Postcard from the Americas. April 2013

After a fairly rocky journey across the Pond I arrived in Miami at 6pm local time but it then took me two hours to get out of the Airport!  US passport control is a nightmare!  Once through, and having found my driver, I checked into the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura at around 9pm.  I spoke to my friend Felipe en route to the hotel to reassure him I had eventually arrived!  I had a lovely room and spent the evening unpacking and relaxing. 

 

My first day was wonderful – breakfast on my balcony in sunshine, the day by the pool with lots of swimming and a few drinks and in the evening dinner with Felipe and his wife Monica. The next day I joined Felipe and Monica and four others for a delicious lunch in their beautiful apartment overlooking Miami Beach.  I had an hour or so back by my pool and that evening I was invited out to dinner with colleagues of Felipe.  Tuesday was another glorious day so I of course spent it by the pool, getting a little too much colour in my cheeks by the end of the day!!  The last morning I visited a local Mall in the morning, and then back to the pool in afternoon.  In the evening I had had a wonderful dinner with Felipe and Monica and their young son, plus Monica’s parents, at the Bourbon Restaurant in the Turnberry Isle Resort.

On Thursday I flew to Cartagena in Colombia.  On arrival at the Santa Clara Hotel I found I had the most wonderful room overlooking the pool and the Caribbean Sea, with my own beautiful balcony – all to die for!  That evening I joined the Hotel GM for drinks and then had a quiet dinner and an earlyish night.

 

On Friday after spending a quiet morning by the Santa Clara pool, I met up with Felipe’s PA, Angelica, who had come to join me for the weekend.  We had a lovely lunch together, then walked around Cartagena Old Town for an hour or so, before meeting up for a delicious dinner together at El Santisimo.  The next morning we boarded a very smart speedboat out to Punta Iguana, in the Rosario Islands, to spend the day swimming, relaxing and enjoying a wonderful lunch.  On our return we walked around Cartagena and then enjoyed a lovely dinner at a little restaurant called Vera.

 

On Sunday morning Angelica and I flew up to Bogota and checked into the Charlston Casa Medina.  In the evening I had drinks and dinner with my great friend, Ximena – we had good fun and a lot of giggles!  The next morning I visited the old De La Rue factory [now Thomas Greg] in Bogota to see the amazing work that they do there now, and then went to the old De La Rue House for a fantastic lunch party given in my honour.  I met up with lots of old friends, and especially Felipe’s brothers, Camilo and Fernando.  In the afternoon after a visit to the Botero Exhibition, I went shopping for a little piece of typical jewellery to remind me

of a great trip, and then met up with Angelica and another old friend, Otoniel, for a light dinner.

On Tuesday I spent the day flying from Bogota to Sao Paulo and in the evening met up with one of Felipe’s colleagues for a light supper.  In the morning I met up with Felipe and his colleagues and we went to lunch at a wonderful churrascaria called Varandao before visiting the Thomas Greg plant.  It was great to visit a plant which was so similar to DLR!  It was a really interesting day and brought back many memories of my DLR days.  In the evening I dined with Camilo Bautista and other Board members at a fantastic restaurant called Figueira – an amazing place!

On Thursday morning I flew down to Rio and checked into the Caesar Park Hotel on Ipanema.  I spent the afternoon at their tiny pool on the top floor although the sun gave up at 4pm so I took a walk along Ipanema for a short while.  I spent each day in Rio beside the little pool on the top floor – the pool sadly too cold to get into as it rarely sees the sun at this time of year.  On Friday evening I had a great dinner at Gero with my friends Sidney and Lucia Levy – he is the CEO of the Rio 2016 so it was fun to compare notes!  On Saturday I had a wonderful dinner at Satyricon with my new friends, Mario and Maria Andreazza and their son Antonio, and on my last evening the Andreazzas took me to the new hotel, Falsano, for a drink on their rooftop before I left for the airport.

A really amazing trip around Miami and South America.