(Photos by © Brandon Elijah Scott / Eye & Pen)
I took bus #100 from the coast, on Nice’s eastern shore. But I wished that I would have hired a car in Nice, because the twisting cliffside was gorgeous! It inched along the cliffside, on its way toward Monaco. I had grown up knowing of Monaco from its inclusion in various race car video games. As I grew up, I understood it as being one of the poshest areas in the world, and that remained with me as my anticipation grew. I jumped off just after the casino and with no plan or map, I walked around aimlessly through the boulevards and a feeling of chagrin crept up inside of me. I visited the beautiful park and wandered down into the poshest shopping mall I had ever seen, yet I was disappointed with the atmosphere of this small coastal principality. Tall buildings like that of a large American city and little natural physique remained. Money can buy you a lovely car, and a lovely building with a lovely view, but the endless grays of the buildings and streets mixed with the endless glossy reflectional windows disturbed me.
I walked to the Monte Carlo coast and then back across the race track where there were Formula 1 trucks boxed in with piles of boxes of electronic equipment. Uniformed people scurried around, working at a feverish pace, setting up for the upcoming race in a few days. I walked the length of the race track that stretched from Monte Carlo to the steps nearest the Prince’s Palace. My favorite parts of the track were the sections that touched nearest to the bay – it was relaxing and provided some refuge from the monotony of pavement and stone. I will concede that it was pretty interesting, checking out the race track before the world famous race. I walked up the steps to the palace, where I found the load of tourists that I had not witnessed thus far in Monaco. There were little tourist shops and overpriced restaurants across from the palace, which was covered with tourists groups and families on holiday.
The best part of area (and all of Monaco) was the outlook of the cove, with its brilliant view high above the city. I wandered a bit more and found some interesting buildings and other high outlooks of other coves in the Monaco area. After a couple of hours of walking around, I had my fill of Monaco and was ready to continue on for the day to Ventimiglia, where I had to catch my train to Genoa. I was told that Genoa is a great place to stop for the night, before I head south to Florence. When I arrived, I went straight to my hostel, since I was so tired. It was located up in the hills and took nearly an hour by local bus to reach it. It was hidden and the directions that I was given were useless. Luckily for me, another traveler had hopped off at the same stop and inquired if I was looking for the hostel. I followed him up some hidden steps to a flat landing where a large building stood. It looked like the remnants of an old school, and when I walked in, the place was so white and dull that I thought I was in a hospital.
The next morning, I woke up a couple of hours before my early train and I walked from the Roman Arch to the port and then finally to my train station. I’ll be honest and say that I should have just went on to Florence and skipped Genoa. I fell instantly out of love with it. I felt that the city was dirty and sprawling like a large city – it actually reminded me of a European version of Cleveland, and I wanted nothing to do with it after a few hours of walking around it. Perhaps my experience was circumstantial, as are many traveler’s experiences, but I will have to be seriously persuaded to return.
My train went Genoa to La Spezia and then to Florence – the train was sluggish and stopped every ten minutes, and I felt that I may never arrive. I was tired and from so much travel the past week and I wanted nothing more then to relax in a nice quiet bed. But of course, I booked a hostel, since I had no luck finding a CouchSurfing host, so a quiet bed was out of the question. I’ve been traveling frugally, as frugal as possible, so I booked a room with 22 people in the dorm. To save money on buying maps, I started wandering until I found a hotel, where I would enter and then ask for a map – this tactic always worked and has saved me anywhere from 2-5€ each place I visit.
I visited Florence once before, but to be honest, I ran out of time and didn’t get to see much of it – I even missed the Duomo – due to bad planning and bad circumstances. I wanted to give recompense to this great Tuscan city, so I returned to give it another chance. Wandering the various streets of Florence, I couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed by the ever-present tourist shops. It almost felt like there were more shops and restaurants setup for tourists, than there were actual tourists in the entire state of Tuscany – while I’m sure that’s a bit dramatic, I couldn’t help but feel unconnected from the place. I caught myself thinking that I couldn’t wait until I was somewhere else, more authentic. Over the following few days, I made friends at my hostel and wandered and drank and wandered some more, and of course, drank some more. The time flew, and I found myself feeling nearly the same as I had arrived, but perhaps with a little less feistiness.
More travel updates coming soon! Next update = Rimini & Cesenatico, Italy
Other travel updates:
Travel update I – Barcelona, Spain
Travel update II – Madrid, Spain
Travel update III – Granada, Spain
Travel update IV – Ronda & Sevilla, Spain
Travel update V – Marrakech, Morocco
Travel update VI – Marseille & Nice, France
The best part of area (and all of Monaco) was the outlook of the cove, with its brilliant view high above the city. I wandered a bit more and found some interesting buildings and other high outlooks of other coves in the Monaco area. After a couple of hours of walking around, I had my fill of Monaco and was ready to continue on for the day to Ventimiglia, where I had to catch my train to Genoa. I was told that Genoa is a great place to stop for the night, before I head south to Florence. When I arrived, I went straight to my hostel, since I was so tired. It was located up in the hills and took nearly an hour by local bus to reach it. It was hidden and the directions that I was given were useless. Luckily for me, another traveler had hopped off at the same stop and inquired if I was looking for the hostel. I followed him up some hidden steps to a flat landing where a large building stood. It looked like the remnants of an old school, and when I walked in, the place was so white and dull that I thought I was in a hospital.
The next morning, I woke up a couple of hours before my early train and I walked from the Roman Arch to the port and then finally to my train station. I’ll be honest and say that I should have just went on to Florence and skipped Genoa. I fell instantly out of love with it. I felt that the city was dirty and sprawling like a large city – it actually reminded me of a European version of Cleveland, and I wanted nothing to do with it after a few hours of walking around it. Perhaps my experience was circumstantial, as are many traveler’s experiences, but I will have to be seriously persuaded to return.
My train went Genoa to La Spezia and then to Florence – the train was sluggish and stopped every ten minutes, and I felt that I may never arrive. I was tired and from so much travel the past week and I wanted nothing more then to relax in a nice quiet bed. But of course, I booked a hostel, since I had no luck finding a CouchSurfing host, so a quiet bed was out of the question. I’ve been traveling frugally, as frugal as possible, so I booked a room with 22 people in the dorm. To save money on buying maps, I started wandering until I found a hotel, where I would enter and then ask for a map – this tactic always worked and has saved me anywhere from 2-5€ each place I visit.
I visited Florence once before, but to be honest, I ran out of time and didn’t get to see much of it – I even missed the Duomo – due to bad planning and bad circumstances. I wanted to give recompense to this great Tuscan city, so I returned to give it another chance. Wandering the various streets of Florence, I couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed by the ever-present tourist shops. It almost felt like there were more shops and restaurants setup for tourists, than there were actual tourists in the entire state of Tuscany – while I’m sure that’s a bit dramatic, I couldn’t help but feel unconnected from the place. I caught myself thinking that I couldn’t wait until I was somewhere else, more authentic. Over the following few days, I made friends at my hostel and wandered and drank and wandered some more, and of course, drank some more. The time flew, and I found myself feeling nearly the same as I had arrived, but perhaps with a little less feistiness.
More travel updates coming soon! Next update = Rimini & Cesenatico, Italy
Other travel updates:
Travel update I – Barcelona, Spain
Travel update II – Madrid, Spain
Travel update III – Granada, Spain
Travel update IV – Ronda & Sevilla, Spain
Travel update V – Marrakech, Morocco
Travel update VI – Marseille & Nice, France
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