Seeing as how this weekend was just too great, I've decided I'm going to do one massive post for Thursday-Sunday rather than write one for each day. I'm tired, so I hope this works.
THURSDAY
Went to class from 8:30-11:40. It was fantastic. Didn't do much of anything.
After lunch we went walking around the city to pass time until we left for Nice. I should have been packing at this time, but instead I fell asleep after lunch right up until everyone decided we were going to go for a walk. It was super hot and since we were walking anyways we decided to head across the Ponte Vecchio for some $1 gelato. We were basically at the bridge when some people decided they didn't want to go any farther and instead wanted to just grab some gelato at a place right next to us. Trusting that they read the sign correctly, we all got our normal small cup of gelato. Being told that it was £2.50, Erin and I walk up to pay for it. Both of our cups were sitting next to one another, so when the woman said $6 Erin and I quickly corrected her saying we weren't paying together. She gave us this look, and then repeated $6. Somehow, the girls that read the sign didn't read well enough and we payed WAY too much for gelato. From now on, no matter how lazy or tired any one of us is, we are walking across the bridge for gelato. The only part that made it even a little bit better was that they had massively over filled our cups. While it was in no way worth as much as we payed for, at least it wasn't some wimpy little serving.
After our fiasco with the gelateria we walked back. It was almost 5:30 and we were leaving at 6 to go to the train station. I quickly threw some clothes and swimsuits into my backpack and off we went.
We easily found the bus, and began the long 4 hour drive to Nice, we arrived sometime after midnight.
FRIDAY
We woke up around 9 and walked down the street towards the beach in search of some breakfast. Since we had driven into the city when it was dark, we couldn't stop looking around at how gorgeous Nice was. After we had eaten, we walked back towards the hotel to meet the group to go to Monaco for the day.
The Yacht Show was going on this weekend, so when we got to Monaco not only did we have an absolutely gorgeous day with an amazing view, we also got to admire the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of personal yachts sitting in the harbor. We went on a relaxed tour of the the smallest country in the world. Saw the palace, saw Grace Kelly's grave, saw the Ferrari garage (home to one Ferrari Enzo, only 349 were made), went to Casino de Monte Carlo (tried to go into the slot room but it was closed for the day. No gambling for us.), and walked almost everywhere you can in the country. After getting a small lunch, we decided to head back to Nice to spend what little sunlight as left at the beach.
The majority of beaches that make up the French Riviera are all big, rocky ones. Including the one in Nice. It didn't really bother us since we spent most of the time in the water. As you all know, I am quite a big fan of water, so I am very excited to say I got to swim in the Mediterranean! It wasn't as warm as I had imagined it to be, but still very clear and clean. I could have stayed in that water for hours if it hadn't turned nighttime.
The entire French Riviera is a very expensive area. The travel agency we booked the trip through hosted a champagne party for all of us because the clubs and bars were just so expensive. We had a good night with everyone, and did walk down to one of the bars. They had a good local band playing American songs so we hung out there awhile. It was a good night.
Oh. I had the best seafood risotto of my life for dinner. Yes mom, I ate seafood risotto and liked it. It even had the mini squids in it, and I ate every one.
SATURDAY
Again, we woke up and went in search of breakfast. We then met up with the group again, this time to go on a day trip to Cannes. It just so happens that Cannes is one of the only sandy beaches in the French Riviera. It was a bit farther train ride, but totally worth it. The day didn't turn out to be nearly as nice as Friday had been, yet we tried not to let that hinder our day, so we still swam and layed out on the beach for the majority of the day. We hadn't seen any naked people on the beach in Nice, and in all honesty there weren't many in Cannes, however there was a group of older people who had no problem changing out of their swimsuits right there on the beach. And taking their sweet time putting clothes back on. Not exactly what I needed to see.
