20 April – Travel day number five. After another lovely breakfast in the hostel (read: sarcasm) – of two stale rolls and a “bowl” of coffee, we gathered up our things and headed for the train station. Our train to Milan was a bit late, but the morning was nice, so the wait outside wasn’t bad. Nice, smooth train. We had a little time to kill in the Milan station, but that was mostly used up finding our train on a different track, then securing seats. Very important, because we were going to be on that train for over five hours. We ate some crackers and whatnot for lunch, and finally we were on our way. The ride up to Genoa was pretty boring – not much for scenery and I didn’t feel too well. I took a little nap. From Genoa, though, things looked a lot better. The train started following the coast of the Mediterranean, giving us gorgeous glimpses of the teal waters on one side and rolling hills on the other between tunnels. We had to change trains in Ventimiglia, but we were lucky to get seats. The train filled up as we entered France and made our journey along the ritzy French Riviera. We finally got to Nice and made our way to the hotel we had booked. Once there, the manager told us, oh, sorry, you can’t stay here tonight, but I booked you a double room down the street for 1½ francs more each. Checked in to the Hôtel D’Orsay by the train station. We’re up on the fourth floor (breaking my third-floor curse), with three beds and a sink. Decided to splurge (😊) and stay here the next three nights. It’s a little on the dingy side, but we get our own room! We headed out to get money, information and dinner. Settled for two of the three (tourist information was closed). We got dinner at a cheap cafeteria-style restaurant by the station {flunch}. I dined on a salad, cheese, bread and wine for under $5. Very nice. Madeline and I came back and talked for a while, then decided on an early night.
21 April – Wow, I wrote really big yesterday. And I through I was getting better about that… After a nice, though not terribly restful night, Madeline and I struck out to see Nice. The day was sunny, albeit on the chilly side (found out later the high was only going to be 50°F). After a brief stop at tourist information for maps, we headed for the sea and a market that was somewhere nearby. After a walk, we found both. I bought strawberries and a baguette for lunch, as did Madeline. We took our goodies to the beach wall and ate there. The sea was a gorgeous turquoise teal. The beach itself is nothing more than small, smooth pebbles and stones. Not very conducive to castle-building. We heard so many languages being spoken on the path behind us. After eating, we decided to climb up a nearby hill for some nice views. I guess we’re just sick like that. Climbing up, up, up did give us great views over the city. At the top, I bought a few postcards. We walked back down past castle ruins and Greek mosaics towards the sea. We both wanted our picture taken with our feet in the water. Not an easy task because of the damn rocks. We walked back towards the train station and our hotel to find an internet café. We spent a half hour emailing there, the I took off back to the hotel while Madeline got train information. We came back, read and relaxed. There isn’t too much here to hold your attention if it’s too cold to sunbathe, your feet hurt too much to walk or you’re too cheap to go shopping. But it definitely is restful for those reasons. Madeline and I went to eat again at flunch. We imbibed four glasses of wine each there, which made us a bit happy. Stayed in at the hotel tonight. Nothing to do anyway.
22 April – Wow, today was Madeline and my last day traveling together. We got up earlyish to get breakfast from the market and to catch the bus to Monaco. Bought lovely raspberries, bananas and bread. Because of a semi-marathon in town, we had to walk to the port to get the bus. It was a nice sunny day, a little warmer than yesterday. The bus ride to Monaco was nice – fewer tunnels. We were dropped off, then made our way uphill to the palace. I bought a stamp for a postcard, then we watched (after a wait) the changing of the guard. Note to self: they are all lame! We walked over to the cathedral where we caught an American school choir performing. Listened to that for a bit, but it kept us from seeing where Princess Grace is buried. We walked on a little more, admiring the views, before heading back downhill. I walked along some of the street the F1 drivers race on. We bought some ice cream on the walk up to the Monte Carlo Casino. I couldn’t go in because I’m barely underage, but we just took a few pictures anyway. We walked a little further to the Japanese gardens, which was lovely, before deciding to go back – good thing, because my feet were killing me. I have a bunch of blisters. The Tevas are being packed away now. Quiet drive back. Dan came by and surprised us as we were relaxing in the hotel room. I tried to call home to no avail, so we all went out to dinner at flunch. For the third straight evening, I had salad, cheese, bread, wine and dessert. I love flunch. I shall miss it. After dinner, I called home again, and talked for a long time with the whole family. It was lovely. Afterwards, headed back to the hotel to get ready to travel tomorrow.
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| Monaco |
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| Changing of the guard in Monaco |
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| Cara in a Japanese Garden in Monaco |
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| flunch! |
{transcribed 2/17/2020}
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