www.fabians.ch Blog

Went to Coral Gables this morning and walked a lot. Nice houses that didn't look all that cheap and almost no people on the streets. I walked on to Coconut Grove and took a bus to Calle Ocho in Little Havana where I had lunch and walked on to the next Metromover station. The mover brought me to Bayfront Park Station from where I walked to the Hard Rock Café to drink something. I came back to Miami Beach in the early evening.

Two new German roommates from Munich (14, 15) arrived and already left again. Also another roommate (16) which I haven't seen yet arrived.

Sundays are said to be good at Nikki Beach so I might try that famous place tonight.

Update: Two new roommates, a couple from Argentina, arrived. They're staying for two nights.

Today I went to Little Havana which was neither very impressive nor interesting. Therefore I did not stay too long and walked back to Miami Downtown to pay a visit to the Miami Art Museum.

They are currently showing an exhibition called American People, Black Light: Faith Ringgold's Paintings of the 1960s. I liked some of Faith Ringgold's political posters and paintings against racism and discrimination in the United States.

I also liked the ongoing exhibition of modern and contemporary art from the permanent collection, especially the photographic work.

PS: Roommate Number 13 is Peruvian and staying for two months. He speaks no English which I appreciate because this enables me to practice Spanish.

PPS: You can now like my posts on Facebook or +1 them on Google+. You're gonna find the buttons to do so (what you should do!) at the bottom of every post. 

Went to Fort Lauderdale yesterday. The two hour bus drive (it's about 50 kilometres) cost me four dollars. Actually it would've cost only $ 3.75 if I'd had change. We passed a huge parade of the fire and police departments that inspired one passenger to badmouth the police and firemen, communism, the fact that not everyone speaks solely English in the USA, everything unnatural like tattoos, hair coloring and a lot of other things. This in turn enraged a lot of other passengers.

Anyway, first thing to be done in Fort Lauderdale: get a cappuccino at Starbuck's. Second thing was my visit to the Museum of Art which I didn't like that much. There's a small Books & Books shop in the museum lobby as well as a nice café (also by Books & Books). Next was a park with some historic stuff and small museums which was right next to a still canal. I took a route through a suburban part back to downtown which looks like a bank district kinda area.

I walked on along a crowded street with some restaurants, expensive stores and ice cream shops. As I wandered along Las Olas Blvd I saw beautiful villas, lots of canals and bridges and countless palm trees. After passing a drawbridge I walked for another twenty minutes (interrupted, for a few minutes, by the rain) and finally reached Fort Lauderdale Beach. What I encountered was a nice promenade with restaurants, shops and cafés and a beach with Florida-white sand right next to a frequented road.

PS: Roommate 12 is from Virginia and staying until Friday to meet a German friend who's on holiday in Miami Beach.

Last night there was an art/culture kinda festival called Sleepless Night going on in big parts of Miami Beach. Concerts, art  exhibitions and a lot of other performances were sperad throughout the city. I went to a piano concert first and then on to another concert which was sort of a mix of jazz, electronics and hip-hop. Next was one of the highlights of the night which was a dance show on the wall of a building. Dancers were roped down the walls performing an artistic show that was pretty impressive. We went to some bars and had some drinks afterwards.

In the afternoon before all that sleepless stuff I took the Everglades tour by bus. What cost me 38$ was the one-hour bus drive to the Gator Park, an airboat ride through the canals of the park, a show that consisted of a park guide showing some dangerous animals and acting like they were his pets, and of course the bus drive back to Miami Beach. Although the nature of the park as well as the animals were nice to watch I would not really recommend this tour.

Oh and in the bus was a French family with two kinds. They were crying all the way to the park, it was terrible. Should've gotten my money back for that!

There are also two new roommates (number 10 and 11). Juan is fron Argentina and supports Racing Club in Buenos Aires. He works for the government and is here for two weeks of holidays. Stefano is from Milan, Italy, but supports Juventus Turin. He's looking for work as a chef in Miami Beach.

PS: I could finally bring myself to edit and upload my New York photos. Visit photo.fabians.ch for a selection.

The police line closes the area right in front of my hotel: Collins Avenue is closed between Espanola Way and 16th Street as is Washington Avenue. I was told that the shot was fired at the shop in the house next to the hotel I'm staying in.

I counted more than 40 police cars, might be even more by now. There's even a helicopter doing his cirlces above us. It's three helicopters now, one might belong to some TV channel though. Countless cops standing on the road, some equipped with machine guns.

I had quite a hard time getting back to the hotel since they would not let anyone cross the police line.

I cannot complain about too less action. However I can complain about not being able to leave the hotel. It's been hours now…

Two new roommates (8th and 9th): Cesar from Ecuador who will stay for five days and Kevin from Fort Lauderdale who's only staying for one night.

Relaxed, sunbathed and read a lot in the last few days. Next are a few trips to Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood (Florida), Key West, Everglades and possibly some more.

So long…

Missed the sixth roommate since he was only here for one short night. I was told he was an American who's complaining about his wife. And he left us some beer so he must be a nice guy.

The seventh one is from Cologne, Germany. The Israeli left so there's a free bed for number eight.

Went out to mokaï lounge last night which wasn't bad but not awesome either. Later on we moved on to a club/lounge in the basement of the famous Delano Hotel which was pretty nice. Both clubs were free to get in (we'd put ourselves on the guest list for mokaï on their website).

The night before we tried to get into Liv, a famous club in the Fontainebleu Hotel but you need to be famous, rich or a plastic girl to get in. Or just very lucky. But there were some pretty nice bars and lounges in the hotel even though they were, of course, very expensive. The huge hotel complex (four buildings) holds two clubs (Liv and Arkadia), two bars and three lounges. So we drove all the way back by taxi and went to Cameo club. Spent a shitload of money for not really a great night.

The fifth roommate is a writer, originally from Pennsylvania. He used to work in Switzerland, near Aigle, some years ago. Lived in Miami, too for a while, now is travelling and writing his new book.

Florent is French, on extended travels around the States. He's probably only staying one night. So there will be next one soon…

Walked a lot today, all the way down to first street then up again on the beach. Weather wasn't that good but got better in late afternoon. It was warm all the time but quite cloudy in the morning and early afternoon.

Third roommate: Argentinian. Staying both in Miami Beach and the USA only for two days. Leaving tonight, has to attend college classes tomorrow. Trains MMA.