2 days in Florida
Trip Start
May 06, 2010
1
5
Trip End
May 25, 2010
North Bay Village, Florida
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Now I am heading back to Guayaquil but stopped first to spend a couple of days with my friend Deron who lives just north of Miami Beach. On Thursday May 6th, I flew from Boston to Miami, and met (nephew) Rupert and Amanda for dinner and a drink on bustling Lincoln Road, the hub of activity in Miami Beach. The next day, Deron and I visited Vizcaya, a European-style mansion and gardens on the shore in Coconut Grove. It is partly renowned for its collection of Quimper whch I was keen to see. However, I was slightly underwhelmed as the collection is much smaller than I expected and has been relegated to the butler's pantry! In fact, I suspect my collection may be larger in number, if not in quality.
On Saturday, before heading for the airport, we went to see the Saint Bernard de Clairvaux church, which is actually a monastery built in Spain in the 12th century. In 1925 a wealthy Mr. W.R. Hearst bought it, had it dismantled stone by stone, and shipped to the US in 10,571 wooden boxes. Unfortunately, US Customs impounded it for a while, and then Mr. Hearst died, so it wasn't until the 1950s that it was finally reconstructed in North Miami Beach, where it now sits and lays claim to be the oldest building in North America.
T.
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Note: Toby illegally used his camera inside Viscaya, after reading the posted rules which strictly prohibit the use of cameras. The photograph also gives Toby a chance to gloat in the 'mine is bigger than yours' mantra :)