South Beach, Miami!

miami beach
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After the 5 hour train trip through Florida, from Kissimmee to Miami I arrived about 9pm in downtown Miami. I then had to catch a bus which for some reason was bypassing the train station at that time to get out to my hostel on the island, Miami Beach. Luckily there was another backpacker at the train station waiting for the same bus, so had some company while waiting for about ½ an hr to realise the bus wasn’t coming (it did stop reasonably nearby so we ended it up catching it from there).

downtown
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I stayed right in the heart of South Beach (pretty much the southern half of Miami Beach) and famous for its ridiculously expensive bars, lots of hot women, etc. I stayed there for about 2.5 days and the time flew by way too quickly, mainly because of the 30.C plus days, sunshine and awesome beach about 2mins walk from the hostel. I was also staying very close to Ocean Drive which runs along the beach and is famous for its art deco restaurants and bars, and more Aston Martins and Porsche’s parked along it than I have ever seen before in my life before.

flash cars on ocean drive
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While there I also went to a NBA game at the massive AA Arena in downtown Miami, between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets. The game was pretty close (Miami just lost) but the atmosphere amongst the crowd was amazing when Miami was winning, with people everywhere just going nuts! The worst part about my stay in Miami was sitting on the beach on my last morning there knowing that in a bit over half a day I was going to be sitting in Heathrow with temperatures about 30.C colder outside.