Gulf News editor's first-hand travel account with some surreal and fun-filled experiences
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#UAEnews #Dubai #Miami
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#UAEnews #Dubai #Miami
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00:00No, this is not a scene from a Skyfire film. The figure that you see with the
00:10backpack is that of Melina, a Miami tourism official, and I happen to be
00:16following her as we walk in the clouds. And no, we are not in the skies either.
00:21We are at the Super Blue Museum in Miami, which is a novel experiential art center
00:27that opened recently. What you see is the massless clouds between sculpture and
00:33life, a fascinating installation created by an art collective called Team Lab. The
00:41huge white mass that forms and floats upwards towards the ceiling is the
00:47sculpture and a visualization of order and energy. The experience is profound as
00:54I wade through the misty maze in PPE-like gear amid COVID-19 times. The
01:01virus-like clouds evoke in me a surreal feeling as I make my way through the
01:07dissipating soap bubbles, and I've never done anything like this before. The
01:13massless clouds are just one of the intriguing creations at Super Blue.
01:18S. Devlin's Forest of Us, for instance, takes me on a journey rooted in the
01:24human respiratory process, incorporating video, mirrored surfaces, and other
01:30elements. Similarly, Meadow, a poetic upside-down landscape of mechanical
01:37flowers, showcases the impermanence of nature. The movement of the silken
01:42blossoms as I stand beneath them is mesmerizing, just as the experience with
01:49the flowers and waterfall at every wall is a door.
01:55A few years ago, our co-founders realized that a lot of the artists that they work with are doing these
02:01beautiful large-scale art productions, but really had nowhere to house them
02:05because a typical museum, art museum, art gallery, is just not equipped for this
02:11kind of artwork, this large-scale artwork. So that's how Super Blue was born, and so
02:16we're finding large-scale venues like the one we're sitting in, 50,000 square
02:20feet, that can house this artwork and showcase it properly and give, you know,
02:25a new generation a house for their artwork. The museum was my first
02:32stopover when I was in Miami as part of a press trip organized by Emirates
02:37Airline on the launch of its maiden flight to the party city from Dubai in
02:43July. Duly refreshed by the Super Blue visit, I was now ready to soak in the
02:48sights and sounds of the rest of Miami, and I was not disappointed. Even if you're
02:54on a short trip like I was, you can pack in a lot. Here are some of Miami's
03:01mustn't-misses.
03:13The Wynwood District is an Instagramer's delight, a place where you can keep
03:19walking while admiring giant murals, graffiti, and street art. Chris of Wynwood
03:27who took us on a tour of Wynwood Walls says the neighborhood has come a long
03:32way since the early days when it was just an industrial area with a bunch of
03:38warehouses. In 2009, community revitalizer Tony Goldman transformed Wynwood,
03:45starting with the 25th-26th Street complex of six separate buildings. Home to
03:51several art galleries, retail stores, funky eateries, and bars, Wynwood is a
03:57vibrant neighborhood. Next on my list is Little Havana with its trademark
04:03roosters. It is the heart and soul of Miami's Cubans besides immigrants from
04:09Central and South America. As our area guide who met us at the Bay of Pigs
04:13Monument and Cuban Memorial Boulevard enlightened us, the four-block boulevard
04:19houses various monuments paying tribute to Cuban freedom fighters. The Eternal
04:25Torch of Brigade 2506 is the most prominent of all, commemorating the
04:31soldiers who gave up their lives in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. The
04:37picturesque block, a statue of Virgin Mary, and a large ceiba tree with buttress
04:43roots are replete with historic and religious significance for the local
04:48population. The main street is lined by charming eateries featuring Latin
04:53speciality foods, art galleries, souvenir shops selling linen shirts and dresses,
04:59Cuban coffee, and handcrafted cigars. There's also the Domino Park where some
05:04elderly residents unfailingly meet during the day for a game of dominoes. On
05:09the next day in Miami, I visited the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, which was
05:15once the home of a businessman, James Deering of the Deering McCormick
05:20International Harvester Fortune. Tucked away on Biscayne Bay in the current
05:26Coconut Grove area of Miami, the estate consists of 50 acres with the Villa and
05:31Italian Renaissance Gardens overlooking the sea. The mansion, which has an open
05:37air courtyard, boasts more than 70 furnished rooms with rich European
05:42decorative art. The magnificent decor and lush landscape of the place against the
05:48backdrop of a stunning stone barge in the waters has made the mansion a highly
05:53popular photo shoot spot for weddings, graduations, and other occasions. But be
05:59warned, if you're a selfie addict, the sheer expanse of the estate makes it
06:04almost impossible for you to capture yourself in its entire frame. If you are
06:10an adventure seeker, head straight to the Everglades National Park, a UNESCO
06:15World Heritage Site. It is spread over 1.5 million acres and is made of sawgrass,
06:21prairies, mangrove swamps, and subtropical jungles. Flamingo, 38 miles from the
06:28park's main entrance, is where the manatees, dolphins, and sea turtles, not to
06:33mention 350 species of birds, come from. I chose to go to the Everglades in the
06:39hope of spotting alligators, manatees, and dolphins in their natural habitat.
