Genoa and Monte Carlo
Wandering Around in Genoa
We got lunch in Genoa- not much to see, but we ran across a really cute, quaint restaurant.
Monte Carlo
Wandering around Monte Carlo, counting expensive cars during the off-season vacation time, and getting dinner.
Casino de Monte Carlo
Interesting experience at the casino- we played the slot machines, blackjack, and roulette at a net loss of 70 Euros, including a 20 Euro admission. My first time gambling!
Hotel Eden
We went to our hotel afterwards to go to sleep.
Wandering Around in Genoa
Today, we headed out from our fantastic hotel outside of Genoa. It was a beautiful day outside, and we had an amazing view of the ocean from our hotel room. Evan and I were both rather sad we weren’t there longer. It was also one of the least expensive hotels on our list. We left for lunch in Genoa. There was a restaurant the front desk of the hotel found, but it was extraordinarily hard to find parking. We came across a car park that was quite far from the restaurant, so we decided to park there and find a different restaurant. Outside the car park was Piazza del Dante, completely filled with mopeds. It was rater interesting to wade through them. Evan and I wandered around a bit, past some medieval gates and supposedly Christopher Columbus’s house… and down through another piazza. We saw a sign for a restaurant, which was through some narrow alleys which were quaintly brick-laid. Then we saw charming red and yellow tables with white umbrellas. We ate lunch at here, at the Ristorante Al Teatro di Campopisano, whose website apparently is www.campopisano.com. Evan got a flat-noodle dish with tomatoes, greens and olive oil. I got a penne with tomato sauce, and we also got a curry chicken with potatoes and salad. It was all very good, but we were pretty stuffed. I was still craving something chocolate or a cannoli (we didn’t find any in Florence). We passed by a pastry shop on the way out, and I got a chocolate cake. She wrapped it up and gave it to us, but we were still missing forks. So on the way back to the car, we found a bar that gave us a plastic fork. Since it was a gorgeous day outside we put down the top of the car and loaded the luggage in the back seat. During our journey to Monte Carlo, we changed driving quite a few times. I was rather grumpy because the chocolate cake spilled a bit (we got off at a nearby exit and hopefully cleaned all of it out). It was rather dry, like most cakes in the area. It looked really moist and the frosting was rather good; I was a bit disappointed anyways. I’m looking forward to good food in France (especially the bread)!
Monte Carlo
It took us a long time to finally find parking in Monte Carlo and we wandered around a bit. We were still early for dinner, so we walked through a rather high-end mall. Evan and I got a really yummy gelato- peach (my new favorite) and strawberry. Unbelievably good, although Evan pointed out it was probably because I was actually in the mood for gelato. We also went by the casino and the Hotel de Paris, which are intimidating and gorgeous beyond any other building I’ve seen. The hotel had bellhops and door openers in crisp uniforms with white gloves. Evan says the cheapest room there is 500 Euros a night. In front were lots of high-end cars… our total of high-end cars by the end of the day: 2 Lamborghinis, greater than 15 Bentleys (we lost count), at least 10 Ferraris, a Rolls-Royce, and the half-a-million-dollar version of the Mercedes SLK. We were a few magnitudes of class lower than these people. We then went to look for dinner, which would prove to be a bit challenging. They were all a bit expensive, but Evan and I decided to splurge a bit. There weren’t going to be any “affordable†dinners anywhere nearby, but we found a relatively “cheap†place. We were a bit early for the place so we went to a nearby park. We started talking about etiquette in France because there were a bunch of rules before setting foot into the park. I was sunburned the past few days and my skin was rather dry and peeling off, so I was picking at it. During the whole day, Evan would admonish me to stop picking my face in the car, and remind me I was in a French institution. Anyways, among other things we talked about were the small dogs that people in France chose to have as companions, the unfortunate puppy mills and unstable “teacup†poodle breed. We then headed back to the restaurant, where I got spaghetti with clams and Evan got a really delicious salmon dish.
Casino de Monte-Carlo
Evan then convinced me to go into the casino, which we were rather underdressed for, but we went in a bit earlier before more high-rollers got in. This was the first time I have ever gambled- I have never bought a lottery ticket or a scratch card. The minimum for blackjack was 25 Euros, and roulette was 5 Euros. I was rather terrified of this place, even though it was rather small in comparison to most casinos. Evan suggested I play slots, so I exchanged some money for 50-cent Euros. It is terribly boring, and I spent 20 Euros just for shits and giggles… mostly grand boredom. I got 4 Euros back from the entire thing, which I played anyways. I can’t understand how people could sit there and spin or push buttons. It’s quite ridiculous actually. So I had 20 Euros that I couldn’t bear to go to slot machines, and gave to Evan to use at blackjack. Midway through our stay at the blackjack table, a lady lost a couple hundred Euros, and then she pulled out her purse and threw down four 500 Euro bills- 2 grand of pure cash. She probably was playing for quite a while. The money that we were playing with could only last four losing hands of blackjack. We were rather lucky and able to stay around for a little bit. Evan got blackjack once, and right after that we left the blackjack table, and then went to roulette. I’ve never played roulette before, and it was mildly entertaining. The only thing I got out of going to the casino was the interesting people-watching. I’m definitely not the casino type, which is rather good to know. Our net loss was 70 Euros, including our 20 Euro admission. I suppose you don’t go in, expecting to win. You go in to entertain yourself- I’m more inclined to go to a movie instead… but I suppose I wouldn’t ever go to Monte Carlo’s casino again. As we walked out, a crowd of gorgeous trophy girls with young gambling guys were about to come in. There was the gorgeous Mercedes SLK right outside, front and center. It was rather strange seeing a Volkswagen just a few parking spots down.
Hotel Eden
Then we walked back to the car, driving to our hotel about half an hour away. It was in a sort of sketchy area, but the staff at the hotel was really nice. They carried our bags up the stairs because there wasn’t a lift. Evan and I were completely exhausted after this amazing day, so we went to sleep.