Day 58
Today was one of the days that I will remember forever. Monte Carlo was just so incredible that I plan on buying a place there as soon as I possibly can.
Whilst the morning started slow with a whole lot of booking, well, attempts to book things it picked up after lunch, as we hopped on the train to our 4th country, Monaco (yes, it is its own country).
Once we hopped off the train I could tell why James Bond gambles here. The place was incredible. Beautiful cars, beautiful boats, a beautiful view and whole lot of beautiful people. It was hard to walk 2 minutes without seeing a Lambo, Ferrari, Maserati or Rolls flying past.
As we continued towards the casinos, the opulence (thank Aidan for the word) seemed to converge. Walking through the fountains and gardens out front of "Le Casino" it was at this point embarrassing to even have a Porsche. We decide to splurge and spend the 10 euro to enter the grand casino. It was money well spent.
The building itself was something to he admired with it's awesome design and sculptures everywhere. It was also fun to see people throwing their money away in every direction. However we were quite disappointed in the size of the place, finding that the big money tables were not accessible to the general public and only if you intended to spend a lot, could you enter.
As it was quite quiet in the main area, we decided to go look around town and return after sunset when the action heats up. After viewing the "Americanized" casino (for the poor people like us) next door, we decided to go check out the F1 race course. We took a look at the hairpin turn, the massive tunnel, the start line and even managed to catch a race (see picture).
We swung past the marina, admiring the boats than ranged from huge to gigantic before returning to the park next to casino for our luxurious dinner. Knowing that Monaco has quite pricey food we decided to plan ahead and take home packed lunches with us complete with sandwich and poppers.
Before trying our luck in the small casino we decided to pimp ourselves out pulling out the full button shirt and smart shoe combo. Then the fun could begin. Blackjack was our game with all of us making a decent profit on the 10 euro table before we took a break.
We headed back over the big casino which was pumping with people everywhere. Realizing we couldn't come all this way and not play a hand we tried our luck at the 25 euro table, walking away after we luckily managed one win. As all of us were comfortably up at this stage we decided that it was time to buy at least one thing in this country. We agreed on it being a drink.
There we sat, in the Monte Carlo casino, sipping away at the most expensive drinks we have ever had. We felt like kings and never wanted the moment to end.
But it had to, there was more money to be won and more excitement to be had. We returned to the shnora casino and played some more, meeting some interesting people along the way. Before we knew it, it was 11pm and the last train was leaving very soon.
Arryn, pretty chuffed with himself walking away with 100 profit was about to cash out when he came across a 200 euro blackjack table. Totaling up his money, he realized he had exactly 200 on him. After 5 minutes of umming and ahhing he finally decided (stupidly) to put the money down on the table....
...He won. We were ecstatic. In the course of 30 seconds he had doubled his money walking away with a sweet 400 euro. It would be an understatement to say he was happy and we all expect him to shout drinks next time we go out.
And that wrapped up our night. We all walked away, amazed by the town, impressed by the cars, ecstatic by the wins and in love with the place. I will be back soon.