The least glamorous ways to spend your day in Miami

by Annalisa Rossi (Italy)

I didn't expect to find USA

Miami, Florida, is the place to be if you want to have fun and experience excess. This is what most people think of the city. And yes, with its gigantic villas, the even more gigantic drinks served at the bars in Miami Beach, and the LGBQT nightlubs, Miami can be considered the Ibiza of the USA. I, however, not being a party animal, decided to experience the city in a couple of less-than-glamorous days just before Christmas: a short escape to see if I would find peace in the epicenter of the vida loca. I had a hotel in Miami Beach, which is located on artificial and natural Islands right in front of Miami. I got there passing by the ostentatiously big villas which belong to rich entrepeneurs and VIPs, built on those artificial islands: according to a tour guide I overheard, the biggest villa belongs to the man who invented viagra. My first stop was South Beach, where skaters, girls sporting shorts and beach waves, and homeless people reunite to share the clement weather. I accessed the beach, and a strand of white sand opened before me, the blue ocean mixing with the sky, making it difficult to find the horizon. The sun was so hot it was hard to believe Christmas would be in two days. I sat down, looking at the skyscrapers behind me and the sea before me, both sparkling in the sunlight. After that I went to the most famous street in the neighborhood, Ocean Drive. The street is filled with beautiful art deco hotels: a great ensemble of pastel greens, pinks and blues, like It or not, do make you feel glamorous. On the same street is another glamourous building: Villa Versace, where the stylist was killed in 1997, now a boutique hotel displaying the restaurant menu on the porch and organising guided tours. My evening ended at a small falafel restaurant, no sight of cocktails. The following day I went to Wynwood, a neighbourhood which has recently been made famous by a few street artists. It's the heart of the art and design community of Miami: as I walked through it I found art galleries, hipster cafés and temporary shops, all covered in colourful paint, which makes it a very instagrammable neighbourhood. Wynwood Walls is an enclosed area, featuring works by the most popular artists, which are repainted periodically. After the gallery I decided to visit the most famous pie shop in the neighbourhood: Fireman Derek's. It's a minuscule shop with just one high top table, but an surprisingly long line. I ordered the gooyest and most overpriced pie I could find and left Wynwood. The evening came, and lights were turned on. Christmastime in Miami is peculiar, provided you don't come from another subtropical climate. A few palm trees around the city are decorated with fairy lights and there are a few Santa Clauses and angels placed on the Ocean Drive. Nevertheless, the sun burns, people wear tank tops and the temperature is around 25 degrees Celsius. It all looks quite off, even a bit comic: as if Miami, the city of mojitos and parties, was trying to change her nature, to change what she is known for. Somehow, it worked, and for a brisk moment I felt Christmas coming here, too. On my last day I was ready to leave early, but I decided to take another stroll in South Beach. Despite everything, it really looks beautiful, with its lavish nature, party people and artistic guys, there's an energy to it that''s difficult to find anywhere else. I spent some time sleeping on the grass and watching the people populating the streets around me: I felt the same relief and carelessness you feel on the last day of school. I then took a moment to acknowledge that it was the 24th of December, and I was in Miami, now ordering a Caramel Frappuccino at a Starbucks on the beach: it was not that bad after all.