Day 13: Getting Tanner!

Today we left our hostel around 11AM to take the 100 Bus to Monaco! (It's about an hour bus ride, and only costs 1.50 euros!) The only downside is that the bus gets pretty full, so if there are too many people you might not get on, and then you'll have to wait for the next bus :( So a tip to any future travelers: if there's a huge group at the bus station, you need to shove your way in! (And stand near the front of the crowd where the bus stops) And also, people who have waited at stops en route (Villefranche or just outside Nice) have actually been driven right past if the bus is full. But the weird thing is that the bus driver doesn't actually crowd the bus. In Berkeley, the AC transit bus drivers always make people scoot back and make room to accomodate more people. Here it's just like, well if the entrance is full, we're moving on, even if there's still standing room in the very back!

Anyways, we got to Monaco around 12:30, and then decided to visit the casino in Monte Carlo first. It was a nice walk along the harbor, and then we got to the casino around 1:15 to find out it didn't open til 2pm >.< So we decided to wander around some more and wait til 2 to get in to see the inside. However, here you're actually only allowed to see the lobby (and one gaming room if you have your passport). Otherwise, you have to pay 10 euros to get into the nicer private gaming rooms. But none of us were planning to gamble anyways, so we just walked around the lobby. (Also, no cameras inside!) It was definitely impressive, but at the same time, I feel like you can see this kind of interior in Vegas too... (The facade was definitely impressive though!) And although there were a lot of fancy cars outside, I definitely expected to see more... haha. 

Front view of the casino! (woops the car got in the way...)

After the casino, we walked down to Monaco-Ville to see the Royal Palace and Old Town. It's located on top of a cliff jutting out from the shore, so it's got amazing views! (Although it's quite a hike up) We were short on time because we also wanted to go to the beach before it got too cold, so we just walked around for a bit and took photos, and then left for Cap D'Ail.

View from the hike to the Royal Palace!

So we had heard of a really cool beach in Cap D'Ail called Plage Mala, which had caves and cliff diving, but when we walked to Cap D'Ail, we realized that there were actually multiple beaches along the coast, and the one we wanted to go to was the farthest T__T. So we decided to hike along the coast for an additional half an hour to get to the beach. Which was not a bad choice, because the views were amazing!! We were literally hiking right above the water in some areas, and the hike wasn't too grueling (although it was super sunny) Finally, we got to the beach, but it wasn't as impressive as we had imagined >.< For one thing, the caves are actually pretty far from the shore, so you have to swim quite a ways to reach them (which none of us wanted to do haha). And not only was the beach super crowded, but the water was super murky, due to thousands of pieces of kelp that were in the water. It would stick to you when you got out of the water as well, and was a pain to wash off! And worst of all, the beach was pretty pebbly, and no sand at all. We definitely preferred yesterday's Villefranche beach over this one, even though this was supposed to be the best one in the area! (Also, the water was cold, and I'm a wuss when it comes to swimming in cold water!)

Plage Mala in the background!

When we decided to head home, we then had to hike back up to the town, which was all uphill and super tiring! (If you can see in the photo, there are pretty much cliffs on either side of the beach) Finally we got up to the bus stop, and then were able to squeeze onto the 100 bus headed back to Nice (although people waiting at the Villefranche stop were not so lucky...) Back at the hostel, we showered and then went out for dinner. Wesley had found a well-rated Mediterranean restaurant in the old town, but it was closed on Sundays :( (A big problem in Europe! haha) So instead we went to a Nicoise restaurant that looked pretty nice. Steph and I ordered a 3-course meal for 19.50 euros, and I finally got to try the local Socca (flatbread made of chick pea flour)! Although I thought it was just okay... We were all super full and couldn't finish our entrees (and Steph thought hers was too salty) but the dessert was good! (I tried profiteroles for the first time!) Wesley had to head back early so he could get ready for bed, since his flight was super early in the morning, but Stephanie and I went to Fenocchio afterwards for ice cream! Apparently they're the best ice cream in Nice (probably because they have SO many flavors), so we decided to share a scoop since we were both super full. We got the Mojito, which actually tasted pretty cool! (And I don't think it was alcoholic)

So many flavors! (Including Coca Cola!) This is just a 1/4 of the tubs!

On our walk back to the hostel, suddenly there were fireworks going off! The buildings were blocking the view, so we ran up to Massena Square where we were able to catch the last few fireworks! Don't really know what the occasion was or whether it was even legal, because then we heard a lot of cop cars... haha. But awesome way to end out visit to Nice! (We're heading out tomorrow for Menton, a small town along the coast).

The one time you wish the buildings weren't so tall.... (because during the day, tall buildings help block out the sun!)