Europe - Nice/Monaco - Day 7

Tuesday August 1, 2006

Today is Miguel's birthday. This day was the main reason for the trip. The perfect excuse to scour Europe. More importantly, the perfect day to swim in the gorgeous water of Nice and spend an evening at the Monte Carlo in Monaco. I know I described Nice as dirty the day before, but its aquamarine, 78 degree sea makes up for it.

I woke up more red than I wanted to be for our second day in the sun. Before hitting up the beach, I headed to a pharmacy and picked up some Aloe Vera. Something I should have applied to my candy apple red body the night before. I figured I should pick up some drinking water for the dehydration factor as well. So, I picked up a pack of six liter "Naturalle" drinking water.

There was nothing natural about that damn drinking water. It fizzed more than a shaken can of coke! Dammit, I bought "water with gas!" I didn't notice the large print on the label, "gazuse." This was my chance to get acquainted with nasty ass gaseous drinking water. What better place to start trying it out than in nasty ass Nice.

...going back to my positive place now...

It was a perfect day for hitting up the beach. The sun was out and hot and the water was nice and calm. One problem though. The beach was nothing but stones. There's no sand, no area to push way the stones and make a comfortable spot to lie down on. It's just smoothed stones for as far as the eye can see. It's like a hot stone massage, if you are trying to see it in a positive light.

The second we hit the water, any negative feeling about Nice went away. The water was some of the most perfect ocean/sea/river/lake water I've ever been in. This water beats out a lot of pools I have been to! We spent some time floating around in the water and enjoying one of the main reasons why we came on this trip. It was a great way to finish out Nice.

Our plan to see Monaco was chopped down to an evening of elegance. This elegance started with us using the outdoor shower at the beach to quickly rinse off the salt water and suntan lotion, before heading into the country where money grows on trees. Nobody has to know our ghetto plan, but us...aaannd you.

Driving into Monaco is like driving into Beverly Hills. Everything is landscaped perfectly, the streets are super clean, the shopping is extremely expensive, and beauty isn't in the eye of the beholder. Everything is beautiful in this country and everyone knows it.

We found a parking garage close to all the action and decided to stay in our normal clothes to survey the area before we jumped into our suits to hit up the Monte Carlo. We spent some time watching the most expensive cars in the world drive around and took pictures of it all. However, it was time to hit up the Monte Carlo in style and celebrate his birthday in fashion.

It all went down like a transition in scenes on the backstage of a play. We headed back to the parking structure and began to change into our suits right there in the garage. This is when you wish you had Superman speed. We were using the parking garage as a changing facility with a lamborghini next to us and an Aston Martin across the way. Haha.

We were money.

We walked into the Monte Carlo like movie stars. Everyone was looking at us and wondering who we were.

haha, just kidding, they were all looking at the Ferrari 430s and Bentley GTs parked out in front. Even the bell hops looked at us in disgust.

The Monte Carlo is about elegance in all manners. The hotel is like a museum with architectural marvels and a handful of tried and true gaming tables to play American BlackJack and a few European games. There were only 7 tables total open to the public. The real action is behind closed doors. The real money was not for viewing pleasure. So, we didn't get our James Bond moment where we ask the Femme Fatale if she likes it shaken or stirred, but we got to see the Monte Carlo.

We spent the evening out in front of a cafe watching beautiful people walk by, beautiful cars pull up, and ugly tourist gawking at all the action. What a contrast for the eyes to feast on.

We closed down his birthday with a nice dinner at the cafe, said goodbye to the Monte Carlo and Nice, and began our departure from Southern France.

It's 11:00pm and Paris is only 8 hours away. Time to do what we do best and that is drive at night.

In the end, I enjoyed my overall experience in Nice and Monaco, however I am ready to make up for some of these experiences by finally getting to see Paris.

Europe - Nice/St. Tropez - Day 6

Monday July 31, 2006

Venice and Florence wore us down, because there was a lot of walking to be done. So, we were looking forward to spending some time on the beaches of Nice and St. Tropez. We drove into Nice late at night overlooking the lit French Riviera of Nice and Monte Carlo. We had high hopes of this just being the beginning of great times on the coast of Southern France.

As we strolled into Nice, we quickly realized that we were on the wrong part of town. After driving around for a while, we realized that there wasn't any right part of town. Nice is dirty, the people are dirty, and the way they look at you and your possessions is, well, dirty. The only clean and exciting thing going on in Nice is on the multi-million dollar yachts. There weren't any public tours of these gorgeous yachts, so we were S.O.L on seeing the best part of Nice.

Ok, I just described to you how we initially felt about Nice after checking in and walking around the town for the first time. Nice does get a little bit better, but not much.

