It is cold in St. Petersburg...

From Everglades we headed north. We want to slowly get out of Florida but on our way out we’ve decided to see Tampa and St. Petersburg. 

Unfortunately the weather was not good at all, or maybe St. Petersburg decided to become more like its Russian twin, it was cold (Florida cold) so we didn’t see too much. In St. Petersburg we went to see Salvador Dali museum The museum building itself is inspired by Salvador’s style. The longer we looked at it the more it reminded us of Warsaw shopping mall Złote Tarasy. Well, the most important things are inside. The musuem holds the largest collection of art by Salvador Dali in the world - from sketches and illustrations to most famous paintings.

Everything is very user-friendly, collections are grouped by themes, everything is described (both in writing next to paintings and on audio-guide) plus the local guides talk about the most important pieces adding many interesting facts. Maciek unfortunately got fed up  - he liked it in the beginning, after all most of Dali’s paintings look like illustrations from children books, but after an hour of looking for pianos and clocks he got impatient and after three hours he was really tired. To make it up to him we went to a playroom for kids where he made Abraham Lincoln out of plastic spoon and his dad got Dali’s moustache, and we also got some printouts for coloring.

Outside there is a maze and a wish tree – we quickly hang our wishes on the tree, ran through the maze and escaped the cold.

Kalina under the Wish Tree

We know nothing about art and we usually easily get bored in museums but in this one we could spend a few hours more. Practical tip: before you go there look for coupons, we found one for 2 USD discount per person with unfortunate delay …

After museum we went for a walk to the park. Just behind the museum, on the coast, there is a park with trees which branches change into roots and grow down into the ground. Of course we have no idea what they are called but they are pretty amazing, very photogenic and you can climb them. What Maciek liked the most that day was ice cream and half an hour at the playground.

  

St. Petersburg is a friendly town. It has a lot to offer: Dali museum, coast with a park, playgrounds, paths for jogging and walking. Nice and peaceful. And usually warm, as long as there is no Polish family visiting and bringing rain and cold.

From Hudson we also went to Tampa. Tamba lays on the bay called (surprise surprise) Tampa Bay and it’s famous for the bridge - Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Actually there are quite a few bridges and they are all pretty cool when you go up and up and up and even cooler when you go down and down and down. The most famous one doesn’t have too much to do with Tampa as it goes from St. Petersburg to some small towns across the bay. Fee for driving on it is only 1,25 USD, we can live with it. From both sides there are parkings and viewpoints to take pictures.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Maciek doesn’t really care for bridges but we do. American bridges are amazing for someone who lived most of his live in a country where almost all bridges are flat. They are like rollercoasters and defenitely deserve a separate post, maybe we will write it someday. 


Another place we went to see in Tampa was Ybor City. It’s old part of town founded in 1880 by cigar manufacturer and inhabited mostly by immigrants from Spain, Cuba and Italy. Now it’s a few blocks of pubs, clubs and vintage stores. Interesting but nothing really special. Even though it was really cold there were some people but if you’re traveling with kids and / or don’t plan clubbing you can skip it if it’s not really on your way.