Southern France

 

Leaving Pisa was the best moment from Eurotour. After leaving Pisa, everyone on the bus passed out. After driving for a few hours, I woke up to see this view welcoming me into France. Driving into France was beautiful. You literally drive through mountains. If you are not in a tunnel, then you are driving over a bridge, 100 or more feet above the ground over canyons and small seaside towns. To put it simply, France is beautiful, and I understand now why so many people love it.

Monaco


Monaco was our first stop in France, but we

actually stayed in Nice(Monaco is really a microstate like the Vatican, so that techniclly we weren't in France.) Monaco was nice. We got there a week before the formula one races, and we were able to see/walk through, the construction of the stands in the harbor and the yachts starting to enter the marina. One of our stops in Monaco was the Monte Carlo, a famous casino, for those who didn't know. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to go in.

 Monaco, like I have heard, was filled with luxury cars. If you drove an entry level BMW, Mercedes, or Audi, then you looked poor. On the contrary, The law of Monaco is that you must net at least a million US Dollars to be able to live there. To be honest, Monaco is only a marina with condo buildings. I liked Nice a lot better.

Nice



I am not sure if anyone else had ever played Driver 3, but I was excited for Nice because it was a map in the game, and I felt like I knew the city already.

After our half day in Monaco, we went to the beach. Unfortunately, by time in the day, the weather had become colder and rained for the last five minutes of our beach break. Unlike the sandy beaches I had become accustom to, the beaches in Nice are made out of stones, which are Surprisingly comfortable. I did try the water, but because it was early April, it was freezing. The airport for nice is located at the end of the beach, so that the planes would fly over on their way to land. (see picture below)

One the next morning, we started out by going to the marina in Nice, and looking at the yachts. I never thought to take pictures of the yachts while I was there, but they were some nice boats. After reaching the other side of the marina, we walked up the highest point in Nice for a nice view of the city. That day would have been a better beach day.

After climbing down the other side on the hill, we visited the old part of the city. The brightly colored buildings made think we were somewhere tropical. The old city in Nice really help me realize that Nice was one of my favorite cities from Eurotour. I would definitely be back in Nice during some point of my life.

 Avignon

After Nice, we drove a couple hours north to Avignon. In Avignon, we stayed across the river from the city, in a campsite hostel. On the first night in Avignon, I had the best dinner from Eurotour. It was a Cuttlefish served over a bed of pesto green beans with a mushroom rice.

On the first day, It was Easter, and everything was closed except for Mcdonalds and a coffee shop. The dog was my friend from that coffee shop. I wish I wasn't in Avignon during Easter because there was not much to do, and I am sure Avignon could have been more interesting.

After seeing a little of the city, we went to an aqueduct a few miles out of the city. They gave us a chance to go swimming in the river underneath the aqueduct, but instead I took a two hour nap on the second cliff in the picture to the left. I would to visit the napping spot again some day.

Italy in a Week in a Post!

The welcoming views made me know that Italy was a place I would like. Look at the Alps. (these are still Austrian, but that is where we drove.)

Driving into Italy with the Alps literally coming to the shoulder of the highway (or the highway being carved into the side of the Alps) was really cool. It looked like we were on a tropical island with the palm trees climbing the mountains, and the rocky cliffs are something you would not find on the Rockies.

Padua

Our first city in Italy was Padua, a small city about a half hour inland from Venice. Padua was a nice, and not really touristy, which is hard to find in Italy. We were only there for one night, and on the first night I got my first italian pizza and most likely the best pizza on Eurotour. When we asked for a good pizza place from a local, she said, "Oktoberfest." I thought she was joking around with us because we are german exchange students, but down the street there was Oktoberfest. We went to the restaurant across the street. The weather in Italy was perfect. On the first night, after getting pizza, we walked around the city in shorts and t-shirts. I only know Padua at night, and Padua at night is a quiet, sleepy little town. We found a dive bar, where the owner was so cool, that he gave us a free can of Pringles. Below is a picture of the main square buildings in Padua.

Venice 

Venice is one of the biggest tourist traps I have ever been too, and I have been to Disney World a few times. Things are also overpriced on Venice because everything must be imported from the mainland. I liked all the boats in Venice. It made miss mine a little bit. One thing I liked about Venice, is that it smelled like the sea. Later in the day we went to the island 

of Lido because Rotex gave us day passes on the boats in venice, that they use as public transport. Lido is an outer island with streets and cars. It was also cheaper. Lido would be my destination, if I ever went back. Venice is nice, but I  I am glad I saw it now, so that I don't have to go back. Oh, people in Venice are always conveniently doing Laundry.

Rome

We arrived in Rome on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. Our Hostel in Rome, were cabins in a campsite in the middle of the city. I would definitely stay in those again because they were really nice cabins.     

             

   

The next day was Palm Sunday, and Rotex decided it would be a great idea to make us get up early and go to Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican. Tickets are free. A block from the Vatican, between the train station and the Vatican, we saw a couple blown up cars. By the way, Italians can not drive. It was cool to say I saw the Pope, but a three hour mass in the sun and in Italian (even though the Pope is from Germany. Couldn't he speak German.), while the city of rome goes on behind you, it was a little long, and a few people (half our group, including Rotex, were passed out in the crowd.)

After the Vatican, we walked around the city. Rome is beautiful, but there are too many tourist (Americans.) No offense but we have to loudest and sometimes embarrassing tourists in the world. On that day, we pretty much walked through the whole city. The Vatican to the Colosseum. The Colosseum was interesting but way too expensive. I would not recommend going inside, save your money for wine or something. By the way, wine is cheaper than beer in both Italy and France.

On the second day, we went to the Vatican museum and saw the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is really the only thing worth seeing. The museum itself was crowded, hot, and smelly. Free time was the best time during Eurotour because we could leave rotex and go out on our own into "real" parts of the city to see none tourist attractions and not have to pay for overpriced things. After getting out of the museum, we walked a little ways out of the tourist area, around the outer walls of the Vatican, to a cafe and drank an expresso in a sidewalk cafe, while watching the normal, everyday life of the native people go by. One of the nicer times in rome. 

After that, we got even more free time. This time, we walked up to one of the highest points in italy, about 45 minutes from the Vatican to get an amazing view of the city and have a relaxing time away from the giant group. For dinner that evening, we went to a restaurant by the spanish stairs, and I had a great lasagna. 

Florence

Florence was nice, but I think I liked Rome better. On the first night, I tried to do laundry. The whole time, the girls would laugh at the guys because none of us had a clue. I had a general idea, but apparently that wasn't good enough.

There wasn't much to do in Florence, and we just walked around and saw different important places. That night we went to a bar, and that was my favorite part of Florence. There was this DJ, at least 50, and he played cool 60's-70's music.

Pisa

After our day in Florence, we went to Pisa on our way to Nice, France. Pisa is probably my least favorite city in the world. All over Italy, there are African immigrants, most likely illegal, trying to cell you counterfeit or stolen merchandise. As we arrived in Pisa, our bus was surrounded by the "Gypsies." They followed us the entire way to the tower. The tower is also the only thing to see in Pisa, other than that, the town isn't that nice. And to climb the tower, it will cost you 15 euros. I thought that wasn't worth it.