Impressive Florida
I’ll start with New York: when we arrived at Kennedy Airport, we had a slight hitch with calling a taxi - in short, we came to the conclusion that it’s best to immediately switch to American mobile communications upon arrival in the USA, since they can call landlines and mobiles anywhere in America.
Further, with check-in at the hotel, in principle, we had no problems, although I don’t really speak English, but I managed to understand and explain myself to the staff. If a person does not know the language at all - like, for example, my companion Natalia Nikolaevna, then it will be a little harder if there is no guide nearby.
As soon as we settled into the Best Western hotel, we immediately decided to go for a walk. The hotel is very good, we liked it, everything is clean and tidy, it is small but cozy (I am attaching a photo of the room), but most importantly, it is located in a convenient location - literally 10 minutes walk to Brighton, where everyone speaks Russian, and everywhere else Russian signs, shops, and all the Russian products in the shops - we got the impression that we returned to Russia, or rather we did not leave it! Also near Brighton, we quickly found the subway (right a stone's throw from the Millennium Theater, where we had a tour scheduled for the next day), and drove to Manhattan. We learned how to get to Manhattan and how to use the subway in the same Russian shops in Brighton, where people are very friendly, they explained and told everything. In general, the Americans (both Russian and English speakers) struck me with their openness and cordiality, their desire to help anyone who asks (and sometimes does not even ask! ) for help, but more on that later.
We had some difficulties in the metro, although we sorted it out quite quickly, but Natalia did not manage to get through the turnstile on the first attempt, she slowly swiped the card through the reader, and all the money was written off from her (and we bought a card for 2 trips - back and forth) and she did not have time to pass through the turnstile. She had to go back to the cashier and buy a new card. In addition, if you buy a subway card for 2 trips (it costs $ 4.5), then it has a time limit (by the way, the good residents of Brighton warned us about this, but we, of course, forgot) - after 2 hours ( or 3 - I can’t remember exactly), the card is canceled, that is, it must be used before this time, or you can buy a card for 1 trip. We were in Manhattan much longer than 2 hours, so our cards were canceled and we bought them again on the way back. You can buy a card not only from the cashier, but also from the vending machine, which is a pleasant surprise! - can "communicate" in Russian.
Manhattan made an indelible impression on us, well, at least on me! Especially when I got off the subway and saw the building right in front of me, but to see it to the very top, I had to throw my head so that my neck hurt!
Here are the skyscrapers! Of course, I expected to see them, but what I saw exceeded my expectations! I fell in love with New York immediately and completely, despite the cloudy weather and light drizzle that followed us all 2 days of our stay in this city. But that didn't spoil my experience. The only thing I didn’t have was time, since it was only 2 days (or rather one and a half! )... Most of all I regret that I didn’t climb the Empire State Building (there were clouds, and we wouldn’t really saw), and also that they did not visit the chic Central Park, which has spread to half of Manhattan!
Surprise and even amazement caused me the complete absence of the smell of exhaust gases on the streets of such a huge metropolis - in Rostov, for example, which is ten times smaller than New York, exhaust gases are our misfortune, there is nothing to breathe, especially in the center and at "rush hour" !
As for the excursion that we had the next day, to be honest, I liked it a little less. Our independent trip around Manhattan in the evening was more interesting and eventful - we walked where we wanted and were in no hurry. On the tour, the guide (by the way, a good uncle, although one friend from our group criticized him, because, in his opinion, he incorrectly talked about the twin towers, their construction methods and the September 11 terrorist attack), so the guide us all the time I was in a hurry, it was not always even possible to take pictures, and since there are many places in New York where interesting pictures are taken, it was a shame that we missed many of them. And in general, from this sightseeing tour, I remember only a trip on a boat to the Statue of Liberty, and even then, because neither the guide nor the boat was in a hurry to go anywhere. The rest of the time we were running somewhere, in a hurry, there were very few walks, we got off the bus only near Wall Street, then near the UN building, and were near Rockefeller Center and in its lobby. We saw the rest of the tour only from the bus window and, of course, we didn’t remember anything. This, of course, is not very popular with tourists...
In my opinion, rather than driving around the city all the time, it’s better to do more walking and, for example, climb some observation deck, if not the Empire, for which there are queues, then Rockefeller Center, for which there are practically no queues it doesn’t happen, and the entrance to the observation deck is cheaper than to the Empire - this was told to us by the guide himself. By the way, the same guide promised that we would definitely stop near the shops with souvenirs and buy something for memory, but we, unfortunately, did not have time to do this either, which is a pity...
After the sightseeing tour, our driver, who took us on excursions, took us to the airport himself, stopping at the hotel on the way to pick up our things. He asked us for the same $ 50, so we were very pleased that we did not have to run for a taxi. We were in a hurry, afraid to miss the plane, but as it turned out, in vain - the flight was delayed for 4 hours, by the way, it is not clear for what reasons, and we flew out only late in the evening and at 2 am were in Orlando.
We went down to the basement of the airport, and there is an exit to the platform with a taxi, where several cars were already parked, we immediately got into one of them, explained, however, almost on our fingers, that we needed the La Quinta hotel, however, the taxi driver was all of us still drove a little to the wrong place, but to the Embassy Hotel, but then we figured it out and found the La Quinta we needed. We settled, however, quickly, the room was not bad, the hotel itself too.
The next morning we found a swimming pool there (see photo), and a jacuzzi, as well as a hotel with breakfast, which also pleased us. Waking up in the morning and going to breakfast, we decided to take a little walk, and found that the hotel is in a wonderful location, there are a lot of supermarkets, shops nearby, there are sights in the form of an upside down house (see photo) and even an amusement park. And another great place to eat well and inexpensively is the Chinese buffet (but more on that later).
While we were walking, it turned out that Igor, who met us, called us at the hotel and left a message on the lobby (as they call the reception), and when we came back from the walk, we were told by the staff that we needed to call Igor and kindly provided us with their phone. The telephone in hotels can be used free of charge for local calls, i. e. all over the States - even call California!
In general, Igor picked us up from the hotel and took us to Palm Coast.
In Palm Coast, we immediately checked into the Hilton Garden Inn (by the way, I liked it the most), and then went to the beach. With Igor, we immediately relaxed, felt under his protection and care, and felt like that until the very end of the trip, even when he was no longer with us in Miami, he still organized everything for us, called, worried about us - just wonderful human!
I also really liked the ocean, although it’s impossible to swim to the depth there, the waves are always too big, and I like to swim far in the depths, but it was still very fun to splash in the waves!
In Palm Coast, we looked at real estate, houses and plots.
At first, Natalia was not in a very positive mood, the climate did not suit her either, her acclimatization was delayed, she was a little tired and sleepy all the time... But then, at the end of the trip, she repeatedly remembered the site for 14 thousand dollars, which we watched. Although she used to dream about real estate in Italy or Spain, but America certainly made an impression on her, and now, upon arrival in Russia, she thought about buying in earnest.
Palm Coast is a wonderful town, I personally liked it completely because of the climate - there pines coexist with palm trees, it's not as hot and humid as in Miami, and the prices are real, much cheaper than in Rostov! I really liked Green houses: everything is smart, everything is beautiful, thought out to the smallest detail. In short, I myself wanted to live there, which I told Natalia about.
America conquered me, and the point is not even that it is clean, beautiful and calm there - I live well in Russia too. Most of all I liked the people, or rather their attitude and attitude towards us. Natalia, however, began to tell me that this was all insincere, that their smiles were strained, that in fact they were insensitive and indifferent, but you know, there is such an expression: “one sees a puddle, and the other sees the sun in it”... I , on the part of ordinary Americans, not to mention the attendants, I felt only sincere friendliness, a desire to help, suggest - moreover, all the time! Unfortunately, when I talk about this in Rostov, our people (almost all of them) react in the same way as Natalia: “it seemed to you, it was you who didn’t“ figure it out ”, you were lucky... ”. I do not think so! I have been working in real estate for over 15 years, and, thank God, I have learned to understand people! For me, they really are the way I felt them.
Back in Palm Coast, we first learned about the Chinese Buffet (“Chinese Buffet”).
We found a lot of delicious food there, such as my favorite seafood (crabs, shrimp, mussels and oysters - just some kind of paradise! ). For me, such a buffet turned out to be a real exotic, I ate terribly, but, nevertheless, I was satisfied, and then, in all the cities where we were after Palm Costa, I was looking for this buffet (specifically Chinese, since they are different there and the food prepared in different ways, namely in Chinese there are a lot of fish and seafood! ).
After a 4-day stay in the wonderful Palm Coast, we went to Orlando, where we were supposed to devote 2 days to Disney parks.
Arriving in Orlando and checking into the La Quinta hotel again, we went together to a large mall, where there are a lot of different branded stores where you can buy good things from famous brands, and at the same time with big discounts. I bought cool glasses there, and for absolutely ridiculous money - in Rostov these cost three times more! Again, next to our La Quinta hotel, we found the same Chinas buffet, literally 5 minutes walk, as well as an amusement park, where I saw a cool attraction - like a huge luminous slingshot, from which a chair with two people fastened to it shoots out, and shoots to such a height - just breathtaking! Unfortunately, I couldn’t persuade Natalia to try this attraction on myself, and I myself was in a dress, and since this chair also turns over in the air, I didn’t risk it either, which I still regret! Well, nothing, next time - I will definitely try it!
As for Disney parks, Igor advised us to go to Universal Park and Sea World. On the first day we decided to go to Universal, which consists of two parks: Adventure Island and Universal itself. In order to buy tickets for it and get to it, we went to the very large and beautiful Embassy Hotel next to our hotel. In it, we bought tickets to the park and in it we were given tickets for the shuttle - a bus that took us to the park and brought us back. This is very convenient, as the shuttle is free and takes you directly to the park without stopping. He goes back on schedule and the last one leaves around 8 pm, just when the park closes. You can, of course, get to the park by taxi, but when there is such a convenient shuttle - why? I really liked it in the park, I rolled on all the slides, as I wanted - it was scary, but not really, I honestly thought it would be scarier. When you look at such slides from the side, it seems that people there are experiencing cosmic overload and it is even life-threatening! But, having climbed one of the slides and rode once, I realized that “the devil is not as scary as he is painted”! And then there was no stopping me - I’m generally a lover of thrills, for me - the scarier the better, but Natalia, unfortunately, didn’t ride the slides, no matter how I tried to drag her there - she was very scared, and she , poor fellow, stood downstairs with my bag and staunchly waited for me from each attraction for 10-20 minutes! I think that she, of course, wasted $ 200 for these two days, because, basically, she went to souvenir shops, and she didn’t buy anything in them, unlike, by the way, from me - I’m already souvenirs Bought for all my many relatives and friends! By the way, there you can buy really good souvenirs that you can’t buy anywhere else, and the prices are quite reasonable. I highly recommend the Fossil store, a well-known brand in our country, I have watches from this company, in Rostov their prices are very high, and there they are also cheaper by 2-3 times! By the way, Natalia bought a very good watch there. In addition, in the same store, wonderful bags made of chic leather were sold, and, by our standards, again, quite inexpensively....
I end my story with a trip to Miami, which we made on the train (that's what they call a train, like our train, but, of course, more comfortable and cleaner). The train, as usual in America, was late for unknown reasons by an hour or an hour and a half, and therefore we arrived late in Miami, or rather in the suburbs under the sonorous name of Hollywood, and there your employee Roman was already waiting for us, with whom we called up from the train. We quickly got to our hotel (called "Crown Plaza") and went to the hotel and began to get settled, and just then, for the first time in our entire stay in America, as luck would have it, when there was no one around to help us, We had a problem with check-in. The girl at the reception began to demand something from us, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand, she spoke very quickly, and yet my English is still not so good...
Imagine our situation - we are with suitcases, in an unfamiliar place, almost not knowing the language and customs, there are none of the Russian speakers nearby - and we are not accommodated in a hotel. I started talking again with the hotel administrator, she demanded from me a credit card, which, as you understand, we did not have, and for some reason it was impossible to check into a hotel without it. Finally, I managed to understand what they were asking us about our car, where it would be parked, and how we would pay for it. I explained to them that we don't have a car. They probably saw people without a car for the first time in their hotel, because both the girl and the manager literally got their eyes on their foreheads: “Are you without a car? ”. I answered proudly: “Yes! ”, and after a few minutes they gave us the keys to our room. After checking in, we immediately went to look for the ocean, it turned out to be very easy to find - right in front of the hotel across the road past the construction site there is a path to a large clean beach. In general, as it turned out later, our hotel was located in a very convenient place! Firstly, having crossed the drawbridge, which is a stone's throw from the hotel, we found a huge Walmart hypermarket, and bought a bunch of yummy things for dinner, and in the room we had a whole kitchen with a kitchen set and a microwave, in general, We made ourselves a royal dinner! The next day on the beach, we met a woman - a designer from New York, named Alla, she is 74 years old, she has been living in America for 33 years, she comes from Kyiv. A very interesting person, she told us about life in New York (by the way, she has her own apartment in Manhattan! ), about the work of a designer, about meeting Vyacheslav Zaitsev and many other interesting things. In Miami, she has been going on vacation for 10 years and rents an apartment for six months for $ 900 a month. And so she told us about all the sights of the place where we stopped.
For example, that tourists can, after passing through the same bridge that we walked on the first day, literally in 5 minutes come to several sales stores, where at very low prices (literally 10-20 dollars! ) You can buy a very decent dress, skirt or trousers. We then had a very successful "shopping" there. In addition, there is the notorious buffet nearby, where we had lunch, breaking away for $ 8 “to the fullest” (and Roman, by the way, told us that the buffet is very far away, you can only get there by taxi, and supposedly shopping can only be done in the so-called "Adventura Mall", which, according to him, is also very far to go, and Alla later said that there are very high prices)!
So, Ratmir, tourists can be instructed in detail that next to Crown Plaza there are all the amenities for a pleasant pastime. Alla also advised us to go “on an excursion” to the Diplomat Hotel nearest to us - just to admire its decoration and ocean views. It really impressed us, as it is immediately clear that everything there is very expensive and solid. In general, I liked that you can enter any place in the United States without thinking - they will let you in or not let you in - and everywhere they calmly let you in.
On the last day of our stay in the States, we swam in the ocean in the morning, said goodbye to Alla, who kindly invited us to visit us if we were again in New York.
Roman told us everything, showed us from the window of Miami's car, telling us that "Agutin and Varum live in this house, in this Allegrova, in this Orbakaite, " etc. More interesting was the tour of the islands on a boat, which we paid extra. After the tour, Roman took us to the airport and we flew home.
After my arrival in Rostov, I caught myself thinking that I wanted to smile at all passers-by, as I got used to during my 2 weeks in the USA. But, unfortunately, such a smile is perceived by our people not very adequately, and I stopped doing it, which is a pity....And as I already mentioned, I faced some distrust of what I was talking about America from my relatives, friends, acquaintances, colleagues. They are sure that this is just my delusion or the property of my perception of the world - to notice the good in everything! Maybe they are right. . . In any case, since I myself really liked America, it is natural that I will be able to offer my clients the purchase of real estate there with more enthusiasm and confidence than I would be wary of everything. True, my director does not believe that I will be able to sell American real estate to Russians, but he already made a mistake once - he did not believe that I would get a good trip to the USA with the help of Sun Cruise, he was afraid that this was a scam, and everything was wonderful!
In general, many thanks to the respected Ratmir!
