to the coast

hey santi, what did you do this weekend?

oh i just went to the french riviera, visited Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and stayed in a hostel run by Germans who threw a discotheque for us.

saturday morning, all of us at the center loaded onto two tour buses and made our way towards the mediterranean. our first stop was Nice. one of the most gorgeous places that i have ever been to. there was a long boardwalk, pebble beaches, and just ludicrous views. after visiting the beach and walking around a bit, a group of us decided that we wanted authentic food, so we headed straight towards the buffalo grill. wings and burgers for our first meal on the côte d'azure. pretty legit.

we went to the top of the cliff that lies on a sort of little peninsula that allows you to see both halves of Nice. the view is more than amazing. i have a few of them up on my flickr, but they do not compare to what it's like up on that cliff. it makes sense that russian royalty and aristocracy from all around the world has been coming to this very spot for a long while now.

next we went to Eze which looks like a medival village. it is located high on a cliff overlooking the mediterranean. as i was walking through the narrow cobblestone streets i was expecting to find a few wenches and maybe a dragon or two.

we went to the hostel and had dinner before most of us made our way to the principality of Monaco. during the bus ride there, we learned that monaco is very strict on it's appearance, as the casino industry is one of the main sources of income (and oddly enough the citizens are not allowed to gamble). apparently they even have a secret police that's around to make sure that everyone keeps in line. we were told to dress nicely if we were 21 and inteded to gamble. i and a few others who weren't 21 just went dressed as we were and this turned out to be a small mistake. upon arriving, you see the Monte Carlo casino beautifully light up and the park in front it full of fountains gives it a good introduction. we tried to get into the casino to see what it looked like on the inside, but as we tried to get in, the doorman asked us for our passports. he hadn't asked anyone else who was dressed up nicely for theirs. eh. fuck it. after walking around for a while, my friend channon and i decided that we needed some drinks. one would assume being of legal drinking age that obtaining alcohol would be easy, but holy crap did we need to trek to find a bar. we had to climb uphill for about 20 minutes until we found a bar just to get a glass of wine.

once back at the hostel, entertainment ensued. there was a discotheque held in the cafeteria for us. at first it seemed very reminiscent of a middle school dance but then we all realized that there was a bar there. needless to say, things picked up quickly. it was a magical night that included shooting stars, texts, and katy perry.

the last stop on our trip was Cannes. it was a little of the same: beautiful beaches and great views.

all of the pictures are up on my flickr in case you're dying to see where i was this past weekend.