Around 6 we decided to head back to Nice. After riding the train already 3 times we thought we had the process down. We lucked out and got to the platform right as the train was arriving. Not paying attention we got onto the first car we came too. As we were walking around, we realized it was a 1st class car. There wasn't enough time to get off and run down the train so we decided to wait it out and change at the next stop. When the train got to the next stop, we got off and run down the train. Turns out the conductor got on the 1st class train to check tickets right as we were getting off. Talk about lucky. We found the 2nd class cars and Erin, Connor and I got on. The entry way was super packed to everyone decieded to run down to teh next car. Connor and Erin weren't as far in as I was and were able to get off. I on the other hand couldn't get the people between me and the door to move so I was stuck. We had made plans to get off at some stop to check out the shopping, but seeing as how all I had on me was my train ticket (Allie had my backpack) and had no idea what the shopping stop was, I decided it would just be smarter to take the train all the way back to Nice. Only like two minutes after the train started again, Conner shows up. I guess we had already missed the stop for shopping so we all headed back to Nice.
Erin and Conner went out for a date night, so the rest of us girls found the "best Italian restaurant in France" for dinner. We had been told by numerous people that this place did Italian food better than the Italians. They were right. Rachel and I split seafood linguine and a salad nicoise. We could have ordered just one and been full. Even so, at the end of the meal none of our plates had a speck of food on them. It was all delicious. We also talked to the people sitting next to us. The restaurant was very crowded outside, so when the people next to us sat down and started speaking English, we had to talk to them. They were a young couple from Canada there on vacation. They were really nice. Turns out they were heading to Monaco that night, and are coming to Florence in a few days. They shared some of their travel experiences with us and we told them what we know about Florence (they've never been).
We again had a champagne party. It was a night of 10 fingers, truth or dare, and lots of laughs.
SUNDAY
Again, we woke up and dragged ourselves down to the beach for breakfast. On Saturdays and Sundays there is this massive outdoor market down the center of the main road by the beach, so after breakfast we decided to check it out. Somewhere during the first 5 minutes, Allie and I got separated from everyone else. We kept looking around and knew we would wander into the others sooner or later. Conner and Erin found us not too long after, but we could find the other three girls for the life of us. After looking for a bit we gave up and assumed they were all together (we would find out later they were). We went up and down the market a few times, and I found this local artist who had some amazing watercolor paintings. I had no idea how I would get it back to Florence untouched, lucky me he has a website that I can order from.
We wandered around some more and came across this kids festival where there were this teenage kids LAIR-ing. That was entertaining. From there we went back onto the boardwalk and sat on the bulk head awhile just looking out on the Mediterannean and people watching.
After a few more hours we decided to take our time walking back up the pedestrian street. Its full of shopping and food, and we went into every store. If only we had money. Conner did find a shirt, he's such a trooper. He went into every store with us and never complained once, so Erin bought him a shirt. After making a quick stop for a hamburger, the only stop Conner actually asked to do, we headed back to the hotel.
We left Nice around 3:30 and stopped in Eze for about an hour. We climbed up this palace/tower/monument thing and had an amazing view. Apparently Bon Jovi has one of the houses this palace things looks out onto; the tour guide was telling us every once in awhile you can see him having coffee out on the terrace. We weren't so lucky.
The traffic coming home was awful. It took us another 5 hours to get home. It didn't help that I was not feeling good and thought I was going to be car sick the entire way. We got back to Florence around 11PM and didn't fall asleep until around 1:30AM due to having to take a shower and unpack, not to mention the little bit of homework that I forgot to do before I left.
It was a fantastic weekend. Traveling with some of the best people, in one of the most beautiful places.
The only thing about France that we discovered is that we get a lot more cat-calling there than in Italy. At one point Allie, Rachel and I were walking home and a guy at one of the cafe's said as we were walking by, "You speak English? Sex. (when we didn't answer, and looked confused) Guess not."
Oh those French men. I'm glad to be back in Italy where I semi blend in.
Thursday, September 22nd - Sunday, September 25th
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