I'm sooo tired that I wrote in earlier blog that we were on the coast of Adriatic Sea. LOL It's the Mediterranean! We were having a contest on the bus today & I wanted to play so I didn't get to nap. We had to count the # of tunnels we went through between Florence Italy & the French border. My guess was 164. We won't know who won til breakfast.
Tonight we went into Monaco for dinner & then saw the Royal Palace & Monte Carlo casino. I didn't go inside as they charged 10€ admission! Those who did go in said the big Vegas casinos are more plush. This place caters to the famous & royalty such as sheiks, etc. There were Porsches & Bentleys in front!
Tomorrow we're visiting a perfume shop. I hope our hotel tomorrow has wifi too.
Till then, Bonjour!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Menton France
As I write this I am in a laundromat in Menton France on the French Riviera. Never would've dreamed I'd ever be here, let alone do my laundry here.
They promised we would have a place along the way to do laundry but no indication how much it cost! The smaller front load washer is 10€ ($13)! To dry, it is 2.4€ for 15 min. I'm glad this will be the only time on this trip that I'll have to do this!
The good news is the wifi is free so I can get y'all got up.
Several of us came to do laundry so we took turns watching over each others laundry while the others scoped out the streets & nearby beach.
They promised we would have a place along the way to do laundry but no indication how much it cost! The smaller front load washer is 10€ ($13)! To dry, it is 2.4€ for 15 min. I'm glad this will be the only time on this trip that I'll have to do this!
The good news is the wifi is free so I can get y'all got up.
Several of us came to do laundry so we took turns watching over each others laundry while the others scoped out the streets & nearby beach.
Florence (Firenze) Italy-Palm Sunday
This is a beautiful city on the Arno River. Our 1st evening we were taken to a great Italian restaurant that seems to cater to tours as they were all groups of 20-30, about 300 total in the restaurant. There was one bus load from California. First course, cotto and bruschetta. 2nd course spinach & risotto stuffed ravioli and square of lasagna. 3rd course was choice of fish, chkn or T-bone with potatoes. I had steak! 4th course was gelato. That seems to be the typical dessert. The wine flowed quite freely, too, as it has at all of our meals:)
Out tour guide suggested we not buy leather until we got here. There are many leather shops and we got a tour of Pecuzzi, who is apparently the largest leather tailor in Italy. We were told how to identify genuine leather, very helpful as many shops say theirs is genuine Italian leather when, in fact,the goods are made in China. When it arrives in Italy, they put on buttons or some other adornment and it becomes legal to say "made in Italy" or "genuine leather". Buyer Beware!!
After touring many famous landmarks, we were free to wander the streets of Florence for 4 hrs. As in any tourist destination, if you've seen one shop you've seen them all! But I wandered around on the 2000 yr old cobblestone streets until my back couldn't take another step.
I went to an outdoor cafe & had an
order of garlic bread & Coke. I ate & watched the people....people of all nationalities. Of course, it cost me 9€ ($12) for lunch but I will have the sights & smells as a memory.
Today is Palm Sunday so all the church bells in town are ringing. It is really magical! The church in this photo is Santa Croce.
To give you an idea how tiny cars are,
look @ this tiny car. It's about the size of the kids' Barbie car!
Tonight we are having dinner @ our hotel, then tomorrow we go to Monaco on the French Riviera. We are having dinner near the Monte Carlo casino! Ooo Lala!
Out tour guide suggested we not buy leather until we got here. There are many leather shops and we got a tour of Pecuzzi, who is apparently the largest leather tailor in Italy. We were told how to identify genuine leather, very helpful as many shops say theirs is genuine Italian leather when, in fact,the goods are made in China. When it arrives in Italy, they put on buttons or some other adornment and it becomes legal to say "made in Italy" or "genuine leather". Buyer Beware!!
After touring many famous landmarks, we were free to wander the streets of Florence for 4 hrs. As in any tourist destination, if you've seen one shop you've seen them all! But I wandered around on the 2000 yr old cobblestone streets until my back couldn't take another step.
I went to an outdoor cafe & had an
order of garlic bread & Coke. I ate & watched the people....people of all nationalities. Of course, it cost me 9€ ($12) for lunch but I will have the sights & smells as a memory.
Today is Palm Sunday so all the church bells in town are ringing. It is really magical! The church in this photo is Santa Croce.
To give you an idea how tiny cars are,
look @ this tiny car. It's about the size of the kids' Barbie car!
Tonight we are having dinner @ our hotel, then tomorrow we go to Monaco on the French Riviera. We are having dinner near the Monte Carlo casino! Ooo Lala!
Off to Pisa and Florence - Saturday
Today we drove to Pisa to see the leaning tower then it was on to Florence. The church & tower were breathtaking. Did you know this tower didn't begin to lean years after it was built? The architect didn't allow for soft ground so by the time the 2nd tier was finished it had begun to lean. They continued building by trying to compensate for the lean but to no avail. It is currently leaning @ 4 meters. In the UK the betting parlors are taking bets on when it will finally fall!
We are spending the next 2 nights in Florence. Our guide says this is where the best shops & best prices are for genuine Italian leather items. Umm, I wonder about genuine Italian men? LOL!
The 1st place we saw as we entered the city limits was the HQ for Gucci:)
We are spending the next 2 nights in Florence. Our guide says this is where the best shops & best prices are for genuine Italian leather items. Umm, I wonder about genuine Italian men? LOL!
The 1st place we saw as we entered the city limits was the HQ for Gucci:)
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