It's a Wonderful Life

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Day 31-Monaco

Well I woke up seven minutes before the alarm went off. You know it is going to be a good day when instead of rolling over, you jump up and hit the shower. I was so ready to go. We ate free breakfast at the hostel which was actually really good. They had a cereal bar with about twelve different cereals. I found my new favorite cereal. It looks like cinnamon toast crunch but it is filled with Nutella! What could be better than that!

So we started out the day with a walk to the top of Le Chateau. It's not really a castle, but it is a look-out over all of Nice. It was a great view and there was a little waterfall at the top. I'm glad we went up! Plenty of steps to climb!

We took a bus to Monaco and the drive was amazing!!! It was along the coast and the whole time was unbelievable. When we got to Monaco we headed for the casino. I guess its famous? Haha but it was really beautiful. We walked over by the harbor and found the Prince's palace. Then we meandered through part of Monaco and I loved it.

Half of the group decided to go to the oceanographic museum and the other half wanted to explore city. I wanted to go to the museum, but it costed money and I had been to an aquarium before. I also figured I would be happier just experiencing the city. I was so happy I did!

We walked down the hill until we ended up at a tiny little beach! I was so happy when I realized we could go down there. I was seriously giggling like a little five year old! I have some pictures and I hope that you can see how excited I was! So fun!

After that we headed back on the bus to Nice and we wanted to eat at the hostel. They had food for pretty cheap and we had checked it out the night before and it looked pretty good. So we ate there. I had a chicken salad and it was really good.

We went back to the room and hung out. We met a few of the girls who were staying in the room with us. There were two American girls from UC schools, one studying in Paris and one in Florence. We also met Jaquie who is from Australia and we talked to her a ton. I went to bed at 21h because I had a headache for the whole evening and then it started to turn into a migraine so I turned off the light by my bed and hid under the pillow. However, when Jaquie came in and started talking to her, I was all ears. We also met Enos who was a muslim girl from Germany. It was so awesome to meet people from all over and with different stories and with different perspectives of the world. We didn't end up going to bed until 1h30/2hish.

The Hostel

My room was the bottom floor where the white towel is hanging out.

Us walking toward the tram

Inside of the beautiful cathedral in Vieux Ville, Nice

Walking up to Le Chateau (Sutton, Jayna, Roxanne, Ally, Emily, Martha and Shae)

The view as we headed up the hill.

Me at the top of le Chateau over looking the city

I LOVE the colors in Nice. I just could not get enough of them!

I love France!

More of Nice

The bus ride to Monaco

Me at the casino in Monte Carlo

Monaco

Sweet car

Monaco License Plate

My tasty fruit tarte!

More of Monaco

Me at the Prince's Palais

The gaurd

Just a cute little thing in Monaco!

The shore

Cathedral in Moncao

Monaco's Flag

Princess Grace's grave (cant figure out how to turn the picture...I know I'm a little retarded)

Five different languages? Really?

Aquarium in Monaco

Monaco's shore

The cute little beach we went to! I love it!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Day 30-Nice

Well I made it to Nice!!! I am sitting on my bed in my hostel with music and chatter coming from the window and looking out at the city with the ocean as my view. Yes I am in a hostel and yes I only paid 16 eruos for this bed. I'm super sad that I didn't bring my memory stick adapter, so I will have to wait only I get home Sunday to upload all my pictures...but I can write all about it till then!

We left the house at 6h15 and got on the train at 7h30. No problems and everyone was on time. We all ended up sitting together and talking the whole way. We tried to be semi quiet, but for eight excited American girls it is really difficult, so the people on the train loved us. We talked the whole way and it went by really quickly. The scenery was the so incredible. I am so glad that we decided to take the train. We got to see so much. We were along the ocean for a good two hours.

We got of the train and made our way to the hostel. We had to take a tram and then a 'shuttle' picked us up. So we are a little unsure of what to expect at this point and an unmarked green van with some guy. As he was driving toward us we were kind of discussing it and Ally yells, "He is cute, who wouldn't want to get in a car with him!" So that settled it. We got in. (K for all of you who are concerned at this point-dont be- it wasn't that sketch-just funny)

We showed up and the staff is all super friendly. Most are from Australia and it is super chill here. There are people form all over staying here and it is just like a young adult hang out. We are in a 14 bed female dorm room. There are some cool people here. The girl sleeping below me has been here for eight days and she is leaving tomorrow. I think she is traveling alone! How are there people like that? That is amazing to me! Slightly jealous.

So we headed for the beach. We got off the tram at the town center and it was incredible. The colors here are amazing! Buildings are these bright reds, orange, blues, and greens. I hope that my pictures do it justice, because they are incredible. We found a cheap lunch and then walked to the beach!

The beach is rocks, but we went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea!!!! I almost didn't get in because it was a little cold, but finally I decided that I would regret it so I jumped in. (Side note: I forgot my bathing suit so I used Emily's extra blue top and a pair of Ally's purple underwear-when in Nice....) So anyways-I jumped in and was so excited. It was super salty and so clear! It was for sure the best thing I have done since arriving in France. I declared several times through out the day that I might burst with joy.

We meandered through the Old part of Nice and I took a ton of pictures! I loved it! We found a cheap pizza dinner and headed back for the hostel. The hostel is so cool! We went around and there are a ton of people here from all over. People are just sitting around talking to each other exchanging their stories and all of that stuff. Just a few minutes ago a guy started playing the guitar and singing right below my window. He looked up at me and smiled. Haha at first I was creeped out but it is so part of the atmosphere.

Well I'm going to bed so that we can have another full day tomorrow. We are going to Le Chateau in Nice and then on to Monaco for the rest of the day. So hopefully there will be another post tomorrow. Once again I reflected on a year ago and remember how I thought life might be terrible forever. Today I proved that very, very, very wrong! Good night from Nice. I am a very happy woman!!!!