My trip to New York City and Miami

 

On July 1st, I departed on my first vacation in 2 years with my mom and dad. We went to New York and Miami. It was a rollercoaster of events and I had a lot of fun. Today I will be showing my opinion on both cities and going over what I did in both of them. 

Just from the get go, I will be rating the cities on a livability and comfort scale (from the perspective of a tourist). 

New York City:

In terms of being a tourist in Manhattan, it's not a pretty sight. After I first checked in to the hotel and went on a quick walk around I saw the following. 

Masses of weed trucks that were presented as candy trucks, homeless/sketchy people lying around the street (some of them even were polite enough to approach me to ask for money), human/animal excrement everywhere, reckless drivers and bikers, and by far the most detrimental thing: The Subway. I have been on this earth for 13 years and nothing has shook me to my core as much as the New York subway. The sheer smell and condition that some of the trains were in was abysmal. But, it was affordable and convenient so I guess that's why so many people use it. 

To add salt to the wound, we discovered that our hotel’s air conditioner was broken and we had to wait until midnight for them to tell us that they could not fix it. We ended up switching hotels at 2:00 in the morning. Needless to say I did not have a good time in New York. To end on a positive note though, I did have some fun times there, we went to One Vanderbilt which is a truly mesmerizing (and terrifying) experience with mirrors and glass. ---->

We also went on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and it was amazing to see such a historical landmark while having a cool breeze. 2.5/5

Miami:

After New York, I went into Miami with high expectations and I was not disappointed. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, I was met with a pristine lake and clear sky, the temperature was hot but not that humid. Sometime along the trip, we embarked on a journey to the Everglades. The Everglades is a 1.5 Million acre wetland national park home to extensive biodiversity and lots of alligators. One of the things that I did there was going on a tram tour in Shark Valley. We saw Turtles, Alligators, Ahingas (diving birds), Great Egrets and Bass. Shark Valley, is a U-shaped trail with an observation tower After that, we visited little Havana which was a blast. It was really amazing seeing an entirely different culture spring up and build a little town. The Cuban food was really exquisite and tasty as well! Another highlight of little Havana was the beautiful graffiti there. I really enjoy seeing graffiti as I find it as a unique way to express yourself.  5/5

Out of the two cities, I definitely would want to visit Miami again. Something about the city vibe feels naturally appealing to me (the chickens were nice). Furthermore, compared to New York, Miami is a way more welcoming and easygoing city as there are more tourist attractions and not many “weird” things. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip and I hope that you liked me talking about it!

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