“Hi Susan, I hear that you were on a trip to Florida this summer.”
“Yes, that’s right, we spent a week in Fort Lauderdale and a week on a Norwegian cruise-ship, which took us out to the Caribbean islands.” “How did you like Florida?”
“Well, I tell you one thing; it sure was hot when we were there. If it hadn’t been for the air-conditioning that they have in most buildings and in cars, I think we would have had a hard time. We got out of the airplane and couldn’t believe the wall of heat that met us. Personally I think the worst part of it was the high humidity. Having put our suitcases into a car, we left the airport and headed for our hotel. Of course we rented a car, since public transportation is very hard to find.
The car was wonderful and after a few minutes' travel the air-conditioning had lowered the temperature to a comfortable level.
Naturally the hotel also had air-conditioning, as a matter of fact, Americans take that for granted nowadays. We stayed at the Plaza, which is located right on the beach. I went swimming in the ocean several times, but frankly speaking, I preferred the hotel pool, because the water was much cleaner. Honestly, I was a little bit worried about sharks out in the sea. I guess I have seen too many movies about sharks.
The food is good in Florida. We went to many different restaurants during our stay, and tried dishes that I hadn't even seen before. One of the delicious dishes I tried was steak and lobster.” “But, Susan, do you mean to tell me that they put meat and shellfish on the same plate?” “Yes, that was exactly what they did. Believe me, it was delicious. Something that surprised me about America was the fact that tips were not included in the menu prices. They expected you to add 15 to 20% on top of the check.”
“Didn’t you do anything else than eat and swim for a week?” “We sure did. Our children had heard about Disneyworld and there was not a chance in the world that we could avoid a visit there. Since we had the car, it was no problem. Early one morning we started the car and headed north to Orlando. Since it was quite a drive, we decided to spend one night in a roadside motel.
The whole family enjoyed Disneyworld with all its fun rides and wonderful restaurants.
During our stay in Florida we also found time to make a trip all the way down the keys to Key West.
It really was a funny feeling, riding your car down there surrounded by water on all sides. These keys, as they are called, are a chain of small islands stretched out into the ocean. One side is actually the Gulf of Mexico. The water is so clear and it really makes you want to dive into it. Key West is the southernmost point in the USA.”