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Published: September 6th 2007
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Nice
View from the Chateau in Nice Hey guys, since we last left you Ange and I have started Busabout and therefore, have been in four countries in the space of a week - Italy, France, Monaco and Spain.
Nice Our first bus was from the Cinque Terre in Italy to the city of Nice on the French Rivieira (Cote D'Azur). It was really good to finally be out of Italy and we loved what we saw in France. However, many of the Busabout people disliked Nice because the Busabout accomodation was right across from the train station in a dodgy area. We stayed in a really good hotel which was really close to the beach and on the same street as the boutique shops Louis Vutton and Chanel (Ange was very impressed lol). We were looked after by a cute French lady called Martine who gave us cushions for the beach (which we definitely needed as the beach was full of huge rocks) and advice on bakeries and restaurants. I really enjoyed going to the bakery in the mornings to get chocolate croissants or brioches but soon wished I could speak more French. People in Nice refused to speak English which was a nice change
Nice
Hotel Negresco from Italy were the locals would always ignore my attempts to speak Italian by responding in English.
We spent our first day exploring Vieux Nice (the Old Town), the markets and strolling along the Promenade des Anglais. In the afternoon we caught the train to Cannes where we kept an eye out for celebrities but were unlucky. We saw where the annual film festival is held (looks different in the Mr Bean movie) and gazed at the many fancy hotels and boutiques. Unfortunately, when we got back to our hotel the power was off. We had planned to cook dinner that night so we waitied for the power to come back on (I got drunk on Jagermesiter and the French vesion of Red Bull called Wild Dog while waiting). We ended up eating McDonalds and even brought back a Big Mac for Martine.
The next day we went for another swim and tried some of the delicacies of Nice - Socca (chickpea pancake) and Nicoise Salad. We had planned to go to a couple of museums but being a Monday, they were closed (we will NEVER make the same mistake again lol). In the afternoon we went to
Nice
Promenade des Anglais Monaco - saw the Cathedral, the Royal Palace and most importantly the Monte Carlo Casino. Unfortunately, we could not go in as I was wearing boardies and thongs (dont know what I was thinking...at least we saved ourselves 10 euros each).
Avignon We then caught a bus to the French medieval town of Avignon. It was a beautiful walled place but was not very exciting. However, it was really good to have a couple days rest. Avignon is famous for its bridge which is in a well known French childrens song (we still haven't heard it even after asking locals about it).
We shared a dorm room with a couple of Busabout people and spent most of our time with them. The hostel was pretty crap to be honest with you ... no sheets, nor locks and it had lockout from 2 to 5pm which was right during French siesta time (meaning we had to sleep in a park as nothing was open). The hostel was even likened to Aushwitz by a German guy staying there...this probably gives you all a good impression of how it was. A highlight for us was having dinner in a Chienese
Nice
View from our balcony in Nice restuarant.
Barcelona Lastly we have been to Barcelona (one of the coolest cities I have ever been too) and we wished we stayed longer there. We had such a good time in Barcelona...the city had a really good vibe to it and did not stop. Barcelona had really good nightlife and we really enjoyed walking down Las Ramblas, which is a pedestrian-only boulevard that goes down to the sea. It was full of street performers, animals, shops and restuarants.
We crammed a lot in our time in Barcelona. We went up the Christopher Columbus Monument, saw La Sagrada Familia (im pretty sure we should have listened to Chad and not wasted our money on going in - it was full of scafolding...but at least we got student tickets), the Cathedral, the Gothic Quarter, Parc Guell and did heaps of shopping. There were so many souvenir shops and a huge department chain called Le Corte Ingles. We also went to a really good Spanish cooking class organised by Busabout. We learnt how to cook Gazpacho (cold vegetable soup - which is pretty feral), Tapas and Paella. The best part of the night was definitely the UNLIMITED SANGRIA we
Cannes
On the red carpet could make which we could put as much brandy and wine as we wanted. It was such a good night!!!!! We have decided to have a spanish party when we get home so make sure you hold us to that.
We then caught a bus to Valencia which is further down on the Spanish coast. We had planned to spend a couple of nights there and even had booked a hostel. However, we had a change of plans and decided to spend more time in Granada. Therefore, we just spent the day in Valencia and caught the overnight bus (which left at 11pm) to Granada. We are currently in Granada and loving it. We only came here to visit Ange's cousin but we are so glad we did because it is such a cool place. Will let you know all about it in the next blog. Miss you all incredibly!!!!!!!!!!
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Represent on trying to get into one the world's most famous casinos in boardies and thongs!
Im definitely up for a Sangria party! You better organise one, and then actually invite me. Sangria is so cool. I (vaguely) remember in Barca how some friends and I just sat down, right in the middle of Place Catalunya, and drank those cheap cartons of Sangria that you can buy shops. It was heaps fun! But I dont know about this "Wild Dog" thing that you're getting into. Oh yeah, and i really like that first photo of the view of Nice - i rated it 4/5 stars! :)