Going Global – Miami part 2

Breakfast

When it comes to food, Helmut and I find dining out in the United States a wonderfully comforting ritual/ experience! Dare I say that Florida food induces a Pavlovian reaction, which includes salivating and reaching for the Doggy Bag? In particular, we ADORE the American Breakfast, an important start to the day, which I truly believe is higher on the glycemic index than the British Breakfast.

Nowadays, American Breakfast is a familiar fixture on hotel room service menus all over the world, but here in Miami, many beautiful people and health conscious dieters usually stick to eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, hash browns, French toast, waffles and English muffins, while other devil-may-care, Braveheart types might feel free to order a T-bone steak with all of the above.

In general, food portions in America are on the generous side, a practice which tends to induce obesity heart disease and diabetes later in life.

Below, a picture of a breakfast which could possibly induce health problems later

Dinner

In South Beach, as in most states, it is common to see unemployed old people, or retirees, as they are fondly called, dining out at the ridiculously early hour of 5.30 pm. This quaint custom might have originated in Spain, where Tapas is usually eaten as a pre-dinner snack early in the evening. Whatever the reason, it gets all the old folks off the streets by 7.30, which is always a good thing.

Many old people like to go on cruises. Helmut and I ADORE Miami cruises as it gives us a chance to eat American food all day long. Like restaurants, boats for old people tend to get going a little earlier than normal.  Below, a couple of retirees have literally ‘missed the boat’ and quite probably their favourite restaurant too.

Dear readers, have you ever heard the expression: if one is tired of Miami, one is tired of Vice? Well, nowhere does vice better than South Beach, an area in the heart of Miami famous for its art deco architecture, trendy shops, gay nightclubs, hairy restaurants and glamorous beaches.

Vices

Helmut ADORES South Beach, and luckily for us old relics, here in the ‘Golden Girls’ state, there are still many years left to experience every kind of vice and subversive activity that Miami has to offer. One example, is the famous Gum Tree on Lincoln Road, where residents and tourists alike, buy gum from local street dealers, chew it for days until a trans-like state has been achieved, and then spit it out and post the remains on a tree trunk…Below, a dizzying array of chewed gum

Lincoln  Road is the buzzing hub of South Beach and full of beautiful people, and beautiful boys in particular. In fact, I feel our dear and youthful travel companions of Spain fame, would gladly trade in one of their Louis Vuitton man-bags to be here with us as we journey around the ‘hood’ looking for vice. Below, could it be that we’ve found it?

Below, a police car parked at Lincoln Road is also on the lookout for vice….let’s see which of us spots it first!

Because there IS so much vice around, prices in South Beach tend to be a tad on the high side. For example, just parking one’s car can set one back a great deal, so best bring a credit rather than a debit card. Below, a car owner has a hair raising encounter with an expensive parking meter fee, and out of desperation, calls her bank manager