Miami Bequia Miami Day 1 - London to Little Havana

The trains are on strike in London and across the UK. 

 

Luckily, it’s just the Elizabeth line. The Heathrow Express is still running today – an anomaly that works in our favour. 

 

We’re up at the airport in plenty of time for a 9:40 flight. An hour or so to spend in the lounge and for spending in duty-free. As we arrived, we were notified that there would be a delay to our flight until 10:30, so more spending time. Shortly after that, we were informed that the flight would be further delayed until 11:30. On boarding the aircraft and settling down in our comfy business class seats – thank you AMEX! – the captain informed us that the delay was due to a bolt of lightning going through the plane. Looking around for searing gaps in the fuselage, I couldn’t see anything particularly amiss, so they must’ve fixed it. Whatever, we took off without anything vital falling off, and began our trip to Miami. The flight was smooth and uneventful, and we arrived at MIA two hours later than expected. We didn’t expect that it would take a further two hours for us to go through passport control! It’s the longest I’ve ever waited to get into a country. Not especially helpful to the tourist industry… Anyway, it was all made much better by the excellent company I was keeping. 

 

When Kathryn and I are together, time passes very pleasantly. Eventually, we are clear for entry – my fingerprints don’t seem to register – possibly thanks to my days as an amateur cracksman. 

 

We take a taxi from the airport to our first hotel - Life Hotel in Little Havana.  

 

The first thing that you notice about this hotel is the smell. It smells amazing. A local fragrance and toiletry manufacturer supplies a fragrance called L33 which is pumped through the air-conditioning and makes the signature ambience of this hotel. It’s a small hotel with about three dozen rooms, all very nicely and tastefully done. There is a rooftop bar that is well-known by the locals with a fantastic view over Miami downtown, but far enough away to be distant from that vibe. Our room (303) is a King Suite. It’s a decent size with a very large bed and being on the top floor has that same view over the city. The downside of being so close to the rooftop is that we can hear the music from the bar in our room, so earplugs or headphones are necessary. Regardless the place is great.