Nice in Nice

 

Hello Blog People, 

    Well I have officially gone to two more countries after my travels. I had such a great time with my two friends Ainsley and Clarissa as we traveled to Nice, France and Monaco. Of course there were some adventures along the way and I cannot wait to tell you about them and the amazing things we saw. 

    We on a Thursday as soon as we finished our lunch. We packed our bags the day before and grabbed them during a break so we were ready to get on our way. We caught the tram and rode it all the way to the airport. That's the nice thing about public transportation in Florence; it makes traveling and gettin to the airport very easy. We didn't have any problems going through security and soon we were on our first flight to Rome. 

    When we were planning our trip, we debated the best was to go to Nice. It's not really that far from Italy, or even Florence. But there were a lot of options: bus, train, plane, or a combo. We decided that since some of them were close to the same price, we would just fly from Florence to Rome and then Rome to Nice. Our flight was short and easy to Rome and after a short layover we were on our way to Nice. 

       As soon as we got to Nice, we took the tram to our Air B&B. The only problem was the the first ticket from the airport to anywhere on the tram was 10 euros, which was RIDICULOUS! A total rip off because a single ride at any other stop was 1.70 euros. But we paid it cause we had to and got on the tram. The next thing we noticed was how nice the Nice tram was compared to Florence. It was cleaner and the sounds were more gentle. It even played little songs when it came up to different stops. We were shocked. The trams in Italy are bad, but they aren't great in comparison to the ones in Nice. We rode it for a little bit and got off at the stop near our Air B&B. When choosing where to stay, we made sure to check how close it was to the city's public transportation. This Air B&B was perfect because it was close to a tram stop AND the sea. Win win!

    We stoped at a little convenient store on the way and got a few snacks for our girl dinner. We got to the house and it was so cute. It was small, but it worked for the three of us. The bottom floor had a kitchen with a table and a bathroom and closet. Then there was a loft that could be reached by a ladder that had the bed, 2 mini sofa beds/couches, and a TV. Not much to it, but it had what we needed and felt like a good home base. We spent the night eating snack and watching French dubbed American reality shows, one specifically called "Help! I'm in a Secret Relationship!". It was funny because we had no idea what was happening, but the show was so dramatic that we didn't really have a chance to figure out what was actually happening. It was honestly very confusing. We also realized in this time we barely knew any French, and really didn't know how to respond to simple phrases like "merci". I feel like I should know this, but when someone says it to you and you have the moment of panic and don't say anything, the next best option is to nod in appreciation and quickly walk away. That happened a few times. 

    The next day, Friday, was our designated Nice day. We got up in the morning and had a slow morning in the house. We stopped at a bakery for breakfast and I had my first French croissant. It was good. Kinda what I expected from a French croissant. Then we headed off to Old Town to see some pretty buildings. We wandered around for a bit and then walked to a daily market. It was the Cutest thing I had seen in a long time. There were tons of vendors selling teas, spices, produce, baked goods, and flowers! We walked through the whole thing and ended up buying a few things. I bought a macaroon and a little basket of raspberries. (Oh my gosh the macaroon was SO good! It was raspberry flavored and I wished it was bigger. It was delicious). After looking at all the good we walked to the sea. It was really close and absolutely beautiful. We ate our goods sitting on the rocks in the sun and while watching the water. It was perfect. After we finished our little snacks, we walked along the promenade to a little #ILoveNice statue. After we climbed up a hill and saw a panoramic view of Nice and it was beautiful. I continued up the hill a bit and found a great little park with an old castle and a great look out onto Nice and Port Lympia. It was beautiful and I felt at peace. 

    There was just something about Nice that reminded me of home. As we left the Air B&B that morning I noticed that one of the views, looking back at the palm trees and the way the water came up to a large sidewalk with people running and biking, really reminded me of Madison. I expected to turn my head to the left and see the capital, but instead I saw a bunch of French buildings and people. Then at the park , the weather and the atmosphere and the people just reminded me of home. It was really weird, because the two places are very quite different. But there was just something about that city that made me miss home a little bit more. 

