witness the energy and passion of Rio, Monte Carlo, Havana, and Hemingway's Paris. Other neighborhoods also bring the world into clearer focus through diverse architecture, dining, and customs, sparking a renaissance for Miami and its sultry sister, Miami Beach, that's reminiscent of the cities' glory days in the 1920s.

Miami is different from any other city in America -- or any city in Latin America for that matter, though it has a distinctly Latin flavor. Both logically and geologically, Miami shouldn't even be here. Resting on a paved swamp between the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean, the city is subject to periodic flooding, riots, hurricanes, and the onslaught of swallow-size mosquitoes. Despite the downsides, however, Miami is a vibrant city that works and plays with vigor.

The city has seen a decade of big changes. In the late 1980s Miami Beach was an ocean-side geriatric ward. Today's South Beach residents have the kind of hip that doesn't break. The average age dropped from the mid-sixties in 1980 to a youthful early forties today. Toned young men outnumber svelte young women 2 to 1, and hormones are as plentiful as pierced tongues.

As you plan your trip, know that winter is the best time to visit, but if money is an issue, come in the off-season -- after Easter and before October. You'll find plenty to do, and room rates are considerably lower. Summer brings many European and Latin American vacationers, who find Miami congenial despite the heat, humidity, and intense afternoon thunderstorms.

Regardless of when you arrive, once you're here, you'll suspect that you've entered Cuban air space. No matter where you spin your radio dial, virtually every announcer punctuates each sentence with an emphatic "COO-BAH!" Look around, and you'll see Spanish on billboards, hear it on elevators, and pick it up on the streets.

But Miami sways to more than just a Latin beat. Newsweek called the city "America's Casablanca," and it may be right. In addition to populations from Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and of course Cuba, there are also representatives from China, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia, and Sweden -- all speaking a veritable Babel of tongues. Miami has accepted its montage of nationalities, and it now celebrates this cultural diversity through languages, festivals, world-beat music, and a wealth of fantastic restaurants.