flamingo palm neon [II] | andrejrusskovskij.com

Wake up in the morning feeling like… Crap.
… day 2: THIS IS SO WYNWOOD

Richard knows best when it comes to American style hangover brunch.
The federal (http://www.thefederalmiami.com) was the obvious proof American brunch is by far better than the English one! Sorry Brits! Try what Americans mean with “biscuit” and you’ll change your mind too, I swear. Clearly still drunk from the previous night, the smartest conversation topic we had turned out to be about whales’ pregnancy!
Once our tummies were full (and it didn’t take long considering the amount of food Richard ordered) Martina took the wheel and drove us to Wynwood, the Miami version of London’s Shoreditch.. Thats’s when we acknowledged that Martina freaks out with no apparent reason when the police is around… I can still hear Richard screaming her name to make her focus on the drive!
Anyway, Wynwood Art District started existing around a decade ago but it rose to fame in 2009 after more than 5o artists from all over the world created the Wynwood Walls, one of the largest open-air street art installations in the world (http://thewynwoodwalls.com). What used to be warehouses now is home to art galleries, exhibition, retail shops, eclectic bars and clubs. I guess we spent something like 5 hours exploring every corner of the district under a burning sun: so much going on all around you and so many perfect spots for pictures.

Me, Isa and Marti then walked along with roosters on the loose all over Calle Ocho, the main street of Little Havana, and ignored everybody’s advice to avoid strolling around Little Haiti at sunset. Of course we ended up in that very specific place we were warned against. To take shelter from a sudden violent storm an old lady invited us in a botanica shop. For those who wonder, Little Haiti has a reputation for Haitian vodou and santerìa, syncretic Caribbean cults which combine Roman Catholic beliefs with rituals and ceremonies based on magic and folklore. The devotees can find in a botanica shop everything they need: from candles, herbs, charms to life size statues, voodoo dolls and other religious items. The atmosphere in there was very heavy and overpowering, as if the main door had been close for too long. The smell was a pungent mix of dust, grease and humidity. Me and the girls stood quiet waiting for the rain to stop while a random radio station was on. During this time we had the chance to look around and realize how absurd, messy and creepy the shop was. We actually felt quite relieved when we walked out a breathed some fresh air. We wandered around the neighborhood for another while but we back tracked when we started noticing several locals staring at us in a not so welcoming way. It was getting dark anyway and trouble could have waited for another day.

Album of the day: Bob Moses – Days Gone By