06:44The combination of fresh salt and brackish waters makes Florida Bay the
06:50only place on earth where freshwater alligators and rare saltwater American
06:55crocodiles co-exist. Despite Miami's many attractions, its sparkling beaches
07:02remain its biggest draw. While South Beach and Ocean Drive are the stuff of
07:07the movies, the Art Deco District, with its architecturally protected buildings,
07:11is spectacular. There are any number of hotspots along Surfside, North Beach,
07:16Fana District, Miami Beach, and Sunny Isles Beach. In mainland downtown too, the
07:22shimmering waters of Miami are visible everywhere. Staying at the JW Marriott
07:28Marquis, all I had to do was walk to the Bayfront Park, a few meters away, to soak
07:33in the waterfront vibe.
07:41And now for the most important part, shopping in the US. True, no trip to the
07:49US is complete without a shopping spree. In the five days that I was in Miami, I
07:54visited the Miami Design District and the Adventurer Mall, besides Target, for
08:00some compulsive buys. The upscale Miami Design District is great for an evening
08:05visit. Its choice designer stores and chic art galleries tastefully laid out.
08:10Yes, there's also the Omega Olympic Swimming Pool art installation, where
08:16visitors lay on a hard surface inside the waterless pool to get pictures of
08:20themselves. A Dubai resident like me was more at home at the Adventurer Mall,
08:25where I popped in and out of the showrooms in calibrated time. The mall
08:29also showcases some exclusive art. Miami is known as a foodie's paradise.
08:37Dubai has a lot of similarities. The lifestyle component is very high-end and is very
08:42similar. Of course, the styles are different, but the dinners, the going out,
08:47the family sharing, the larger groups, the late night life is what I believe
08:53both cities have in common. Among the restaurants I visited during my stay in
08:59the city were Smith and Walensky, best known for their hand-butchered steaks,
09:03angry shrimps and crab cakes. Of course, a vegetarian like me went in for burrata
09:10and spinach salad. There's also Wynwood's Bacon, known for its Mexican tacos and
09:16tostadas in the Wynwood District. The La Giardina restaurant and design district
09:22where Michelin-starred chef Alain Verziroli's small, medium and large
09:27plates were not just elegant but super healthy. My favorite was Jaya at the
09:33Setai on Miami Beach. The Pan-Asian delicacies served in an elegant courtyard
09:38to live performances made it the perfect fine dining choice. Executive chef
09:44Vijay Veena's sumptuous menu offers everything from the signature Peking
09:49duck and truffle dumplings to an Indian vegetarian thali for people like me.
09:55They're serving South-East Asian cuisine, which is very well received by our local and international guests.
10:01The list of must visits in Miami can go on and on but the proof of the pudding is
10:06in the eating. So just book yourself on the next Emirate flight to Miami and
10:12experience its abundant traits firsthand. This is Sharmila Dal, UAE
10:19editor, Gulf News, reporting from Miami.