Cuba and Brazil - in Miami.

A warm hello with a little update from us in the final stages of our trip.

It has been raining heavily here, and entire streets were flooded. Benny even received an official warning of a storm surge on his phone in the morning, and we found out why when we set off. We have never seen so much water on drivable roads. When even the locals are taking photos, it must have been severe. The drainage system couldn't keep up, and now we understand why everyone here drives SUVs. But our car, Versace, managed to handle the water just fine. Around 2 pm, there were finally some improvements in the weather, and suddenly the world acted as if nothing had happened. The sun was shining, the clouds disappeared, and the end result was that Marie got sunburn on her knuckles 😅.

We watched the rain radar and then drove towards the Wynwood Walls. They are located in the Design District, and this whole neighborhood is a hip artist scene, with many grass shops. Here, you can find the Wynwood Walls, where artists have let loose and left behind beautiful graffiti. But see for yourself.

After paying exorbitant prices at the parking garage, we went to Calle Ocho - it's actually just 8th Street Southwest near Miami Downtown, but this street and the whole neighborhood have a lot of Cubans. And now it's a Little Havana, where only Spanish is spoken. To get some exercise, we came up with the idea of walking the entire street (1 hour) and then enjoying a delicious meal at the end. The restaurant was already chosen. By that time, it was again 31°C and our backs were drenched in sweat.

But Calle Ocho was really cool. It smelled like coffee and cigars, it was like a little Cuba! At times, people were dancing in the club at noon and eating nachos with cheese dip.

When we arrived at the end and were looking forward to eating, we realized that the restaurant was closed. Upon closer inspection, or rather, smelling, we noticed that there must have been a fire here and the authorities had closed the place. So there we stood, no more drinks, hungry, soaked in sweat, and knowing that we had to make the entire way back. First, we each got a huge lemonade to survive. By the time we got back to Downtown, it was already dusk.

And then we found a place to eat: a Brazilian rodizio, where you can eat as much meat as you want. That was such a refreshing change from all the sandwiches! And it was very, very tasty. Now it wasn't far to the car anymore. Of course, there was another Miami downpour on the way, and then we were back at 10 pm. Now it was time to go to bed, get up early tomorrow: we're heading to Key West! Benny will be driving, while Marie will be in charge of music, route, food, and drinks :). We're already looking forward to the drive and being at the southernmost point of the USA.

So far, Miami hasn't fascinated us as much as New York or even Washington. But we haven't been to the beach yet! We're enjoying the last few days and will keep in touch.

Kisses!

B ❤️ M