Amber Abroad
2nd Edition
Amber Trickett
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Blogs
The French Riviera
The French Riviera is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Even from the train window, I could see the beaches and the ocean. They were absolutely gorgeous. While I was there, I visited two places Monaco and Nice (pronounced niece).
I would highly recommend going to Nice. The sites were amazing, including a castle, a beach, numerous fountains and of course an outstanding shopping district. The only thing I would not recommend about Nice would be to eat at the Hippopotamus. The service there was god-awful and it took three people over two hours to get our food. It took them 45 minutes just to get our drinks! Putting that aside, it was the most relaxing weekend I have had all term. Almost one full day was spent lounging on the beach and swimming in the ocean. Although this time of year is a little colder to go swimming the water was surprisingly warmer than I had suspected it to be. If you do go to Nice check out Woody's Mexican and Burgers (odd combination, I know!) they had amazing service, very friendly staff and the food was amazing!
Monaco on the other hand is another story. Although the city itself is beautiful and the view from the castle was great (I think just about every city in Europe has a castle), the city is built out of the side of a cliff, which makes it very hard to get around if you don't know where you are going. It was so hard to find the castle and we ended up having to take a bus to the top of one of the cliffs. Once I got there though, it was well worth the hassle. The view was like nothing I have ever seen, but it was also the most over crowded and packed cities as well. It looked like they had built in every single available square inch of that place. No wonder I could not find my way around the city!
Italy
The best thing about Italy besides the wine is Rome. I could have easily spent another couple of days in Rome and still not have been able to see everything that I could ever want to. Thick with culture, Rome is home to the famous Colosseum as well as Vatican City. The Colosseum was an amazing site to see. Although it has been falling down for quite a few years, they are slowly restoring it. I suppose it does not help that the Vatican stole the marble floor for their own uses in Vatican City. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see where the Gladiators fought. Our tour guide told us that approximately 5000 men were killed a year in the Colosseum.
The French Riviera is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Even from the train window, I could see the beaches and the ocean. They were absolutely gorgeous. While I was there, I visited two places Monaco and Nice (pronounced niece).
I would highly recommend going to Nice. The sites were amazing, including a castle, a beach, numerous fountains and of course an outstanding shopping district. The only thing I would not recommend about Nice would be to eat at the Hippopotamus. The service there was god-awful and it took three people over two hours to get our food. It took them 45 minutes just to get our drinks! Putting that aside, it was the most relaxing weekend I have had all term. Almost one full day was spent lounging on the beach and swimming in the ocean. Although this time of year is a little colder to go swimming the water was surprisingly warmer than I had suspected it to be. If you do go to Nice check out Woody's Mexican and Burgers (odd combination, I know!) they had amazing service, very friendly staff and the food was amazing!
Monaco on the other hand is another story. Although the city itself is beautiful and the view from the castle was great (I think just about every city in Europe has a castle), the city is built out of the side of a cliff, which makes it very hard to get around if you don't know where you are going. It was so hard to find the castle and we ended up having to take a bus to the top of one of the cliffs. Once I got there though, it was well worth the hassle. The view was like nothing I have ever seen, but it was also the most over crowded and packed cities as well. It looked like they had built in every single available square inch of that place. No wonder I could not find my way around the city!
Italy
The best thing about Italy besides the wine is Rome. I could have easily spent another couple of days in Rome and still not have been able to see everything that I could ever want to. Thick with culture, Rome is home to the famous Colosseum as well as Vatican City. The Colosseum was an amazing site to see. Although it has been falling down for quite a few years, they are slowly restoring it. I suppose it does not help that the Vatican stole the marble floor for their own uses in Vatican City. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see where the Gladiators fought. Our tour guide told us that approximately 5000 men were killed a year in the Colosseum.
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