We took an overnight 15 hour bus ride from San Sebastian to Nice because well why not? We also thought, we'll have enough room because who would really want to take a 15 hour bus ride? Well apparently everyone and their mother plus some smelly old men. The bus was on its way from Portugal so we were actually its last stop before reaching Nice. Ie, seats were slim pickings. Brittany and Hailey's seat buddies included stinky old man and demin guy. Once we all woke up around 8am I started talking to the girl next to me and she turned out to be legitimately awesome. We talked about philosophy, metaphysics, black holes, various theories. She had worked in agriculture so she was especially interested in organic agriculture. She was from Nice so our entire first day there we went to places she suggested. On our travels through Nice I attempted to speak French but automatically switched to a Spanish accent when speaking a foreign language. The locals appreciated it though and my attempt got a pity laugh. Sights: Palais de Justice, port, Girabaldi Square, Plaz de Mezzina. One thing I kept noticing: there are windows everywhere! All the building have a ridiculous amount of windows all equipped with shutters and the works.
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| What did I tell you? Windows everywhere! |
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| Chairs facing toward the sidewalk |
The pebble beaches were a must sea (pun intended). However pretty they are, their comfort level is lacking. They are not the back massage you're looking for but if you wiggle around enough and then don't move, it can be relatively comfortable.
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| That's Brittany in the water |
On our walk back we spied on a Frenchmen spear fishing which was pretty interesting. That night we hung out at our hostel and split a bottle of wine between some Italians we met. Did we want to pay more money for a club? Nope. For a bar? Nah. We decided to explore the beach at night with all the other tourists that wanted to see the beach at night. It is often said that Europe is dangerous however most of that crime is petty and let me tell you, those European robbers can be sneaky. I had gotten my iPhone stolen and though Brittany was careful, she was too trusting of the world and was not touching her purse at all times. We recovered the purse in a nearby trashcan but the iPhone was probably already being sold on the black-market, one that contains only stolen iPhone's from US tourists. While there's a lot of petty crime, I didn't feel in danger while I was there because those things are just material. In the US you worry more about armed robbery and violent acts so in a way this "more dangerous" place, where its almost impossible for a citizen to obtain a gun, was a little more relaxing.
We went to Monaco, which is a small town but technically its own country. It is a country of EXORBITANT wealth, costing a million dollars just to become a citizen BUT once a citizen you have no taxes. At least, that was my understanding. Driving anything less than a Ferrari or Rolls Royce would immediately classify you as a tourist but it's such a spot to see, I doubt that half the people there lived there. There were parks landscaped to pristine quality (no stepping on the grass of course), privately owned yahts the size of small cruise ships, and top tiered dresses fancier than mine at prom worn by the citizens as normal dining attire. We tried our luck at the casino and boy did our karma turn around! Combined, Brittany and I won around 40 euros and we were giddy as anything. Something about winning money at a Dirty Dancing themed slot machine just gets you excited.
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| Outside the casino. Inside pics were prohibited |
Hailey left us after Nice but the adventures of Brittany and me continued in Venice!
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