On day 2 we decided it would be easy and fun to take a day trip to Monte Carlo!
After sleeping in our classy and super luxurious private room in our hostel we all woke up at 8 a.m and set out to the train station.. only to find that the French train workers were on strike! We learned it wouldn’t be until about 3 that the local trains were set to start running again. This, of course, was after we already purchased our tickets. So we sat around and figured we might as well try and catch a bus headed that way. Ha. Joke’s on us because we sat by that port up on the top right and waited at a bus stop for a solid hour before we finally gave up waiting for a bus that wasn’t completely full.
At that point it was around 11 a.m so we figured we’d just wait it out until 3 and if we just loved it we could go back another day for the full day experience. While we were wandering around the city waiting for our train to save the day I bought a French macaroon and it was so so so yummy. I think the entire time I was in France I just tacked on “.. in France” to everything and it made things infinitely cooler.
Sleeping.. in France.
Eating.. in France.
Walking.. in France.
See? So much cooler.
Our train finally pulled up and whisked us away to Monte Carlo and we were all so excited! The minute we started walking, however, we quickly realized who should be travel buddies. Two girls were thrilled with the idea of just wandering around but my friend Michelle and I were the lazy ones in the group and we figured the sun and walking were not a good mix for us. I’d heard about an aquarium a gentleman who we had met at the bus stop had mentioned. So Michelle and I headed that way and we agreed to meet the other girls back at the hostel.
What Michelle and I had not anticipated on was a full fledged town type environment on the top of the mountain thing the aquarium was situated on. We got instructions from google maps and we were told to hike up a ton of stairs to reach the place. The bottom left picture was our view from our walk — it was one of the most incredible views I’ve ever seen and it would have made the trip to Monte Carlo worth it just with that one experience. However it just kept getting better!
Once we reached the top of the mountain (it could honestly be called a hill but I was sweating by the time I reached the top.. so we’ll call it a mountain) we saw so many cute buildings! The first place we stopped was at a beautiful cathedral. I took several pictures but the Crucifix pictured on the top right was by far the most interesting thing I saw. I have never seen a Crucifix depicted with Jesus leaning away from the cross and I thought it was beautifully made.
Michelle is by far my new favorite travel buddy. We were walking at a snail’s pace and every time we saw something even remotely interesting we would just agree to check it out.. Which led us to a crepe shop! Holy cow that was an amazing crepe.
Finally we made it to the aquarium and since it was 2 hours until closing time it was pretty empty. Michelle and I raced around the aquarium and since I haven’t been to an aquarium in approximately a decade I forgot how much fun it was to look at all the different aquatic wildlife.
This aquarium was massive. They had tons of exhibits and it was virtually empty so we had a blast just running around and reading the signs for all the different displays. Did you know there are less than 10 fatal accidents with humans and sharks per year?
One exhibit used google maps to show the sea life in a couple areas but Michelle and I decided to check out our home away from home – Gainesville, Florida. We searched for our University and we found our bell tower and it was fun to look around our campus on the huge display. On the right we could write a message to the sharks and not to brag but I think I’m a pretty great artist!
AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY TRIP? Petting. A. SHARK. Guys, I pet a shark. It was the probably the most exciting moment of my life and I absolutely wish I was joking about that. We must have played with the sharks for a solid 15 minutes before we had to leave because the Aquarium was closing and at that point I was really wishing sharks were common household pets. My little shark girl’s name is Nemo and I’m pretty sure we connected on an emotional level.
That was by far one of the most fun afternoons I’ve had in recent memory. We explored whatever looked even remotely interesting and I enjoyed the slow pace and all the memories!
Running in Rome 