Florida, What a Spectacle!

Florida, here we come!

We leave them with much nostalgia on Sunday 22 September but the destination stimulates us quite a bit…we're going to Florida for a fabulous tour between Orlando, Miami until we reach the Keys… We arrive at Orlando international airport after a 2 and a half hour flight (and after 2 hours of checks, which on domestic flights are much much stricter than on international ones) at around 19.00. An incredible humidity welcomes us…85% humidity, 28°C air temperature, a tropical cyclone that seems to have hit the area an hour before our landing…the scene is truly incredible…anyway we collect our luggage and head to the Thrifty car rental to pick up the car we had booked from Detroit.

The person in charge, as soon as he realises we are Italian, improvises a little scene in Italian because he spent two months in Italy on holiday and he had a great time there…he likes us and so he offers us a higher-category car at the same price…not bad!! The surprise concerns the price…the base cost of the car for 7 days is 140 US$ with the final price including taxes and insurance at 420 US$!!!! Here we have the suspicion of the "rip-off" (as we say in Rome). In fact the guy tells us that the price including taxes is 200 US$ but in this price there are no insurance policies of any kind, not even civil liability. He also tells us that if the car is stolen we will be called upon to pay for it.

This alarms us and so we take out all our good (pricey) insurance policies and then the price becomes the one mentioned before…I think (indeed we think) that if we had done our research in Italy all this wouldn't have happened…so I advise everyone to check the total cost beforehand.

Also because in the USA car insurance is not obligatory or rather…it seems that Americans insure the person and not the car, so Mr. Ken Smith is insured and can drive any car and will be covered by his insurance..when driving rental cars, when driving cars lent by friends or otherwise. Anyway…having swallowed the bitter pill we set off in search of the hotel and go just outside Orlando. There is a road (International Drive) where there are dozens of hotels, motels, restaurants etc. open all night, for every budget. We go to the Days Inn (35 US$ per night) with a pool and air conditioning (without it you would have died!!). Dinner at a Mexican restaurant and off to bed. PS so far I've given you a little detail about American establishments.

There is the free-refill, that is you buy a soft drink and drink as much as you want…so they keep refilling your glass…really cool but be careful not to blow up like a Michelin man!!!!

Orlando and Miami

On 23/9 we go to Universal Studios in Orlando…we pay for the ticket (54 US$ each + 7 US$ for parking) and off we go!!! The heat is oppressive, the feeling of mugginess reaches unbearable levels…we drink an unthinkable quantity of liquids trying to survive…the Studios aren't that great honestly. There are shows repeated at different times of the day…the cowboy stuntmen, the Ghostbusters show, then the Blues Brothers one…we see simulations of hurricanes (twister), earthquakes (heartquake), of E.T. and a few other little things…but honestly it's more a park suited to children rather than adults. Perhaps the Island's of Adventure park was better, where perhaps the fun was greater, or perhaps…it would have been better to avoid spending this money and go somewhere else.

The next day (24/9) we head towards Miami and here the trip starts to get interesting…we go straight down on the Turnpike (motorway dedicated to President Reagan) where you pay by distance. Avoid taking it, it's better to take the freeway road that runs along the ocean (which you will never see) it's a bit longer but certainly the fact that it is free is a godsend…anyway we arrive at Palm Beach and heavens open..an emerald green sea, sun, very warm water and the good life on the beaches. So much youth, so many beautiful people!!! We go further and once we reach West Palm Beach we have a nice refreshing swim…beautiful, you will see enormous pelicans flying above your heads, seagulls walking on your towels (I swear!)..

We go even further down and stop at North Miami Beach where we find a very nice motel, with a pool, private beach and a truly affordable price (60 US$ with breakfast included). It is 10 min. by car from Miami Beach and costs half as much. I highly recommend it!!! We enjoy the good weather (what luck, given that around us we hear news of hurricanes, the various Isidore, Lili etc.), the wonderful water and the very few people…in the evening we go to Miami and take a tour of Ocean Drive, South Miami, Little Havana etc. In reality in the evening these places are much less fascinating than during the day, when there is more liveliness and more people around.

