We took 2 hours of bus to Monaco today and was out basically from 7:00-21:00. What a loooooong day of non-stop walking. At least now there is internet at home so I can serve my posts hot 😉

 

There is actually more to Monaco than Monte Carlo. We toured around the old town, the cathedral, the Palace (unfortunately not open during these cold months), the car collection of a Prince (!!!!!) , stamp and coins museum, Napoleon Museum and 3 churches. OH and we also went to Le Casino for the first time in my life. Good that the age requirement is 18 😉

Monaco is actually not that different from France. It is basically (France – dog poo + more English speaking people + many Ferraris + 3-deck-yachts)/300,000.

We walked a long way uphill to the Palace, to watch the guards change ceremony. Unfortunately the guards did not really allow us to take photos with him. On the other hand, police here are really nice (and good looking! 😉

There were strange big birds surrounding us begging for food the whole time…but we are just poor students so there is no way we are sharing food with them.

We wandered into a Napoleon Museum with interesting bits and pieces from hundreds of years ago. The coins and stamps museum was ok interesting although I did not understand why so many of the stamps of Monaco featured people without clothes.

Then we went to 3 different churches that varies in color and size. It was a peaceful experience. The big one is where Princess Grace Kelly was buried. There were photos of her all over the “country”.

Then we went to my favorite place of today: Private Car Collection display of a Prince! There were really old Sherlock Holmes kind of motorcars and also awesome cars like old Lotus,Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari, RollsRoyce, Benz, and hybrid Lexus etc.

 

They were beautiful to look at. I mean my largest collection is probably candy wrappers when I was young until someone (probably mom) secretly tossed it away 😦 for fear of breeding cockroaches But this guy has hundred of cars just for himself!

Then we went to visit the famous Hotel de Paris which was really glamorous.

But it is nothing compared to Le Casino! The entrance was surrounded by luxurious cars. I lost count after seeing the 4th Red Ferrari, 3rd Porsche, 2nd Bentley and 3rd RollsRoyce… Then we got into the Casino after being checked 😀 of course they could not believe this young lady in front of him is older than 18. Once we stepped in, everywhere I looked was Gold, Shiny things, Flashing lights, and MORE gold.

Then it is time to head home because it would take another 2 hours. We almost got lost in Nice. But thanks to a traveller’s best friend: LEGS – we ran and caught the bus twice today.

Sometimes I don’t understand why we are exhausted everyday; then I realized if I want to see more, that is the only way to do it. Exhausting but fulfilling.

Finally the first free day tomorrow with nothing planned at all (ok well may be we need milk, eggs and fruits… but we won’t die without it 😉

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