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Arriving at the hostel on Friday I had braced myself for an unpleasant stay. We were booked into an 8-10 bed dorm and it was super hot. When we arrived there was a lot of people everywhere and we found out the hostel was completely booked out. It seemed that we had arrived for Urban Music Week, which is a celebration of rap and hip hop music all along ocean drive (the main street along the beach). So I was really ready for the worst when we checked in, BUT because they were so busy and we were a group of 4, they bumped us up to an apartment with another few groups. We were stoked so we went and had lunch and a nap in the park while we waited for our room to be ready. When we returned we found out we had been upgraded again! This time to a bed and breakfast villa down the road and because it was part of the hostel, they would pay for our cabs there and back.
We made our way over and met with the care taker who was this awesome swiss fella called Charlie. He was intent on making sure we would have a good stay and would look after us whenever he could.
After we settled in, I desperately needed a new suitcase and the department store was only a block away to I went there and did a bit of shopping. On the way back we grabbed some beer for the fridge (18 corona's for $19) and sat out the back of our villa drinking in the afternoon sun. Suddenly Charlie comes out with bowls of snacks for us and clears the table of empty bottles.
That night we wanted to check out this Urban Music event which allegedly has had 4 fatal shootings over the years, so police presence was an understatement. They had mobile observation towers set up along the street and every type of transport you could think of. We never actually saw any trouble and everyone is your friend when you're from Australia. We headed over where our hostel was because we had signed up for the night out they we offering. I think it was $10 and that got you access to a beer keg and entry to a club later on. It was a fun night out meeting people from around the world where you would call them by whatever country they were from 'Chile!! Hows it goin!?'.
Saturday was a pretty uneventful day. It was mainly filled up with shopping, eating and beaching. It was a super hot day and when we got back to our villa sweating, Charlie greeted us with a beer each. The main shopping mall in Miami is call Lincoln St and also has a really nice selection of food.
As the day goes on though you can feel the vibe that the city is preparing again for another big night of Urban Music party. People starting filling up the streets and guys were actually stopping their cars mid traffic to chat up the girls walking along the street - it was a pretty funny sight. As soon as the sun goes down almost on cue the police helicopter starts doing laps up and down the beach up until at least midnight.
I wanted to check out a club that played mainly house music but when we got there they said it was a hip hop night because of theme of the weekend. You can only listen to so much rap and hip hop in one sitting, so 2 straight days of it was my quota for the year. Not feeling inspired to stay out, we headed back to our villa.
On the Sunday we booked a tour out to the everglades to go gator spotting. We went out on one of those boats with the fan on the back which are great fun because they can sit on just a few inches of water. We booked a 4 seater boat which was worth it because the bigger ones hold about 15 people and can only travel down the main rivers. Alligators are pretty shy and every time our super noisy boat got near one, it would dip below the water, so getting a good picture was hard work. We did stumble on a gator nursery, where all the babies hang out where it's a bit safer in the reeds. The boat tour goes for about an hour and the guide stops along the way to tell you about the history of the area and so on. Once you've finished the tour you can head around to the Alligator show. It's not really a show though because Gators are really lethargic so the most they did was lift their heads for food. As someone who's grown up seeing crocodile shows, Alligators are just a bunch of sooks.
Because it was our last day in Miami and the heat was taking its toll on us, we headed back to our villa with beers and snacks and sat out the back drinking beer and smoking cigars. Sure enough as soon as we sat down, Charlie came out with bowls of chocolates and biscuits. We gave him a whopping tip after we left.
The next morning we were flying to Washington DC which is only a 3hr flight but travel to and from airports combined with waiting times and your whole day is gone.
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