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Trevi
At the gorgeous Trevi Fountain in Rome - make sure you throw in coins for luck & love!Firstly I appologise for the large gap between blogs...it has been a fairly full-on past few days with A LOT happening!
We left Switzerland bound for Nice on the south coast of France, smack bang in the middle of the French Riviera, or Cote D'Azur, as the locals call it. We had to pass through Italy (close to Milan) to get down there and, what an experience! The service station sold guns, knives and lots of nasty weapons in general; as well as having to pay €0.50 (AUD$0.85) to use their feral toilets 😞 But at least the small snacks of paninis and pasta you have everywhere in Italy are absolutely amazing which makes up for their apparent lack in hygiene...
Finally we arrived in the BEAUTIFUL French Riviera, home to the rich and famous. It is a very sophisticated place filled with fresh-flower stalls and lots of fresh produce, not to mention fabulous shopping. The highlight of this great spot would have to have been the beach...depsite it's large-pebbled shore it was suprisingly comfortable and the cool water made the 32° day bareable. My friend/roomate Michelle and I had savory crépés for lunch which were delicious! So delicious
Nightlife in Nice
On our way out for drinks in Nice, in the south of France. in fact that the following night we went back for sucre crépés (sweet, with Nutella and Banana!).
The first day in Nice we arrived in the early evening and only had time to grab a quick dinner before heading to one of the many local pubs on the waterfront. Cocktails here were €12 (about AUD$20) each but a social must in this classy town. After the pub, we went to one of the best nightclubs in the city called 'Guest' - which OPENS at 1:30am and is off the marina - it was €18 (AUD$30) entry and drinks started at €15...needless to say it was water for me for the rest of the night 😊 It was amazing to witness the cultural differences and how older men outnumber the young by about 8 to 1 - it shows how much money their is in the area. It was a girls birthday and her 'sugar daddy' bought her three bottles of Moet champage which she proceeded to shake and spray all over the crowd on the dancefloor - which happened to be us...and at €130 a bottle I guess she thought it was a nice way to blow AUD$670 worth
Beach in Nice
The gorgeous white pebble shores of Nice. of alcohol!
The second night in Nice was spent in the nearby country of Monaco...previous home to the famous Prince Rainer and his wife Grace Kelly (about 20mins away). Even more famous for it's grand casinos and exotic cars, Monaco was everything I expected and more - by far the most lavish destination so far! For €10 we entered the renowned 'Monte Carlo' casino where almost everyone was wearing Armani suits and Chanel dresses. I braved playing a Roulette table with a €5 minimum bet. With the man beside me sitting down and divvying a €5000 rectangular chip (AUD$8500) into smaller €50 chips, I was a 'little' intimidated 😊 Nevertheless, after a few spins my lucky number 47 split into bets on the single numbers 4 & 7 came up trumps with the number 7 coming up! I walked out €100 (AUD$170) richer and very excited to have had very rich people cheering me on - suprise suprise they were actually really friendly!
After Nice it was time to head to Florence, the leather and gold capital of Italy. Also known for it's famous artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelango, the famousworld-renowned Statue of David resides
Monaco
The very luxurious port of Monaco. in it's Acadamia Museum. After a busy and hot previous two days, it was good to take Florence at a slow pace - however, that was not possible with our bus leaving for Rome at 1pm the day after we arrived in the late evening. After a walking tour we had about 1.5 hours to explore and shop. After snagging myself the perfect black leather jacket at a prestigious Florentine leather factory, I headed to lunch and then to the AMAZING jewellry shopping...but in all of my rushing I felt light headed and stopped at a café for a bottle of water, where unfortunately I fainted and blacked out for 20 minutes. Luckily the nona that ran the café looked after me and finally managed to wake me up...I almost missed the bus too with the driver having to come and find me at 1:30! We think it was just dehydration, mixed with the general strain of the trip and a cold that's going around on the bus 😞 I am feeling much better now though so no one worry!! I'm drinking about 3L of water a day now 😊
That afternoon, after my incident, it was off to
Monte Carlo Casino
The display of wealth outside one of the world's most famous casinos. ROMA! We were all very excited and couldn't wait for the 3 hour walking tour in the afternoon sunset. We visited the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Roman Forum and the massive Colloseum - plus many more. The traffic is a mess in Rome, no one stops for pedestrians and you have to 'dominate the road' when you finally decide to walk across it! There a lot of people trying to con you into buying junk and it's a very crowded place. Aside from that, the history is mindblowing! That night it was back to dinner at the hotel and then out to karaoke just down the street from our hotel...I chose not to drink and have an early night at around 11, but the karaoke was lots of fun!
The next day in Rome (today) most people went on a tour of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City which didn't interest me so I parted from the group, got off the local bus we were all on and headed to the train station. After a few moments I realised my front zip was open on my bag in front of my body and my wallet stolen...and on a
No Fakes
It's illegal to purchase 'fakes' in Italy - you've been warned! :) public bus in an outer suburb! I lost about $500AUD of cash and three cards. Thank god I still had my passport though! After a trip to the police station to make a report (and a call to Mum & Dad who cancelled my cards) I went back to my hotel and braved the scary-Roma again!!
This time I headed to withdraw money from my back-up cards that were in my suitcase. I had a lovely lunch of Quattro-Fromagi Gnocchi (4-cheese Gnocci) and some berry Gelato afterwards for good measure! I met up with a friend, to combine what little braveness we had, and decided to head to the Colloseum. We skipped the 40 minute lines by spending a few € extra and headed in for the most amazing sight...it is so huge! After studying Ancient History for so long at school I can tell you no pictures do it justice!! After that memorable visit, we went to head back to the hotel but I decided that I needed some retail therapy 😊 A purchase of a new mini-wallet and pair of fuchia leather gloves later and I was good to head to this little internet café, where our
Collosseum
It is so grande and such a special place to visit in Rome. story unfortunately ends - for me let's hope that IS where it ends and I have a safer remainder of my trip!
Tomorrow we head to Venice, where we also pick up 10 new people on our tour, which should make it interesting! After Venice it's to a relaxing 3 days on the beaches of the Croatian island of Pag...I cannot wait!!
Talk soon everyone!! Don't stress about me, I'm right as rain 😊 xx Missing you all!
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