We decided to take an hour drive to St. Tropez to see more multi-million dollar yachts and hit up our first French Riviera beach. We left Nice with lots of water, sun tan lotion, and baguettes. By the way, I know I haven't said it, but we've been buying a lot of baguettes and pastries while in France. The baguettes are extremely fresh and only cost .70 euro. It's great, if you like French bread. The Pilsbury dough boy gots nothin' on these baguettes. Mmm-mmmmm

I digress.

St. Tropez is straight out of a music video. There are beautiful people every where. There are more multi-million dollar yachts anchored to the main street that everyone cruises to check out the expensive clothing boutiques and skin care boutiques. There is a lot of money being thrown around. Miguel and I watched a delivery of 4 Dom Perignon cases being delivered to one yacht. That's about 9 bottles per case. Unbelievable money in this town.

We cut to the chase and decided to do the free tourist attraction. We went swimming. However, there are no sandy beaches in St. Tropez. A bunch of gravel, rocks and short cliffs. This wasn't looking good. We did spot a few people tanning on a solid concrete dock that extended into the Sea where people could dive off of. We found our spot for the rest of our time in St. Tropez.

The water was warmer than a swimming pool. The sun was brutally hot, but this was a great combination. We were finally spending time tanning and swimming in St. Tropez. Honestly though, we got over it quickly and were ready to leave after a full afternoon of sun. Once you are done with the beaches of St. Tropez, you are done with the whole city.

On another note, I forgot to mention that we saw 15+ Ferraris, 5+ Bentley Continental GTs, and a boat load of Mercedes Benz/BMW. We were completely de-sensitized to luxury cars after a day in St. Tropez.

In the end, we enjoyed the initial rush of seeing the town and eyeing the extravagant luxuries that money can afford. Miguel tanned quickly and I turned a nice lobster red. What can I say, it was a loooong winter since the last time my body saw the sun.

Tomorrow will be good though. It's Miguel's birthday and we will be hitting up the beaches of Nice and then a night in Monaco to check out the Monte Carlo!

Europe - Florence/Pisa/Cinque Terre - Day 5

Sunday July 30, 2006

We spent the morning taking pictures of the Duomo. Since it was Sunday, we could not go into the Duomo. One of the main attractions is to climb to the top and overlook the city. Maybe next time. Once we were finished with the Duomo our exit plan was to see Michelangelo's David and then begin our trip to Nice.

The line to see David was initially long, but picked up quickly and before we knew it, we were standing in front of him. I figured it was just another attraction to see while in Florence, but I have to say this monument has been one of my favorite on this trip thus far. I was impressed that he stands at 17 feet tall. In addition, to learn that his stance portrays his preparation to battle Goliath or defeat of Goliath. Some interpretations vary. However, the museum described the carving as a moment when David is proclaiming that his intellect took precedence over his sling, which is what he is casually holding on to, in order to defeat Goliath. In either case, it's an effort to capture a movement, an action in one single representation. It was very awe inspiring. I am not usually inspired by art in most forms, but David was a surprise and a model to most statues that were being displayed.

Although our morning filled up quickly, we still had to make our 5 hour trip to Nice. But, we had to stop along the way to see the Tower of Pisa! It was a 30 minute distraction from the drive and yes, we did the tourist shot. Pictures to follow.

Our next stop is a small coastal area called, Cinque Terre, that Jeanne recommended. This is a gorgeous collection of 5 towns that hold tightly to the traditional Italian ways. Modernization has slowly been creeping into these towns, but the generations of families have kept it as real as possible. As we drove down the mountain into one of the larger town, we quickly saw what made Cinque Terre so special. The mountain is covered with small villas with houses covered in bright colors with red tile roofs. Perfect little towns near the sea.

We chose to stop in Monterosso, one of the more touristy towns. To truly get a feel for Cinque Terre, you have to stay for a couple of days and walk between the towns.

You quickly lose sense of worldly issues in this area. Your only concern is what delicious meal will you be having next and what wine will be served with it. Unfortunately, we did not have that much time to spend in the town, but I sat down to have a little snack. Cinque Terre is known for pesto sauce, so I had foccacia with a spread of Pesto. They warmed it up for me without having to ask. The pesto was so good, I brought a jar home. It may not taste as good without the magic of Cinque Terre though.

I left Cinque Terre not feeling sad, but anxious to come back for a longer period of time.

It was time to put Italy behind us, because now the French Riviera was calling our name and Nice is the next stop.

Europe - Florence - Day 4

Sunday July 30, 2006

Florence is only about 4 hours away from Venice, so our evening drive was very easy. However, as we pulled into the city we were quickly introduced to big city Italian driving. It's like New York, but add 10 times more scooters and motorcycles coming within inches of your car as they squeeze between you and the curb in a roundabout.

