A few weeks after I landed back in the states after traveling around Australia, my cousin who is currently staying in Miami, Florida reached out to me. He recently got a job at Lennar and wanted to meet up, so I did what every reasonable person would do. I bought a plane ticket to Miami Florida!

After reaching Miami the sudden heat swept me off my feet. My was it hot outside. Something I needed to adjust to. During my visit a small hurricane was rolling around, so the weather was sunny to rainy to sunny to rainy. I reached the hotel a little too early so my room wasn’t fully ready. Which gives me perfect reasons to explore the new city. This was my first time in Miami. Whenever I go it’s either Destin, Orlando or Tampa. My first stop on my list was the raved Museum of Illusions, found commonly on every social media platform, this museum uses the perception of shadows and light to turn wall art into something very realistic. So as I walked through the vast hallways I had different adventures from playing basketball with professionals, dodging radioactive slime, and even riding a unicorn. It was a point of peace and simplicity that I enjoyed thoroughly.

My cousin was currently still in office working and it was only after lunch, so I wandered around the little outdoor mall that the Museum of Illusions was located in. I stopped by an H&M and bought myself a cute shirt and a jacket as it was getting a lot brisker outside than I imagined it was going to be in the Sunshine state. Miami has some sort of charm to it, the beach is right there, the air smells of salt water and sometimes fish in certain areas, and the colorful houses dot the beach boarders. I couldn’t place a finger in it at the moment but now looking back at it Miami felt so peaceful and quiet, compared to other cities.

It was getting darker and the storm clouds rolled by over the sky blocking out the sun. I waited outside of the restaurant Havana 1975. Miami was very known for a lot of amazing Caribbean food and the Cuban cuisine we were about to eat was no different. At first we were dining outside, but I guess the weather had other plans because soon the sky opened up and the rain fell on us. Finally moving inside I realized how the ambience of the restaurant was so relaxing, performers danced and sang to Cuban songs, a lot of the songs performed were by Celia Cruz (the queen she is) and I couldn’t help but also hum along to iconic songs from her like Guantanamera. A magician even walked from table to table, entertaining little kids and even some adults. My cousin and I ordered a lot of appetizers varying from fries, to tamales, etc. For the main course however I got myself some chicken and caramelized bananas. The chicken was so tender and coated in some sort of magical juice and the bananas were just spectacular. I never really thought about having a sweet thing like that alongside a very savory dish, but it worked very well!

Part 2 will come soon!