    After our I met up with the girls again we walked to Port Lympia and looked at the boats a little bit. We then took the tram back toward the Air B&B and got groceries on the way back. This is one of the best ways to save money while traveling with people. If you buy versatile groceries and plan means out with the group, you can buy a few groceries and save a lot. For 4-5 meals, it only cost us about $7 each. And the meals turned out great! We got back to the Air B&B and promptly took a nap. That was the beautiful thing about this trip: it wasn't super fast paced and packed full of things to do. Nice had enough to do so it wasn't boring, but not so much that you had to cram everything into a few short days. We were able to rest and relax a little bit after a long week, and it felt great. That night we made dinner and then watched Murder Mystery with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler because part of the movie takes place in Monaco, where we were headed the next day. 

    We woke up got ready for our day. We headed to the train station...well, we ran, because we were running late. We were gonna make it, but our stupid QR codes wouldn't work and the French train station people were not helpful, and we actually watched the train pull away from the platform. That was...disappointing. But we bought another ticket and quickly made our way to Monaco. The train ride was only about 25 minutes, but it was CROWDED. A lot of people were headed to Monaco for the day I guess. 

    Once we got there, we walked straight to the Monte Carlo Casio, one of the most famous places in Monaco. It's honestly the one of the biggest reasons people go to Monaco. The second would be the F1 race that happens there. But we walked to the Monte Carlo and even the grounds are luxurious. It was honestly crazy to see so many people with such nice things just around. There were tons of designer stores around the casino. There were really nice cars like Ferraris and Rolls Royces. We did end up going into the casino building, but not the casino. It cost 18 euros just to go in, and we weren't even going to do anything. I did spend a euro to use the bathroom, so technically I spent money at the Monte Carlo. Slight flex? I don't know. 

    After we walked around the outside of the casino and took a look at the view of the port and the whole city. Most of it is on a hill, so there was a lot of downhill for some of the day and a lot of uphill the other part of the time. But the boats were magnificent. Again, it was crazy to see how luxuriously people live. Every one of the boats had to be owned by someone, and that someone had money. One of my favorite things I saw was a family get off a very big boat carrying their Louis Vuitton luggage and getting into a taxi to take them to who knows where. I just laughed and shook my head. If I could, I would live like that too. It's just funny to think that that is some people's reality.    

    After walking along the port, we bought a few souvenirs then went to find something to eat. Some of us weren't feeling well, so we hoped a smoothie would do the trick and oh my gosh it totally did. We found this AMAZING smoothie place called Seaside Juicery. If you ever find yourself in Monaco, you have to go here. It is a newer business that sells juices, smoothies, and organic sweet snacks. It has all the good things (organic, plant based, homemade, sustainable, gluten-free, etc) and was actually really really good. We each got a big fat slice of chocolate chip banana bread and a smoothie. This was one of the best smoothies that I've had while being abroad and the banana bread was absolutely delicious. We joked about buying another slice to take eon the road. And the owner, Jonathan, is a Monaco native and lived in the New York for a few years. He actually traveled to Milwaukee a few times for work. It's always nice to meet someone here who knows generally where I'm from. Anyway, highly recommend this place. It was the best and really boosted our moods and our health. We felt better after eating a little something. 

  

 Jonathan had mentioned that we should go see the Prince's Palace of Monaco. I don't know that much about the actual place (I supposed I could do a little research), and we weren't even sure we wanted to go. But Jonathan said it had a great view and he was so right. It was so cute up there, seeing different views of Monaco. And there were some little streets by the castle that were so cute. The girls and I bought matching t-shirts that are SUPER cute.    

