Our annual girls' trip this year was a more special one, as it was for the Dirty 30 celebration of one of us. The initial idea was a much dreamt trip to Cuba, but the hurricane Irma messed up our plans. And even though we knew Cuban people would appreciate the income from every visitor, specially after such devastating storm, we got scared and chose to visit Miami and Aruba instead.
We wanted to stay as close to the beach as possible, so opted for Ocean Drive. Because seeking the sunshine in the end of November was the main purpose of the trip. And I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed combining the city break with the chill and beachy, yet vibrant vibe of the Art Deco District. After a long day of flying, we checked into the hotel and rushed to go out and experience the iconic scene of the surrounding area. The palms, the lights, the vintage cars and the gigantic cocktails all screamed "vacation" on what could have been just a regular Wednesday.
Combining some beach time with shopping was the agenda for our first two full days in Miami. The first day we went to the Dolphin Mall, while the second day scrolled Collins Avenue and Lincoln Road.
On Friday night, we were supposed to hop on some kind of a party bus (we were invited by some random guys we met at dinner) but we chose to get late and experience Miami's night life by ourselves. Which, of course, was the better option - we had a blast. On our way to the beautiful rooftop Sugar, turned out our Uber driver was a regular customer there, so he made sure we would not wait on the line. The bar itself was packed, but the views form up there were simply breathtaking.
And we haven't found the best part of it yet. Just when it was getting chilly, an employee told us about the "tea room" - the bar's "secret", speakeasy area. Of course we wanted to check it out, so as soon as we finished our drinks, we headed there for a second round. And it did not disappoint - same beautiful views of the city, same delicious cocktails, but less people and a bit more luxurious atmosphere with comfortable sofas. Of course, we found new friends at the neighbouring table... We could have stayed there all night. And we kind of did - until they switched on the lights for closing.
From Sugar we went to Blue Martini, which was just around the corner, but for a Friday night seemed a little too calm. Still, we gave it a shot, but it was already around 4 am, so we figured out it would not get any better. We left and decided it was time to hit E11even - the disco, open 24h. And I really believed we were going there, but instead, we stopped at a private party first, just next to it. This time, the Brickell's skyscraper offered us gorgeous and privileged views to the moon falling down as well as to the sun, gently raising over the city in what appeared to be a quiet Saturday morning. We surely had a lot of fun that night, thanks to all the people we met by chance, even though we didn't get to the disco. When we went back to the hotel, most of the guests were finishing their breakfast and we went directly to bed. After such a long night, we knew that we would miss most of what we've planned for the day, but we didn't really care...
We woke up in the early afternoon and tried not to waste precious time, as it was our last day in Miami. So, we had a quick brunch and headed straight to the colourful area of Wynwood. Honestly, I could have spent here an entire day.
As this was also the day of the Big 30's we came to celebrate, we wanted to after all have some Cuban experience, and have kept the visit to Little Havana for Saturday, as well. To be completely honest, I was a bit disappointed with it. I was expecting Calle Ocho to be full of people and bars playing Cuban music and selling delicious mojitos... Instead it looked quite dark and dead calm. We saw a lady rolling cuban cigars, checked the Cuban Walk of fame, ate a super delicious donut and went back to the hotel to get ready for the fancy dinner we've planned.
The hotel we chose was just two blocks away from the Versace Mansion and of course we decided to celebrate there. It matches so effortlessly the style of the birthday girl, it would have been ridiculous for us to go elsewhere.
We surely had so much fun in Miami, but those 3 days were not even close to enough for everything the city has to offer. Really hope, I will have another opportunity to go back and explore more. Highly recommend it though, even just as a short escape, as it has the perfect conditions for a sunny getaway in an eclectic, metropolitan environment.
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