Breakfast was again, different than we are used to, a lot of meat and cheeses…the coffee was horrible. But of course I drank at least 2 cups, and we were off again. We had been traveling south this entire trip, until yesterday when we began to ascend back up.
Our first stop today was in Pisa, Italy. Pisa is very cute and has a number of open air stores and many street vendors. When we arrived it was raining. As we stepped out of the bus, we were practically rushed by men and women selling umbrellas. We literally had to squeeze by them to get off the bus!
Attila led us to a little train that would take us to the Leaning Tower of Pissa, for 2 Euros (there and back). The train dropped us off, and we were rushed again! We had to walk through a beautiful old archway, before getting to the tower. Then, there it was, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was definitely much different than any of us expected! The Tower looks much newer than I thought it would, I suppose it has been very well renovated. It is also much shorter than I imagined it would be! In addition, the Leaning Tower of Pisa does not sit all alone, there are other old beautiful buildings around it, I was not expecting that either.
In addition, a number of souvenir stands run along the walking street next to the tower. Dusty and I searched each stand for a “Italia” sweatshirt….it was very cold walking around in the rain. I had seen a sweater I loved in Venice but didn’t buy it. Now, I was in search of that same sweater! We all took each other’s picture in front of the Leaning Tower. In some pictures we were catching the tower, in other pictures we were pushing the tower down. We took all of the classics! (Of course I do not have any pictures because of our camera/memory card malfunction….we will steal some from Grandpa and Rachel).
When we had our fill of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we walked back through the brilliant arches and searched some more stands and stores for MY sweater lol! Eventually we found just what we were looking for, and we purchased 2 “Italia” sweaters. The sweaters are blue and white, say Italia across the front, and have collars. We wore out sweaters proudly…day after day after day! Lol
As we continued our drive North, we passed along the coast admiring the incredibly beautiful Italian and French Rivieras. France is absolutely beautiful with its lush green hills and charming towns.
We arrived at our hotel, Park Inn, in Nice, France. I immediately went to the front desk and asked how to get to the beach from the hotel. The lady at the front desk was very helpful, and provided me with a map and an explanation. The optional paid excursion for the evening was, “Monte Carlo Night”. Grandpa and Mom went on this excursion but the rest of us opted not to.
After getting situated in our room, Dusty and I walked the 20 minutes to the beach. Just like in Italy, we had to walk across rocks to get into the water. The water was beautiful!! Again, it was very green. After stepping in, the water got very deep, very fast. We dove in and swam. The current was very strong, so we were cautious not to get caught up in it.
There we were, swimming in the French Riviera!! Swimming, admiring the beautiful coastline, and enjoying each other’s company was incredible. We swam for about 45 minutes before lying out on towels, on the rocks. The perfectly smooth rocks had been painful to walk on, but felt extremely therapeutic to lie on. It was like being at a sauna, and lying on therapeutic hot stones. After we dried off, we began the walk back to the hotel. We took a different route and walked down a street full of restaurants and some shops. Even though we were now in France, we were still near the Italian border. The menus of the restaurants reflected this, offering many Italian dishes.
When we returned to the Park Inn, we skipped dinner and I called it an early night. Dusty went downstairs and took advantage of the steam room and gym. He enjoyed himself until about 10. For Rachel, Dusty, and I it was an early evening. The others returned to the hotel after midnight. Grandpa and Mom really enjoyed themselves.
Tomorrow we will head to Grenoble and then to Paris. The COSMOS tour is winding down…but there is still so much to see!!
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése