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Say "Miami", and
almost everyone thinks beaches, sunshine, and
palm trees - an old image that rests on essential
truth. The name "Miami" comes
from Mayaimi (a lake - now referred to as Lake
Okeechobee), which means "very large."
In the midst of a tropical paradise, one of America's
most dynamic cities is greeting the 21st century
with a burst of passion, creativity, and international
flair.
Miami is at a
vibrant cultural crossroads, and for the last
20 years, Miami-Dade County's
cultural community has grown more rapidly than
any other American city.
Much of the area's success is due to its diverse
neighborhoods, whose residents contribute in their
own singular way to making Greater Miami and
the Beaches one of the best - and most fascinating
- places to live in the world.
Low buildings, shopping arcades and storefronts
tightly packed with merchandise evoke Miami's
origins as a trading town.
On West Flagler Street the original 1920s Olympia
Theater has become the Gusman Center for
the Performing Arts, a worthy venue for concerts
and performances.
A few blocks away, a broad Mediterranean piazza
is at the heart of the Miami-Dade Cultural
Center, bordered by the graceful arches, barrel
tile roofs and cream-colored stucco of the main
public library.
Also on the piazza, the Miami Art Museum
showcases changing exhibits of international art,
while the Historical Museum
of Southern Florida interweaves the tapestry
of local and regional history through permanent
and special exhibits.
On Biscayne Boulevard, the Freedom Tower,
built in1925 as Miami's first skyscraper, recorded
city events when it housed the offices of the
Miami Daily News.
It then played a starring role as the gateway
to freedom for thousands of Cuban refugees.
Across the Boulevard, the modern sculpted curves
of the American Airlines
Arena mark the home of the NBA's Miami Heat.
Football is played in the Orange Bowl,
home of the University of Miami
Hurricanes team.
Downtown Miami offers big city
shopping with an urban flair.
Department stores and emporiums that sell clothes,
electronics, sporting goods and more, fill the
historic Downtown Miami Shopping District (from
SE 1st Street to NE 3rd Street).
Spanish and Portuguese are routinely overheard,
and the aroma of Cuban coffee wafts through the
air.
Downtown is also the place for jewelry, with dazzling
displays in the stores and workshops that comprise
one of the largest jewelry districts in the U.S.
On Biscayne Boulevard, next
to Bayfront Park, Bayside Marketplace
borrows from the past as it looks towards the
future.
The open-air shopping and entertainment complex
was built on the site of the former Pier 5 fishing
pier (one of Miami's most popular tourist spots
in the 1950s), and is now a waterfront destination
for shopping, dining and outdoor performances.
Here you can browse through shops and vendors'
pushcarts, where everything from T-shirts to one-of-a-kind
souvenirs is sold.
Just a few minutes north of
downtown, the city's historic Buena Vista Village,
is the charming setting for the Miami Design District,
which overflows with interior design showrooms
and stores; art studios and galleries; movie production
and theatrical costume companies and much more.
Distinctive furniture, rugs, lighting, fabric
and cutting-edge design accessories are all presented
in a stylish shopping environment.
Don't miss the unique opportunity to explore the
area's vast galleries during Gallery Night at
the Miami Design District,
which is held the second Friday of each month.
A Coral Gables walking tour
will take you past some of the meticulously preserved
landmarks that grace this old "city within a city."
Coral Gables City
Hall, the city's most important publicly owned
building, is decorated with interesting interior
murals and a distinctive portico.
Not far away, two fountains mark the ornate entrance
to the Country Club
of Coral Gables Historic
District, typical of the master-planned city.
Just beyond, residential areas featuring well-appointed
houses can be viewed.
The Venetian Pool,
carved out of a spring-fed coral rock quarry,
is a local landmark and popular attraction.
Other Coral Gables landmarks include the University of Miami;
the oldest university in the Greater Miami area,
which dates back to 1925.
The University of Miami
enhances Coral Gables' cultural amenities with
the on-campus Lowe Art Museum,
The
Gusman Concert Hall, the Bill Cosford Cinema
and the Ring Theater.
Bal Harbour may
be one of the smallest municipalities in Miami-Dade County,
but it is also one of the best known.
Covering a third of a square mile, the village
has long been the favored hideaway of the rich
and famous (including a recent American president),
and celebrity spotting here is easy.
In Bal Harbour,
Collins Avenue becomes a wide boulevard graced
by stately palm trees and greenery.
Heading north out of Bal Harbour the
road rises to a crest over the Haulover Bridge
and the park beyond.
Bal Harbour Shops
is the village's crown jewel. This upscale mall
is open to the sky, but designed to protect shoppers
from the elements in a tropical garden setting
swathed in scarlet and purple bougainvillea.
Be sure to browse amongst a unique collection
of internationally renowned boutiques and stores
evoking the style centers of New York, Paris,
Milan and London.
The latest designer fashions and accessories,
precious gems, and fine decorative objects may
be found in Neiman Marcus
and Saks Fifth Avenue,
as well as in stores such as Christian Dior,
Giorgio Armani,
Hermes, Georg Jensen,
Chanel, Christofle, Tiffany & Co.,
Bulgari, Prada and Pratesi.
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