'I visited a no-go gang area that has been transformed into a popular tourist spot'

"Hey, you amended look aft your eyes, they gonna spot truthful galore things, they’re going to hurt," my Cuban-born operator Rafael cautions arsenic we zip from Miami International Airport to the buzzing Wynwood district. Known for its vibrant graffiti and thoroughfare art, quirky autarkic boutiques, and an ever-expanding array of eateries, Wynwood has transformed into a must-visit spot successful Florida's sun-drenched city.

Rafael shares that backmost successful the '90s, this low-rise neighbourhood was a no-go portion dominated by cause dealers, but contiguous it's teeming with life, adjacent if the postulation is simply a spot of a nightmare owed to its popularity.

He leaves maine astatine the Moxy Miami Wynwood, a caller summation to the edifice country that captures the area's dynamic spirit. The entranceway dazzles with a riot of colours starring to a assistance that whisks guests to a reception-cum-bar, implicit with a lounge and games country wherever foosball, Jenga, and a elephantine shuffleboard array await to amuse visitors.

The playful taxable extends to my room, wherever graffiti-inspired designs adorn the bath door, and quirky elements similar a grey-and-orange vintage telephone adhd character. As I acceptable disconnected connected a circuit with Wynwood Buggies to delve into the section thoroughfare creation scene, my usher and self-styled "philosopher" Marco hardly drives a fewer metres successful our six-seater play cart earlier halting to showcase a towering mural splashed crossed a building's facade.

The artwork, created by The Amazing Ske, portrays a pistillate swimming with sharks, and it's the aforesaid shocked-looking woman you'll find successful the edifice elevator. Marco enlightened america astir the translation of the neighbourhood that's measured retired to beryllium 7 by 9 streets, revealing the alteration kicked disconnected backmost successful 2009 erstwhile developers spotted the untapped potential.

They saw beyond the graffiti-splattered walls, taken by the strategical proximity to the airport, Downtown, and Miami Beach.

"Sure, determination was the gangs and Pablo Escobar controlling kilos of cocaine," helium narrates. "At the aforesaid clip determination were a batch of kids successful the streets and they wanted to acquisition beingness successful a mode they could person amusive and they started penning connected the walls, similar each kid writes connected the walls of its ain room, and this is what is known contiguous arsenic graffiti."

Our circuit wrapped up astatine Wynwood Walls, a preserved abstraction holding immoderate of the quarter's iconic works, which besides stands astatine the forefront of artistry with its augmented world diagnostic – animating paintings connected your mobile screen. The pursuing evening, I decided to delve into the implicit other extremity of the taste spectrum.

I recovered myself astatine the Ziff Ballet Opera House wrong the monolithic Adrienne Arsht Center, 1 of America's grandest performing arts venues, eagerly awaiting the Miami City Ballet's rendition of George Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The nonmigratory troupe has ingeniously reimagined the story, transporting it from Shakespeare's Athenian woodland to Florida's seascape, with seahorses replacing fairies and Bottom donning a manatee's caput alternatively of a donkey's. Yet, it's the mesmerising ballet of dancers gliding connected pointe that leaves maine spellbound, their spot and finesse ne'er ceasing to amaze.

The pursuing day, I power accommodations to citizenM South Beach, a specified 20-minute stroll from Miami's iconic sandy beach. It exudes a akin vibrant and whimsical charm arsenic the Moxy, but with the added perks of a rooftop excavation and a afloat meal bar.

Stepping into my country feels similar entering a futuristic pod, wherever everything from blinds, TV, aerial conditioning, to adjacent the lighting hues are controlled by a bedside iPad.

A little locomotion done the Lincoln Road buying district, adorned with Art Deco buildings including the repurposed Lincoln Theatre – present an H&M outlet, leads maine to the New World Center. This Frank Gehry-designed performance hall, which besides houses the New World Symphony (orchestra), is an architectural masterpiece successful its ain close since its inauguration successful 2011.

As I basal successful the expansive lobby, my regard follows the fluid lines of staircases and balconies intertwining up to the ceiling.

I'm present to witnesser a double-bill opera show featuring Viktor Ullmann’s The Kaiser Of Atlantis with libretto by Peter Kien and Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins with libretto by Bertolt Brecht.

Ullmann's dystopian communicative is delivered with a blend of humour and humanity, utilising puppets manipulated by the formed and projected onto ample screens. The modern presumption benignant is deliberate, arsenic Marci Falvey, the New World Symphony’s manager of communications, explains that the orchestra aims to pull caller audiences to classical euphony and opera.

This includes projecting unrecorded productions onto a 7,000 quadrate ft outer partition equipped with state-of-the-art speakers, allowing the nationalist to bring their camping chairs and bask the shows for escaped without a ticket.

This ethos of creation being accessible to everyone resonates with maine arsenic I research the Design District the pursuing day. This buying area, location to luxury brands from Gucci to Tiffany’s, features store fronts designed to beryllium arsenic visually striking and extravagant arsenic the products they sell.

The pedestrianised territory is dotted with artworks, including a autobus halt inhabited solely by a skeleton who has evidently been waiting for his autobus for excessively long. My adjacent destination is Superblue, 1 of Miami's galore modern and modern creation museums known for its interactive exhibits. It uses video and machine installations to marque creation enjoyable and accessible to each ages.

I participate a large, dimly lit hallway for the teamLab installation, which features projections of h2o cascading down the walls and flowers sprouting up, which visitors tin power by touching the walls and ceilings.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's upcoming accumulation is acceptable to dazzle with thousands of lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling, each 1 acceptable to pulse successful clip with your heartbeat. I had a spell and my ain bosom bushed boomed passim the abstraction until a lively toddler took over, sending the tempo and lights into a frenetic dance.

The expansive finale of my sojourn was Es Devlin's reflector maze, a labyrinth of endless reflections that near maine arsenic giddy and wide-eyed arsenic the kids darting around, their giggles echoing disconnected the glass.

My Miami escapade concluded with a sensation of Cuba, courtesy of my usher Mirka from Miami Culinary Tours. She led maine done Little Havana's genuine nutrient spots, from empanadas – "dough is happiness sealed" – to the section peanut vendor offering "$1 for happiness".

Mirka besides highlighted the domino park, wherever seasoned players gather, bringing a portion of Cuba to Miami, albeit with strict rules prohibiting firearms, spitting, shouting, oregon shirtless gaming.

Leaving for the airport, my belly was stuffed with Cuban delicacies, and I was brimming with the realization that successful Miami, civilization and creation spill exuberantly onto the streets, ripe for discovery.

Book it

Consider staying astatine citizenM Miami South Beach (citizenm.com), with treble rooms starting astatine $125/£100 per night, country only. Or effort Moxy Winwood (marriott.com), wherever prices statesman astatine $199/£159 per night, besides country only.

For much accusation astir the destination, caput implicit to MiamiandMiamiBeach.com.