Miami

I'm quoting a post I've written on my old multiply site  while we were in an internet cafe in Peru addressed to  friends and family : 

Sept. 16, 2008 9:52 PM

"These past few days have been a blur.  On the way to New York, we found out that there´s a civil unrest in Bolivia.  All American airline flights were cancelled and my father in law coming from Paris changed his destination. We were fortunate to have gotten seats in the same flight he´s in headed for Lima.  Had a brief stopover in Miami where we grabbed some drinks along Ocean Drive in South Beach.  My luggage was lost somewhere between Miami and New York when we got to Lima where we spent two days.  Now we´re in Nazca, Peru having arrived only yesterday after an 8 hour bus trip.  Now we´re waiting for another bus trip down south for another 10 hours.  We´ll check if all is clear and we´ll cross the border of Bolivia by land instead, as we really want to see Salar El Uyuni.  Catch up with you soon...."

My blackberry wasn't working there.  On a lighter note, I am unable to check work emails so I'm sort of excused from work. 

My husband and I were so worried for my father in law  who was flying in from Paris to meet us in Miami.   The original plan was for all of us to meet  and fly together to La Paz.  Since  his destination changed to Lima, it would have been a very big problem otherwise if we hadn't joined him, as he doesn't speak a word of English nor Spanish.  

We arrived in Miami mid- morning.  We had more than 10 hours lay over before our next flight.  The flight that we managed to get after those stressful moments at the JFK airport a few hours before.  Thank goodness for the kindness of the American Airlines staff, the nice woman at the counter made wonders.  I had to convince my worried husband to go out and explore South Beach since we were already there with nothing to do.  I'm glad he agreed.

This was the part where I wished-- I should have brought my bikini. (It's in the luggage that got lost).

It's a beautiful city!  Humid in September, with loud latin music filling the air.  Lots of gorgeous ladies & hunky men in their bikinis sauntering along the pavement canopied by tall palms. Cafes, restaurants and bars already coming to life at 2PM on a Saturday.  Athletic teams playing beach volleyball.  Lingering presence of a happening party the previous night and with the same promise of another memorable evening coming up.  That is the exact first impression I have of Miami.  Amazing place!  I'm happy we stopped by.

We finally reunited with ''dad'' that evening at the boarding gate of the airport.  Compete relief.  I fell asleep at the boarding area chairs when our Lima bound flight got delayed due to technical problems. At least we were all together.  Till next post...