    After walking around a little bit outside the castle we headed back to the train station. We decided to head back a little early, just cause there wasn't much else we wanted to see. We got little bit lost, but we eventually made our way. We got to see the pretty buildings of Monaco better. We headed back on the train and made it back home. (Side note: we saw a gorgeous French man on the tram and he actually talked to Clarissa which was great because usually attractive men on trams don't talk to you. We fawned over him for a little while.) We stopped at the cute bakery and got some little tarts then went back to the Air B&B. We rested for a few minutes then headed to the beach. We sat on the rocks, watching the sunset and eating our little treats (which were delicious). It was really just a perfect way to end the day. We walked along the promenade for a little bit, observing all the people on the beach and on the sidewalks, either running or taking an evening stroll. It was really peaceful and nice to just take a little walk. We made it back to the Air B&B and made dinner. We watched To All the Boys I've Loved Before, a personal favorite of mine. We then packed up a little bit in preparation for the morning. 

    Sunday morning was spent chilling and packing up. The night before we prepped the house and started packing up a little bit. Then in the morning we made our breakfast and finished packing everything up. We then walked the few minutes to the beach and sat in the sun for a while. Or as we say in Italian "prendere il sole". I dipped my feet in the water for bit and walked along the beach. It was a rock beach, so the walking was kinda painful. But all of the rocks were super round and smooth. Each one was ready to be painted if I had brought paints (For reference, I like to paint rocks, either pictures or mandalas. It's a little hobby my mom started. Sometimes we turn them into magnets and they're just so fun to paint). All of us took some pictures in our matching Monaco shirts we bought the day before. After our beach morning, we picked up our bags, closed up the Air B&B and walked along the pier for a little bit. We got acai bowls and then got on the tram and headed to the airport. We had gotten a message that our boarding time was much earlier than we were originally told, and though we weren't sure it if was for real, we got to the airport just in case. We did get there early and just hung around for a bit. 

    The getting to the airport early was the beginning of the weird little challenges (I don't want to say problems but...there were problems) that occurred on our trip back. Our flight, instead of being early, ended up getting delayed by about 20 minutes. Normally this is fine, but our layover from Rome to Florence was only an hour from landing to takeoff and we really didn't want to miss our flight. Then as we were boarding the flight from Nice to Rome, I realized my second boarding pass wasn't on my Apple Wallet. This had been a problem on the way to Nice too, but I thought we got past it this time. We did not. So now we were getting to the airport late AND I had to have someone or I myself had to print out my boarding pass. We landed in Rome and had to get on a shuttle to the airport off the tarmac. I was convinced that we were going to be late and I was stressed about it. We got to the airport with 20 minutes. But as we were running into the building, an airport worker started calling out "Florence! People going to Florence! You don't have a plane!" and we were like "WHAT!?!". We still had 20 minutes and could probably make it. But a bunch of us students followed the airport worker over to a desk where he talked to another worker. After a few minutes, he says "Follow me" and goes toward the gates. At the beginning of the corridor of gates he points to the end and says "A46. Run. They're waiting for you." And this is how Ellie runs through her first airport. Not gonna lie, this gate was far away. I was out of breath, and my backpack was having issues as I was running, so I probably looked absolutely ridiculous. We neared the gate and three workers were waiting for bus, rushing us to get out our passports and boarding passes. As soon as I got to the I told them I needed my pass printed out, which wasn't a problem at all. They understood, and I'm so grateful cause that was really stressing me out. We made it onto the place and had a semi-relaxed flight all the way back to Florence. We got back to Florence, to the tram all the way back to Villa, and made it just in time for supper. What an exciting ending to a nice relaxing trip. 

    Overall, I'm so glad that I went to Nice. It was a really relaxed and chill, which was what I needed in the middle of the quarter. I absolutely loved France, especially all the little snacks and pastries. They were SO GOOD! And the weather was gorgeous the whole time. I want to go back, either to some other part of France or back to the French Riviera just because it was so beautiful. I have a feeling I will go back someday. 

    Thanks for reading this whole long story about my time in Nice. Sorry it's so late. I can't wait to tell you about my next few adventures!

Ciao,

            Ellie