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Fabricated Life at the Freehand Miami
The Freehand Miami is swanky looking hostel, the moment you step in the lobby you can feel a blast of the past from this 1930s Art Deco Building. Freehand Miami is definite the hippest hostel I ever stood at, its like a hipster’s utopia. During the day you can enjoy their happy hour drinks at the poolside and at night you can hangout at the garden for a live DJ, some really exotic handcrafted cocktails at one of top 50 bars in the world in 2015 at the Broken Shaker. Make sure bring you social skills when staying here, this place you can meet all sorts of creative people who either renting a bed or just coming in to hang out at the bar like recording artist Joe Diamondz. Can’t go wrong with the vibe this place brings in, and by far the best hostel in Miami. 🏖
Monkey Business of Polonnaruwa
The hidden treasure of this ancient city, is the 🐒 Monkey Business of Polonnaruwa. The once thriving royal kingdom of thousoands of years ago, was known for its devotion to Buddha, his teachings, and grandiose architecture. Now Polonnaruwa is recognized for its tourism of the historical ruins, but for me the true gems was the vast numbers of primates hanging around. It is fascinating to watch these cheeky animals going about their day, felt like a real life episode of Tarzan with the monkeys just being half arm length away. But be very of aware of these charming monkeys, make sure have anything of value close and secure, they are very fast to take anything a delight to watch when it happens. The Monkeys of Polonnaruwa recently also been under lime light after Disney took their business and filmed “Monkey Kingdom,” there in 2005.
Stranded on the MTA
Recently the MTA been getting a lot of bad publicity for trains falling off tracks, delays, electrical issues, ect. Seems like the problems keep mounting up NYC metro system, it was even label “Summer From Hell, from the MTA,” in major New York publication this past year. At times when riding the subway you felt stranded on the MTA, because the train was either delayed, stop running, or there was train traffic on the tracks. With all the current problems MTA is still the blood line of New York City getting commuters, backpackers and tourist to their destination. The boy expression in the picture said it all when dealing with the frustration of the NYC subway. If your in town to ride the subway and need a hostel, The Local NYC looks like a really great place with fantastic reviews on hostelworld.
Puerto Rico Car Culture
Puerto Rico has a very serious Car Culture that goes unnoticed, so serious that 2017 World Guinness Records voted the Island Classic car parade number one in the World. With having the most classic vehicles over 30 years old in its parade, its unfortunate there is not much information on these vintage vehicles on the net. One of my favorite time piece is small Japanese cars from the 70s like Datsun made by Nissan. To me this vehicle, Boricua Mobile, as i like to call it is very symbolic to Puerto Rican culture. On the island you can see randomly on the road, some hooked up to the max with crisp new paint job, shining rims, and sound system so loud that would wake up any neighborhood. The Picture of Red Datsun was taken in Old San Juan, just down street from the Fortaleza Guest House Hostel where i was staying at. If you wanna see more images of these classic cars click on the hyperlinks. 🙂
Island Vibes from Calle Loiza
Its an island Hipster feel from all new business propping up in this old/new neighborhood on Calle Loiza, from small nightlife scene to trendy new restaurants that close late and coffee shops that are open on the break of dawn. And if you not feeling any of that you can hit up a chinchorro for local touch, hangout with some Puerto Ricans while enjoying some ice cold beers or any dive bar concoction. The statue of the Virgin Mary is very relative to my experience on days spent on Calle Loiza and pre-games at a chinchorro. The Island vibes gives you a feel that you are not sure how your day will start or end, this urban neighborhood is perfectly located between Condado and Isle Verde, and miles of beaches just few 100 hundred feet away. I usually stay at Mango Mansion Hostel which a few minute walk from Calle Loiza, were you can meet some really cool flashpackers start your day with them at the beach, dance your night away to early morning hours and blame it on the Puerto Rican Rum the following day. 😉
A Breeze through Barrio Vedado
I really enjoyed taking this picture of the Barrio of Vedado. For a local feel just outside of Viejo Habana you can find an affordable room on Airbnb in this neighborhood. You get an authentic feel the moment you step in front of your Airbnb, watching the locals go about their business, cars dating back from early 50s, and all the beautiful arcade architecture on the buildings. The Barrio Vedado is very safe, walked through it at night with a wonderful breeze coming off the shores. The Picture sums up what Barrio of Vedado is about locals roaming the streets, tourist snapping pictures of all the vintage vehicles and houses.
Oscar from Oscar’s Place (Hostel)
This portrait was taken of Oscar on his hostel property. The Hostel is located in Minca a small Mountain village just North of Santa Marta. Oscar (owner) from Oscar’s Place (Hostel) is some sort of a local legend to Backpackers in Colombia, for reservation you must call, the hostel is off the grid on any booking site. Oscar very laid back and Charming hippy from California with Colombian in his background build an eco-friendly hostel in the jungle of Minca that has incredible views of Sierra Nevada Mountains. Visitors are drawn to him because charismatic ways, throughout the day he can be seen working on the property, stopping at times to speak with guest with his signature peace pipe that has very heavy joint burning from it.
Classic Nuevo York
Nothing More Classic in Nuevo York than the Empire State Building. The Image reminds me of very vintage Nuevo York, was taken from the street in the morning with my Nikon Coolpix A. The very Iconic Skyscraper of New York City was feature in many large classic film Productions such as the movie King Kong, the visual that stands out the most for me is by Robert Wiles. The Image is of Evelyn Mchale after she commited Suicide from Jumping off the observation platform, the picture is known as “The Most Beautiful Suicide.”
Cali, Colombia Short Lived
My time in Cali, a city in Southwest of Colombia unfortunately was very short lived. After 6 hour bus ride traveling from Pereira I arrived at Viajero Hostel (has a pool) located in the historic neighborhood of San Antonio. At the hostel there were free Salsa lessons each night, it is useful if you are not familiar with the genre and as well you might need the practice since its the salsa capital of Colombia. I was lucky enough to experience the, Festival de Musica Pacifico, a festival that highlight composer, musical groups, and researchers of music of Afro-Colombian Origin of Colombian Pacific folklore. The picture above is an image of a candy street vendor, taken on one of the streets San Antonio in the two days I visited Cali.
Flashback of Classic Cars in Habana, Cuba
The moment you arrive at Habana airport and step outside you start to have flashback with all the classic cars lined up on the street. Most of Cuba’s cars are vintage American automobiles from the 1950s. Ever since the Embrago Act was imposed Fidel Castro banned any foreign cars from being imported into Cuba. Searching for a Hostel seem impossible to find one online, you just have to look for one in Habana when you get into the city, I stood in Casa Particular.