In the evening the situation changes, lots of police to curb the heavy crime (they tell us) against tourists, many immigrants driving around in unthinkable cars and in any case little cheerfulness…the only street worthy of note is Lincoln Road where there are restaurants and shops open until late. We promise ourselves to return to these parts during the day to enjoy the city better!

Key Biscaine and the Keys

The next day (25/9) we go to visit the island of Key Biscayne with its South Florida lighthouse. It's a spectacle…white beaches, warm blue sea…to enter the island you pay a toll of 1 US$…to get to the park where the lighthouse is you pay again (and so you should)…if I remember correctly 2-3 US$. If the day is nice I assure you it's worth it. You can have a lovely swim, sunbathe and have a picnic. In fact there is a beautiful equipped area for stopping, complete with a barbecue! But the island of Key Biscayne is also famous for the aquarium it hosts, the Miami Seaquarium. Inside (ticket 25 US$) you can admire wonderful shows with seals, dolphins, orcas, alligators. There are also beautiful aquariums. It's a lovely spectacle, if you have children it's obligatory, if you don't have them and….

you feel like a child like us then you can't do without it..ah, I forgot to tell you that parking is also paid! For the visit and to attend all the shows you should allow at least 3-4 hours…the shows are staggered throughout the day and are repeated twice, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It's not worth entering if it's past 14.30 otherwise you risk not seeing some shows..so take good note!

In the evening we headed towards the Keys, passing through Coconut Grove. There a crazy traffic awaited us, as if it were the ring road at rush hour, and so we arrive at Key Largo around 21.00. At night the spectacle isn't exactly the best, you can't see anything, and everything is very dark. We find accommodation at the Best Western in Key Largo (90 US$ for a two-storey apartment! With breakfast included). This lodge is very suitable for those planning to stay a few days to go diving. In fact there is a beautiful kitchen available, two bathrooms and two bedrooms. Furthermore, the lodge has a pier from which sea excursions depart daily, towards the coral reef (price starting from 25 US$ excluding equipment rental).

We had to give it up for lack of time, but I assure you we will be back…after a lavish and well-deserved fish dinner at one of the many little restaurants on the island we retire for a well-earned rest!

Keys

Here we are at 26/9…transit day..we continue along the islands until we reach Islamorada where we find a very white beach…but to our great surprise the sea is very dirty and uninviting. The idea is that we have arrived in an exasperatingly touristy place, where there are dozens of nightclubs, pubs on the beach and shops of every kind but the sea is practically the same as that of Ostia! Bad surprise also going further where we even find a sign indicating a swimming ban! At this point we ask for explanations in a shop, but we are told that the beauty is near the coral reef, so if we don't go there it's better to turn back or continue to Key West. But the length of the Keys (157 miles!) doesn't allow us to tackle the whole crossing, also because we have to get closer to Orlando to go back. So we reverse course and head for Miami.

Last days

The next day (27/9) is a day dedicated to travelling, in fact we have to climb back up to return to Orlando where the next day we have the flight to Detroit and then to Rome. So we head straight north and decide to make two stops: one at Cocoa Beach (a beach loved by surfers) and the other at Cape Canaveral (site of the NASA base).

We spend the morning taking in the last of the sun and set off around 11. We arrive in the early afternoon at Cocoa Beach. Dozens of surf shops, dozens of muscular young people walking around with a board under their arm…but the waves are quite modest and so the spectacle offered isn't exactly what one imagined. In short, no 5-metre waves but modest waves that these swaggering youths ride on their boards without giving any enthusiasm. Anyway, we don't lose heart and head towards Cape Kennedy.

At 17.00 we arrive at the Kennedy Space Center and to our great surprise we discover that we have to pay to enter and visit the space museum!!! They want 27 US$ each and considering that the museum closes at 18.00 we decide to leave, stealing a few photos of the shuttle from outside…but we don't hide from a nice policewoman all our amazement at the excessively high price to visit a national museum!!! Sad and disconsolate we head towards Orlando. Our holiday is coming to an end and so all that remains is to return the car, and head to the airport. From there a flight to Detroit and the connection to Rome.

Exhausted but happy we arrive in Rome. The experience we had was wonderful and for days we remain speechless, thinking about when we could return. Anyway if any of you would like to chat, share opinions and impressions you will find us very willing! Hi everyone