During the ride, our guides told us more about the "principality" of Monaco. Technically, I think it is a sovereign country, although it is only 2 square miles and completely surrounded by France. Many years ago, they're main source of revenue was from exporting olive oil. Now, the main draw is the casino. The country strictly limits its citizens and gives them lavish benefits. The more they described it, the more it sounded like our Indian casino's back home in Florida.
Once we arrived, we walked to see the changing of the guard at the palace. It was very crowded and I didn't feel like fighting with all the other tourists for a spot to see, so we wandered around the square and admired the incredible scenic vistas. After the fuss died down, we went inside on a short tour of the palace.
Next, it was time to head up to the casino area, however, our bus was not allowed up. Because the hill is so steep, our guides suggested we ride the "city bus" public transportation to the top instead. We did so and it worked out just fine. The bus dropped us off across the street from our destination.
The restaurant was nice, but crowded. We were out outside on a busy patio area and had shade, but it was still a little too warm. As is typical in Europe, lunch started around 1:30pm and didn't end until 3pm.
Next, Kent, Pi, Lauche & I went into the nicest, most famous casino for a bit, while the rest of our group went to the shopping center. The casino was very elegent, but much different from Las Vegas. Inside, there were huge crystal chandeliers, beautiful artwork and trim adorning the walls & ceilings –it looked more like an opera house than a casino. It was much smaller than we expected and eerily quiet. It was almost like a museum or library in there. The slot machines were in a different room and had the volume turned down very low. We had about 30 minutes to look around. Pi & I played the slots while Kent tried his hand at roulette. I'm sure it is more lively at night, but it was still a lot of fun to visit this famous landmark.
We finished up around 4pm, met up with our group at the shopping center, and then walked down the long, winding hill to the parking garage where our bus was waiting to take us back to the ship. Our dinner seating on the ship is at 6pm, but I don't think any of us were very hungry after finishing lunch at 3. Justin, Cameron, & I stayed in the room and ordered a light snack while the rest went down to dinner. They are watching "Spy Next Door" with Jackie Chan for about the millionth time.
We are all looking forward to a relaxing day at sea tomorrow.
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