Martin Nieto

So I just  spent most of the night at Lincoln Road just walking around or just sitting there watching people. A funny thing is that the 2 days I was in Miami, 3 persons that caught me taking pictures of other people came to me and asked me if I was a paparazzi. I have never been called like that and it is rare when other people come to me asking why I’m taking pictures. I wonder if they thought that I was taking pictures of a celebrity there or if they just use that word instead of photographer.

Well, I didn’t want to leave but I had to get some sleep to get up very early to see the sunrise. I’ve always wanted to see a sunrise at the beach so I couldn’t miss the chance… It was still dark when I went to the beach that I couldn’t see anything just hear the sounds of the waves. I bumped with a homeless or guy had just party all night  that was sleeping behind a pile-up of beach chairs that I was trying to use it as a tripod to capture the beautiful dawn colors that were coming up. He really surprises me but he didn’t even wake up. I have a very wide lens so I had to get closer to the water to capture the waves. As there was not enough light, it was still impossible to get some decent shots hand held without a tripod. I should have brought my tripod that I rarely use but it is always in the trunk of my car, but I didn’t. By walking a little bit around I found a big soda cup. It worked great to keep steady the camera but that was really stupid. As I was very close to the water suddenly a big wave came up so quickly that I didn’t have the chance to raise the camera and move myself. My camera got splashed with lots of water and my shoes ended up so wet.  I really thought that the camera was not going to work but it worked. uff.. I just then wait for more light to come up and I just then take off my shoes and get inside the water to get close to the waves.  The water was warm that I didn’t want to get out as the sand was so cold…. Watching the sunrise was really awesome, it was worth the cold and blisters I got (as it was cold in the morning and I have to wore for the rest of the day a pair of shoes that are really bad for walking) I really wanted to see again the first sunrise of 2010 at the beach when I was in Jacksonville but I went to bed at 4am and got my car locked overnight at a parking garage in downtown.

After checking out the hostel just kept walking around south beach. I found the hostess at Ocean Dr very annoying all the time as the street is filled with restaurants and all of them had tables on the sidewalk you got bombarded by them asking you to check out the menu. It was hard to ignoring them…. This time I walked all the way south and west of south beach. It wasn’t too interesting as the west it is mainly residential and no too much to see, so it was kinda boring.

I went walking all the way up to the Holocaust Memorial. The whole memorial was very emotional. It was very sad to see the pain captured on the faces of the sculptures and reading the history facts. One that really moved me was a man holding his child up to its mother. You can really feel the mother’s pain as she tries to grab him as the struggle to hold on the arm too. I just took a few pictures of those sculptures as I don’t know I think I didn’t feel like taking pictures of them and more with that sad music or chorus at the background. The memorial got me some interest on watching the movie Schindler’s List that I wanted to see long ago but I completely forgot about it. It is too long but I try to watch it this week that I have time. I just need to get a full box of Kleenex.  :)

After the memorial I just walk all the way back to get my car and went  North towards Haulover Beach.  I almost got there when I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to go back south and see the sunset with the skyline of Miami downtown. It was difficult to find a spot with that view as I couldn’t trespass the residential areas that were there. I should have gone farther south. After walking a bit I was able to find a nice view just on time for the twilight.  I went back to Lincoln Road dead tired and with the cold that I caught. I didn’t even feel like taking out my camera anymore so I just sit there watching people and then went back to Jacksonville. Oh, well Miami was really great, I definitively going back again. I just hope to get warmer temps next time..

I just recently came back from Florida. I wanted to stay longer than a week but I have to come back to Chicago. I couldn’t go to Daytona Beach and Orlando as I wanted but at least I get away a bit from the cold of Chicago by spending some days in Jacksonville, Miami and Saint Augustine.

Miami was really awesome the weather was warmer there than in Jacksonville where it was in the cold 50s – 60s something kinda unusual.  I just spent 2 days here mainly at South Beach. I wanted to stay on New Year s Eve but the prices were really so expensive for me and the nice places in South Beach that I could afford they were all booked for that day.  Even at the hostel I stayed the prices for that night that was not even available were almost 4 times more than what I paid for 2 days earlier.  Anyway, I think I did the right choice as I drove down there, I think it was going to be a nightmare with a car at New Year’s Eve.  There was so much traffic and the huge parking garage close to the hostel I stayed was almost full when I got there. I didn’t need a car to get around SoBe, so I just left it at the parking garage until I went back to Jacksonville. It just cost $20 a day, not to bad.

Before going to SoBe, I went to take a walk at Little Havana and grab something to eat as I didn’t eat anything in the 5hrs that it takes to get to Miami from Jacksonville. It was a really nice neighborhood, I liked walking there. It seamed to me like walking in the 26^th street or the 18^th but with Cubans instead of Mexicans. It surprised me to bump into many tourists with their cameras taking a stroll in the 8^th street. I didn’t think it was that popular.  I later went to see one of the recent murals of one of my favorite artist el Mac along with the amazing text of Retna. I love his style! I also bump into one of his pieces on a gallery at Lincoln Road along with many other inspiring artworks.

After that, I just went ahead to SoBe to check in our hostel (Deco Walk). The lobby of the hostel was really nice,as well as many of the buildings in the Art Deco District, which have the largest collection of art deco architecture in the world. Many of them are lined at Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue. Overall the hostel was great as it is located like a block away from the beach and at center of SoBe. Something really funny happened when the hostel employee was showing us the room. As we entered we and the employee started to smell like weed and then caught to our two roommates from Canada rolling some joints. They were really surprised. I don’t do that stuff but I didn’t mind that at all. Oh, well, they were really nice guys…

There was a lot of movement at SoBe and it was not like in downtown Miami which it seemed to me pretty dead when I drove around there in the afternoon. As I didn’t go to SoBe to party (I’m not that kind of person) I just mainly spent the night walking around and checking out some shops. Some of the places that I really enjoyed were the Espanola Way a short street with Spanish-style architecture and funky shops and restaurants but the best street was Lincoln Road a pedestrian mall closed to traffic of about 10 blocks. It is so long that almost gets you through both ends of south beach. As it is lined with great shops, sidewalk cafes, bars, restaurants and galleries, you’ll never get boring in that street.  We walk down to the end on one side and then back on the other one and later again.   It is a very nice place to just sit down with a drink and just people watch for hours. Man, it was crowded even when we left past midnight….