We had little direction of where we wanted to go initially, but we found ourselves crossing Ponte Alle Grazie, a bridge away from the infamous Ponte Vecchio, and taking a road up to one side of the Riviera. This led us to a large plateau that overlooked the city and gave us our first full perspective of Florence. This city is very beautiful to look at as the sun is going down. We had a perfect view of the Duomo, the Cathedral (The tallest building in Florence), and the Arno river that runs underneath Ponte Vecchio.

We headed back down into the maze of streets and found the Piccadilly Hotel, which was about 4 blocks away from the Duomo. The guy at the hotel wanted our passports for 10 minutes. I wasn't haven't it at first. I didn't want that thing to leave my sight after my fiasco. However, it is normal for hotels to take your passport and scan them for security purposes.

We walked into the room and it had 10 foot shutters that opened up on to one of the squares where people were sitting on benches and talking, laughing, and enjoying their evening. Florence is a very social town and we were looking forward to checking it out.

We walked down to the Centro market to see the festivities. Florence is known for its fashion, so we saw a ton of high class stores lining the streets. In between these stores are plazas with statues, high archways that lead into other plazas, and historical squares. It was 11:30pm at night and the streets were packed. A fun city to hang out in.

We walked up to Ponte Vecchio to see the Arno river at night and listen to an acoustical duo play while people sat on the bridge and listened to them as well. We forgot that hunger was setting in and it was midnight all ready. There was a restaurant near the bridge with outdoor seating called, "Mamma Mia!" Although, it caters to tourists, the atmosphere and food were real.

I decided to try their four cheese pizza. I know, I know. I shouldn't be eating pizza in Italy, but I was told that they actually make a mean pizza. The blend of cheese was great. I am sure a four cheese pizza in the states tastes just fine, but the authentic Italian cheeses made this dinner perfect. The crust had this great salty taste when it crunched, but the bread inside was very light and fresh. I am hungry just thinking about it. The marinara was sweet, but not overwhelming. Once again, another tasty dish without the heavy feeling.

We were happy with the casual encounter we had with Florence for this portion of our stay, so we headed to the hotel to get some rest and be prepared for a long fifth day.

Europe - Venice - Day 3

Saturday July 29, 2006

Aaah, I am in Paris right now and Venice seems so far away. So does Day 2, considering this is day 7. I have a lot to catch everyone up with.

Venice is everything what I expected it to be. Rustic, yet beautiful. What I didn't expect was a place in my heart to open up forever for a little place called, Venezia.

Bleh, barf. haha. Just kidding.

Venice is an intricate network of cobblestone alleyways with restaurants and shops that lure you in with delectable dishes or memorabilia that you tell yourself that you need. The first thing that we needed was food.

We chose one of the many ristorantes that have outdoor seating. I quickly latched on to their Gnocchi with olive oil and herbs. We sat in the shade of the umbrella while the restaurant owner yelled at the construction workers for making a mess in front of his shop. I swear I was in a movie watching this scene unfold.

I was excited for my first real Italian dish. I wasn't disappointed. The pasta was soft and chewy unlike the way pasta is in the States. More importantly, they managed to keep the dish very flavorful without making it heavy. Yeah, can you believe that?! Italian food not heavy? I spent a good 20 minutes eating my dish because I didn't want it to end. Watching Gondolas and boats go by in the canal while eating authentic Italian food is my idea of a great vacation.

We spent the rest of our time doing the normal touristy kind of stuff. However, my favorite part of Venice is Murano Island. We took a boat to Murano Island so we could watch glass blowers do what they do best! Fill up soccer moms' entertainment cabinets with glass menageries. We took a short break to sit on the edge of the canal and let the water keep our feet cool. I felt the cool water on my feet, the warm sun on my back, and the nice sea breeze. The only thing I heard was the water hitting the canal walls, footsteps on the cobblestone, and light conversations in Italian. Needless to say, I am buying a villa on Murano Island as soon as possible.

Our day in Venice was quickly interrupted with a quick, but very threatening thunderstorm. By the time we got back from Murano Island, we were looking for cover very quickly. As we stood in breezeways while the sky became very ominous and the wind kicked up the dust and debris along the alleyways, we sat and watched old little Italian grandmothers, which had white hair and aged tanned skin from living in Venice their whole lives, reach out from their homes to close the 300 year old shutters in preparation for the storm. I could have sworn I heard one grandmother call out to her grandson to come in from the weather. Way too surreal.

We left Venice with a lot of appreciation for the Italian culture. Their sense of community and their cooking was a perfect example of what makes Venice great.

I hope to go back again some time soon, just to put my feet in the water.