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Yesterday we awoke damned early and drove around a few corners to get to the airport. Once there the guessing game bagan because we bought our tickets through one company (contenental) who was bought out by united airlines, and the flights were being flowen by another company, such is the life of airlines post recession. So eventually Jane asked someone who we goto to get our tickets and it turned out to be united, so we get our tickets and then we had to drop off our bags to a customs guy which stressed out Jane as the guy from TSA put our bags in seperate piles. We got to Denver in Colorardo where we had breakfast, got ammused by the Cyclone shelters in every cupboard and toilet and headed straight for our flight to Florida. Thankfully all our bags arrived!
We were picked up by Karl's friend Alejandra from Fort Lauderdale Airport, where the Humidity hit like a rock, the likes which Karl can't stand! The poor kiwi melted immediately! Alejandra took us to an awesome diner for lunch - pulled pork and conch chowder - yum! Danny, her husband, caught up with us there - it was great for Jane to meet them both finally and to catch up! it's been 3 years since Karl, Ale and Danny have all caught up and you wouldn't know by all the talking!
We got back to their apartment - a lovely complex backing on to the beach at Fort Lauderdale and settled in before heading to the fort lauderdale downtown for some beers and a slice of pizza for dinner. It was a hot humid night out, but interesting to see some of the sights - including a bar interestingly called 'GastroPub' not really what we would have thought was the best name for a pub! But apparently great burgers. We walked around for a while and aparently the area is really picking up after the economic downturn - there's a lot of new bars and restaurants around (it's a touristy area). Very very skimpily dressed girls advertising bars and cigars and flashy cars.
Sunday morning Ale had to stay in Fort Lauderdale and pick up her mum who's visiting from Colombia, but Danny, Karl and Jane headed out to Billie's Swamp Adventure! On the Native American Reservation it's an interesting place - we went on a Jet Boat Ride (you know, those boats that run with a massive fan on the back), saw a critter show - with a random European guy giving a presentation on american critters on a Native American Reservation. We saw the cougar getting fed, saw some random animals they had and then went on the Buggy tour. The Buggy Tour guide was.... interesting. Super informative, but very very intense/crazy. Made us alternatively giggle and feel uncomfortable - he contradicted himself a few times and was dire about the environment, then super positive and then very derogatory about Europeans and didn't really explain what the Native Americans did or used the area... anyway, it wasn't the best tour, but certainly not the worst!
That evening, with Ale and her mum, the five of us went out to the Cheesecake Factory. The food was massive proportions, but very yummy! then OF COURSE we had cheesecake - DELICIOUS!!!! I must admit that after a chicken & shrimp gumbo I was beaten and had to take half my godiva chocolate cheesecake home - Karl didn't make it through his fried maccaroni'n'cheese burger and apple/caramel cheesecake either!
Monday, Danny had to head back to work, so the rest of us went for a nice walk along fort lauderdale beach. It was great - really soft sand though, so it wore us out! In the afternoon we went walkin and walking and walking through a massive outlet mall. It has soooo many shops, we were there for four hours and apparently only saw about 30% of the shops!
Today (tuesday), we got up and went into Miami - crazy place. We went to the outdoor mall area and had a big walk, went to South Beach, which was beautiful, and walked along the esplanade. Miami was full of art deco buildings! Its really pretty and it's nice cuz they can't change the fascade, which means that the buildings aren't too tall and there's lots of colour! Some of the sights of south beach were europens in speedos, sweaty roller bladers, heaps of people speaking spanish, 1.5litre cocktails, cigars, art deco buildings, coral balistrades, a huges thunderstorm out to see (never delivered), plastic surgery, white sand beach, deck chairs (rentals on the beach) and the feeling of oppressive humidity! The humidity just made the shops and cafes more inviting!
This evening we went out to the local Cuban restaurant, delicious food! We're having a lazy night in before we head down to Peru tomorrow morning!
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