Friday: July 11
Monaco, Expensive Cars
I didn’t have the greatest night last night. For some reason, I
woke up around 5:30 or so, and I never managed to really fall asleep
afterwards.
We had our usual breakfast at the cafe, got ready, and went down
to the bus.
Monaco is a tiny place. Apparently it could roughly fit into
Central Park in NYC.
We first drove to a small village called Eze. It is perched on a
rock jutting out into the ocean. “Perched” is the operative word because almost
everything is sloped up or sloped down. There are tiny winding foot paths
between the buildings. You can’t get a vehicle there.
We did a quick loop through the town (not that the loop was that
big). We had a little free time afterwards. There was a path down to the coast
that I wanted to check out (at least the top portion), but I couldn’t find the
entrance. Amy did, went down a short ways, and got some good pictures, but I
missed it.
Then we drove to Nice. We took the “high” road. On the way back,
we took the “low” road.
In Nice, we got a small “tour” from where the bus dropped us off
to a square next to the beach. Then we had just over an hour of free time.
That seemed to be our best shot for lunch. Amy and I walked to the beach, which
was full of small stones rather than sand. Amy dipped her hand in the
Mediterranean, but I couldn’t get close enough without fearing that I would
soak my sneakers.
We watched people flying under parachutes being pulled by power
boats. We saw a strange fountain with a figure in the center “wearing” four
small horses on his head. We thought it was rather strange.
We found a place that made sandwiches (focaccia) and got a pair
of sandwiches. Amy got a lemon soda. I tried a lemonade, but the soda was
better.
We walked back to the square where we were to meet, and I ate my
sandwich there. Amy only managed to get down about half of hers.
We were to be there at noon, when a fake cannon went off. Then we
marched back to where the bus was going to meet us. We had to wait for a bit,
so I watched some workmen cutting a stone block, and trying to place it in a
hole in the stone pavement.
We then drove back to Monaco. It was probably quite picturesque,
and Amy got lots of pictures, but I almost immediately dozed off.
In Monaco, we passed an apparently very nice Aquarium, which was
somehow associated with Jacque Cousteau. Then we went to a plaza in front of
the prince’s palace. We saw the changing of the guard. Then we had free time.
Amy got something to drink and ate more of her sandwich. I got a
small gelato.
Unfortunately, I think I just drew the short straw. I thought
that finally, at last, I was going to get through a cruise without getting
sick, but my throat is beginning to feel a bit scratchy. That is usually how my
colds start. I think I almost certainly have something. The main question is
how bad and how long.
Amy and I found a path along the top of the cliffs that went
through a very nice smallish botanical guarden. Amy was very happy with this
find. I was more interested in some of the statues that were scattered around.
We then boarded the bus and drove the Casino square. This has
been the scene of three Bond movies and a host of others. In front of the
casino, there were a
line of fancy sports cars.
In the street out front, there
was a steady stream of BMWs, Mercedes, an occasional Porsche, Rolls Royce, etc.
Strangely enough, there were also a noticeable number of Toyotas and an
occasional VW.
We had to go through security to go into the casino. There, we
found out that we weren’t actually in the casino. We were in the opera house.
To go to the casino, we had to pay something like 20 euro and show our
passport. Later, I heard that you needed to pay to get to the second room,
where the real gambling happened, although you just needed to show your
passport to get to the first room that had slot machines. Our guide said that
in the afternoon, the casino was filled with tourists, and that the “real
gambling” took place from about 10pm to 4am.
Once again, we had some free time. There wasn’t much to see in
the lobby of the opera house, so Amy and I went out and did a lazy loop around
the building. There were walkways and some park like areas that we meandered
through. Then we hiked back to the bus. There was one person missing, and we
couldn’t wait more than 10 minutes for him. On the other hand, he could clearly
see our ship from that area, and if need be, he could have walked to the boat.
It wasn’t like we were leaving him 30 miles inland or something.
—
It is now 9:15, and I’m up on the Aquavit Terrace. The sun has
set, and we’ve set sail. With the breeze from the ship, it is a bit cool out
here. I had to run down and grab my sweatshirt. Continuing the narrative...
I did some typing, then went down, showered, and changed into my
evening clothes. Then I ran down for the lecture on the history of Spain, only
missing the intro. Then we went up to The Restaurant for dinner. It was a
successful one for Amy, as she ate most of it, and in particular all of the
protein. There isn’t much going on later tonight, so I hope to call it an early
bed time. I hope that I sleep better tonight than last night.
