After a lot of hard work, me and my girl decided to go on vacation to Florida.

Now we’re back! God what a super vacation…
Let me tell you all about it.

First stop, the weather.
Florida is called the sunshine state. During the entire month May we had temperatures between 80° – 93° Fahrenheit (27°C – 34°C). It is hot, but you can easily bare it because of the winds and air conditioning that is installed everywhere you go.

Compare this weather to Belgium and Florida wins this round.

Second stop, the parks.
We begin at the magical parks of Disney World which includes Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and last but not least Hollywood Studios. This last park has an attraction called the Tower of Terror. And it is a ride you have to do! The scenery in the tower is mind blowing. It really is a state of the art attraction. The visual effects are really astonishing and the drops are pure adrenaline shots.

The Disney cast members are truly wonderful. On a rate of 1 to 10 they really deserve a 10. I never in my life encountered such friendliness and eagerness to help. You are at a magic place. Where every one of your wishes is granted. Your vacation feels complete when strolling through those Disney streets.

At Seaworld you should try to visit the stingray pool. You have the opportunity to feed and pat them.
This is a unique experience and has a high addictive factor. If you have any questions about any of the animals feel free to ask.
As in Disney the employees at Seaworld are eager to give you all the information you want.

Universal Studios has great attractions of which I highly recommend Terminator 2 3D and Spiderman 3D.

Third stop, Miami vs CSI Miami.
Reality is a whole different story.
Don’t get me wrong I saw a great city. Super architecture and I really felt small driving those city streets.
But I did not really see any of the glamour and riches portrayed on TV. Me and my girl enjoyed a drink or ten at Gloria Estefans Hotel located at South beach. We watched people pass by for 4 hours. During this time we saw Hispanics, but mainly Afro Americans. The afro American men were really huge and fit. At 90° Fahrenheit they were doing push and sit ups on the beach…

Fourth Stop, the gulf coast.
The beach at Fort Meyers was great. White beaches as far as the eye could see. A gentle breeze stroked our hair and cooled our skin. A cocktail or two, reading a book or three. Live can’t be sweeter. Yet after a week we wanted adventure again and so we left for the next stop.

Fifth stop, the Everglades and Key West.
Everglades were hell! If you want to be eaten alive, please visit the everglades. And then I ain’t talking about the wonderful gators you see lying around. But the bugs. You can spray all the insect repellent in the world on your skin. Those bugs only think of one thing and that is to eat you alive. 5 Minutes and you had to flee a certain 20 times and resulted in 10 ugly big red bite bumps on your skin. Lovely.
The water in Key west was clear. It really was tropical. The people, consisting of 99% tourists, were a whole different breed than the ones visiting the Disney parks. The Disney parks were full of people with white shirts, shorts and socks. All ready to go golfing. In Key west they were all ready to go drinking in the local pubs, of which were many.

The Hotels:

I can highly recommend the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites at Orlando and the Sea View hotel at the Miami Bal Harbour area. Both were great hotels.
The Outrigger beach resort at Fort Meyers was not what I expect from a good hotel. The staff was friendly, the location and beach was excellent, but the rooms tend to be less clean than what I am used to. They were not dirty, but they lacked the hygiene you find at the upper hotels.

Florida End Score:
12/10

conclusion:

Being a highly qualified PHP 5 Zend certified Engineer the world is my playground so mail me my green card, propose me a job and I move today.

Bye Bye see you at my next blog entry.

Sunny greetings from Belgium

Nick Belhomme