September 3rd-Florence to Nice
Sunday morning we left Florence and took a one hour drive to Pisa to see that leaning tower. It’s part of a 3 building complex and I was surprised at how pretty the whole place was. We got there early, so avoided a lot of the crowds which helped. The other thing that made it so nice was the fact it sits in the middle of about the only green lawn we have seen in Europe-either there is pavement or the grass is a foot long. Anyhow, the lawn and the white buildings looked pretty good. It’s not a big tower, but it’s still great to see something so famous.
Back on the bus and on to lunch-our last meal in Italy. We shared a hot salami pasta, asparagus risotto and salad. Don’t bother coming to Italy if you don’t like tomatoes, pasta or parmesan cheese-fortunately we love all of those. The other thing I have enjoyed are the antipasto vegetables and the salads.
The Autostratta is quiet on a Sunday (as only trucks carrying necessary foodstuffs are allowed to travel) so it was a really nice drive past lots of beautiful old villages perched on the hill sides, vineyards, olive groves and the flowers grown for perfume. We travelled through 157 tunnels totaling 87km to get to the border of Italy and France.
Just after arriving in France, we visited Monaco and the casinos of Monte Carlo. Russ and I had a win (16 Euros) then had a wine and a beer at a café. The trouble was the wine and beer cost us 19 Euros so wiped out our winnings in one round! Still, it was an experience to visit the place with all those Ferraris, Porches Bentleys etc parked out front, to see all the beautiful and not so beautiful but obviously rich people go by.
I loved seeing the Grimaldi’s Pink Palace and Prince Albert’s yacht (more a ship I think) and the Cathedral where Prince Ranier and Princess Grace are buried. I didn’t go inside because I am all churched out, but it was apparently very beautiful.
We had a “Highlight Dinner” in the restaurant Fredy’s next door. (could you trust a restaurant called Fredy’s?). It was pretty good (we had tomato mozzarella salad, a pastry dish with tomato asparagus and cheese sauce, salmon and béarnaise sauce, some sort of baked custard and pineapple and coffee) but they had us in, fed and out in an hour which doesn’t make for relaxed dining. At one stage, I hadn’t finished a mouthful of something when the next course arrived. I know why I like to go out with Russell and find our own food.
After dinner we drove another 45 minutes to our hotel in Nice. It turned out to be one of the biggest rooms, beds and bathrooms we have had on the whole trip.
Back on the bus and on to lunch-our last meal in Italy. We shared a hot salami pasta, asparagus risotto and salad. Don’t bother coming to Italy if you don’t like tomatoes, pasta or parmesan cheese-fortunately we love all of those. The other thing I have enjoyed are the antipasto vegetables and the salads.
The Autostratta is quiet on a Sunday (as only trucks carrying necessary foodstuffs are allowed to travel) so it was a really nice drive past lots of beautiful old villages perched on the hill sides, vineyards, olive groves and the flowers grown for perfume. We travelled through 157 tunnels totaling 87km to get to the border of Italy and France.
Just after arriving in France, we visited Monaco and the casinos of Monte Carlo. Russ and I had a win (16 Euros) then had a wine and a beer at a café. The trouble was the wine and beer cost us 19 Euros so wiped out our winnings in one round! Still, it was an experience to visit the place with all those Ferraris, Porches Bentleys etc parked out front, to see all the beautiful and not so beautiful but obviously rich people go by.
I loved seeing the Grimaldi’s Pink Palace and Prince Albert’s yacht (more a ship I think) and the Cathedral where Prince Ranier and Princess Grace are buried. I didn’t go inside because I am all churched out, but it was apparently very beautiful.
We had a “Highlight Dinner” in the restaurant Fredy’s next door. (could you trust a restaurant called Fredy’s?). It was pretty good (we had tomato mozzarella salad, a pastry dish with tomato asparagus and cheese sauce, salmon and béarnaise sauce, some sort of baked custard and pineapple and coffee) but they had us in, fed and out in an hour which doesn’t make for relaxed dining. At one stage, I hadn’t finished a mouthful of something when the next course arrived. I know why I like to go out with Russell and find our own food.
After dinner we drove another 45 minutes to our hotel in Nice. It turned out to be one of the biggest rooms, beds and bathrooms we have had on the whole trip.
posted by janandruss at
6:47 a.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home