Hot tips

The cruise
1. Do not pay a lot of money for a cabin on the top decks. Lower decks are OK and they are quiet.
2. Do not buy trips from the Carnival. Economize and buy them locally.
3. You do not need to bring water on board as there is access to water, juices, tea and coffee 24 hours a day. If you love fizzy drinks, bring them because they are not free.
4. Dine at Lido deck. The choice of food is great and you can try what you want.
5. Enjoy the ports, visit new places.
6. Be careful with your mobile phone, especially if you are not American. The costs of sending and receiving messages and phone calls are really high on the ship.

Mexico
1. Use public transport.
2. Do not exchange money at the airport. The exchange rate is low.
3. Buy trips in reliable travel agencies.
4. If you love animals and you are not afraid of deep water, go on a whale shark adventure. Remember about seasickness tablets.
5. Drink a lot of water.
6. Use local restaurants.
7. Do cheap shopping for food in Mega or Walmart supermarkets for example in Playa del Carmen.
8. Visit Chichen Itza and Tulum. It is really a must.
9. Do not be afraid to rent a car.

Usa
1. Remember that the price you see is not final. They will add tax to it.
2. Rent a car and remember about insurance.
3. When you are in Miami and you do not have a car, stay in downtown Miami or Miami Beach.
4. Remeber, there is good public transport to and from Miami Airport.

So this is the end

It is Friday morning, time to pack our suitcases and come back home.
There are our family members and our animals waiting for us in Poland, and there is this Polish reality which I hate.

There are poorly educated politicians obsessed with themselves, interested in making money and not caring about the country. There are those stupid conflicts, lack of jobs, lack of reforms and exaggerations connected with an imaginary enemy – Russia.

There is my father, depressed and nervously counting the days till his retirement. He worked for more than 42 years, he is well educated and he is not sure if he manages to live long enough to enjoy his pension. To earn some cash, he delivers pizza but he is really exhausted.

What is waiting for me in Poland? Well, the answer is uncertainity and lack of stabilization as I really do not know if there will be a job for me or my boss will find a cheaper and younger substitute.

I have also some fears connected with paying off our mortgage because of the changing currency rate of a Swiss Frank. You see, one day you wake up and a Swiss Frank costs 3,20 PLN, the next day it is 3,48 PLN.

I can’t plan anything, I am too scared to start a family. I have been working since being a student and I am no one. There are no prospects for me in Poland, that is why I do not perceive myself as a Pole, I am simply a European. This country does not offer any hope for me any many other people.

Miami Beach

It is Thursday, tomorrow we are coming back home so it is high time to visit Miami Beach.

We return our car and take the bus number 150 to South Mami Beach. We buy a day pass bus ticket which is $5,60.

The trip to Miami Beach is short, we get off at Washington Avenue and stroll along Lincoln Road.

Lincoln Road is full of shops and cafes, we pop into some and have a look. Then we go to the beach. Wow, it is wide and awesome! The Atlantic Ocean is so clean and smooth. There are no waves.

We take some photos, stroll along the beach and then come back to the airport area, to La Quinta.

Miami Beach shocked us in a positive way. It is a really nice place, much better than Los Angeles or Santa Monica. The Atlantic Ocean is so warm and clear in comparison to the Pacific Ocean in California.

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Atlantis

A visit to Kennedy Space Center paid off, as it is an incredible place. One can really feel the historical importance of this place.
What is more, the center is perfect for everyone. It is a place where kids and adults can learn a lot.

First, we decide to take a bus tour around the center. A lovely, at least seventy-year-old woman is our bus driver and a guide. She is awesome!
On our way we see the so called launch pads from which the rockets are launched into space, then we see the crawler, which is a kind of vehicle used for transporting shuttles and rockets. There is also the huge building where rockets are assembled.

We also stop for some time and watch presentations connected with early space exploration.

After the bus tour, we decide to see the space shuttle Atlantis. We watch some presentations about heroism of American astronauts and the work connected with designing and building Atlantis. The presentations are very moving and tears appear in my eyes. Suddenly, we see Atlantis, first she is behind a transparent curtain and she is flying into our direction. Then the curtain disappears. Atlantis is fabulous! Never before had I thought that seeing a space shuttle would have such an impact on me.

We finish our visit to Kennedy Space Center with a shuttle launch simulator.
There is adrenaline and fear. We do not know what to expect. First, there is a short information program, then we sit down in armchairs and wait for a take off. We fasten our seatbelts and the simulator turns its position. It leans for sbout 90 degrees. Then the counting starts. Everything is shaking, our faces behave in a strange way. The shuttle is accelerating, different forces affect our bodies and suddenly we are flying in the space. The roof opens, we see the Earth, then we see the stars. It is magical and it is also the end of our visit to Kennedy Space Center.

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Cape Canaveral

It is 5:30, we wake up, dress and go down to eat some breakfast.
We want to visit Kennedy Space Center near Orlando and we must cover the distance of 220 miles.

The trip is long but the motorway number 95 is fabulous, there are three to six lanes.

At the beginning, there are some traffic jams up to Fort Lauderdale but it is becomming better with every kilometer.

We arrive in Port Canaveral at noon but there is no Kennedy Space Center. We are slightly confused and nervous but we do not give up. I get inside a resort and ask for help. A real American girl with fantastic English pronunciation gives me some tips and directions to Kennedy Space Center.

We follow her advice and suddenly we see a huge building witha a NASA sign.

We park our car ($10) and buy general admissions to the center ($53 each).

Everglades National Park

When you watch films connected with Florida, there are always some snapshots of Everglades and airboats, that is why we decided to visit this famous park.

The entrance fee is $10 for a vehicle and the ticket is valid for seven days.
Before the main gate, there is a visitor center where you can get a map and some useful information.

The park is mainly covered with some swamps and different types of plants. It is also a home to many different species of animals.

We wanted to see aligators, that is why we chose so called Anhinga Trail. Spotting gators is a tough job as they hide pretty well and it is hard to see them in green-brown water. Well, we were lucky and managed to see three aligators.

We also went to the most southern part of the park called Flamingo. There, you can see the Florida Bay.

When you drive into the park you see a sign informing of a possibility to see the Florida panther. Well, we did not see any because there are only ten left in the park but it is a nice feeling that such incredible animals live there. We saw some eagles and vultures flying overhead and were bitten by mosquitos which was not nice.

All in all, we had a great time although we did not visit any private gator park withing Everglades bounderies and we did not try grilled gator’s tail.

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A return to Miami.

Well, our return to Miami was smooth. Our bus to Cancun was on time, passport control at the Cancun Airport was easy and fast and the flight from Cancun to Miami departed even before the scheduled time.

In Miami, the immigration procedure was quick. First, finger scanning, then a photo and finally a comment: “enjoy your stay”.

At 3 pm we were in La Quinta Inn and Suits where we would spend the last four days of our holidays.

Vendors in Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza complex if full of vendors offering different souvenirs. They use a mixture of Spanish and English and try to sell their goods. They yell: “TODO ONE DOLLAR”, but do not believe them, they words simply mean that you will get a discount of one dollar when you purchase something.

It is not advisable to do shopping there because the products are expensive and some are fake, for example jewellery.