Go, Speed Racer!

Dear Reader,

Hopefully this blog post will FINALLY put me up to date with the chain of events. This weekend has been very eventful. There was a large group of students that went on a ski trip, and some of the UF and AU students that didn't go skiing all hung out and went traveling. Friday was Nice, Saturday was Monaco.

Nice was drop dead gorgeous. I have grown up going to the Jersey shore and I forgot that water is supposed to be the color blue that it is here. The views are insane, everything looks like a postcard, and just walking around was a blast. The bus ride there was about an hour, and when we got off the bus it smelled like funnel cake and we walk into the main square and theres a giant ferris wheel and carnival stuff!

 Chris and I decided to check out whatever smelled so good and we found this awesome stand called "Picnic". Turns out that the delicious wafting smell was churros! But definitely the French version. and they made them fresh and hot right there with nutella for you to dip them in. It was like heaven in my mouth.

 We basically mosied around in true French style for a good couple hours. We passed by Orange trees growing and we peer pressured Chris into jumping off of a bench in order to get some. In the end they weren't ripe but I still tried them anyway because he hurt his foot in the effort and I felt bad. Here's the group of us in the plaza:

From left to right: me, Chris, Maria, Marissa, Matt, and Rainer

There were some gorgeous views of the beach and many, many enormous yachts. I'd never seen so many awesome boats in my life.

 

To end we went back to the main plaza and some of the stores to look around. The views and lighting were incredible. Marissa and I were the only people who made purchases. She bought a Longchamps bag for something around 70 euros. I got a bright orange grocery bag with the phrase "toujours avec le sourire" (always with a smile) for 2.50. I think I got the better deal, but I've never been one to spend a lot of money either.

This is my favorite picture from Nice. It's of the main square with everything lit up at night.

When we got back that night Chris and Matt came back to our apartment and we had a few drinks and then decided to go out to this club called Equinox. While on other nights this is apparently a hoppin joint, on Friday it was basically dead. There were 10 people there and they were all at least 30. And then we met "speed racer", who was an actual hooker. And may have at one point be a man. Basically she wore almost no clothing and danced on a pole, and that really is a pretty good summation. We all laughed at her (shim?) and danced around. Overall a mildly awkward but still entertaining evening. 

Saturday we went to Monaco. We got on the train, which was very nice and took about an hour. When we got off, the view looked like this. Monaco is basically all cliffs, hills, and TONS of money. 

These are the cars in front of the casino. Monte Carlo had some of the most opulent displays of sheer wealth I've ever seen.

The palace in Monte Carlo

Me sitting on a cannon with the view from the palace

 The cathedral by the palace. Absolutely amazing.

 The walk back down from the castle looked like this. The water here is clear and stunning. I know that I was sad to leave home, but leaving this place is going to be difficult too.

My second week of school starts tomorrow! It should be an interesting adventure. At least, I hope so. I'm trying to plan out some different trips by talking to different relatives and seeing where it would be the least expensive for me to stay. I think Friday I might go back to Nice, but my next long trip is definitely Paris! 

Bon Soiree!

Alexa