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Alrighty, this entry has been a long time coming.. My creative juices just haven't been flowing! It's a long entry too as it combines a few places, so sit down with a cuppa and a cookie and get ready!
Firstly, FYI : I just realised that on some of the trains, the toilets are like camping dump toilets?? You can actually see the track flying by beneath you when you, do your thang! Is that some kind of joke - sure would hate to have the job of maintaining the tracks!!
OK so first up was Nice, France. We loved Nice! It was our last stop in France - bit sad to say goodbye as we fell in love with France and had communication down to a fine art!
Nice was much cleaner than a lot of other cities we have been to. The architecture was really beautiful. Lovely colourful buildings lined the streets. There were some very exclusive hotels. One such hotel had rooms for 1200 Euro per night! We couldn't even afford to eat a bowl of frites (chips) in the hotel restaurant! Not that Tim would let us eat fries though of course!!
Our hotel had tortoises which was really cool! They just wondered through the corridors-really cute!! Unfortunately it was once again 4 floors up so poor Tim lugged his and my bag up, again! I huffed and puffed my way up, hating every step and all I have is two small backpacks!! Another part of Nice we loved was the roller bladers. They were so impressive Rhett & Courts, even I was intimidated and we all know how good my blading skills are huh!! At night they would set up courses and jumps and fly through the air, looking more like ice skaters than roller bladers - it took some serious skill!
We went to the beach most days as it was just gorgeous. Very different beaches to home, no sand - only big round stones - made sunbaking a little tricky especially on the tender bits! However, after a little rearranging of stones each time, we managed to lie on the beach for hours.. So relaxing! A canon went off each day at midday as the story goes, a Queen of the past was always very late for lunch so her husband used to blast a canon so wherever she was in the area, she knew it was lunchtime! Perhaps that's what I need to get organised, though I don't seem to have any trouble remembering to eat!
We did a couple of day trips during our stay. First up was Canne. We reached it by bus and were pretty keen to hit the beach on arrival! We had some lunch and the town was really pretty but apart from the beach there wasn't too much to see so we went home for an afternoon nap!
Our next day trip was really awesome! We went to Monaco & Monte Carlo. Wow! It was so impressive! The wealth in that place is just unbelievable. The harbour was packed with luxury boats and the streets boasted the best cars and mansions. An average car could not be spotted. Every car could be any of the following; Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamburghini, Roles Royce, Maserati… Unbelievable! The streets were littered with gorgeous people and children in designer labels, literally mind boggling! The Casino was also something very extravagant. One of the grandest Casino's in the world. Naturally Tim lost 10 Euro on the pokies but as we thought ourselves very lucky to have been allowed entry with frayed shorts and thongs on, it was a must that we have a little gamble!
Tim has a new lunch snack that he has decided is a marvellous tasty treat.. Cous Cous wrapped in processed chicken slices.. As you can imagine, I am not so impressed with our new lunches! Give me anything bar this!
Nice had some great little restaurants and is very Gay friendly. We once again made the mistake of getting drinks at a gay bar, but how are you meant to know these things until the waiter scoots up to you in tiny and very tight denim shorts and Addidas sneakers made into roller skates!! (I did notice however that the Gay guy serving us looked better in little denim shorts than I ever have!! Hope Tim didn't hehe!!)
Our last night in France was pretty special. Tim just had to have escargot (snails) so we searched every menu in Nice for an authentic little restaurant! We did find the perfect place though and had a really yummy French dinner!
Tim has some impressive news. When I asked for his input to this entry he felt it necessary to share with everyone that he has now reached 5000 points in the game Snake on his phone. His score has reached the 'High Scores' section in the game - congratulations Timothy and thank you for your input!!
Our next stop was Genoa. We were only there for two nights and we think that was enough. We didn't have high expectations and were pleasantly surprised. It had the biggest and best boat we have seen so far, 'Radiant' remains dear to us! We went on one of those open top bus tours which was actually really good - gave us a much better understanding of the place. The buildings in the area were all very gothic style. This was due to layering of white and black marble. The whole city seemed very dark, big and strong. It wasn't slightly pretty but had a very heavy and sinister feel which surprisingly was quite impressive. .
We had a sneaky cocktail on the harbour which was a real treat! Because of the cut down in spendings, my last cocktail was over 2 weeks ago and I had gotten quite used the tastiness of them!! They're no house wine that's for sure which is now our drink of choice as it fits into our budget nicely!
We have yet another story of a train trip… A child was tantruming like we have never heard before. Blood curdling screams could be heard from the rear end of the train. It honestly sounded as though someone was being murdered. Tim, having no tolerance of children's noises was going insane, absolutely seething. Then up through the isle comes a little sweetheart who wouldn't be more than two. The only way we could tell that she was the guilty child was the angry red face she wore! So the father and the little treasure disappear into the next carriage. We then heard another bout of screaming and looked through the carriage to see that the dad was locking her in the drop toilet bathroom!! This didn't work so he took her out of there and locked her in the area between carriages! It was absolutely hilarious, people on the train were almost applauding the poor father..
Ok, next stop Cinque terra. Wowee… What a place! Absolutely stunning, you really felt like you had stepped right into a postcard setting, was truly fantastic! Sunsets were amazing. The harsh cliffs plunged into the pristine water. Each of the villages, 5 in total, were little fishing villages. As our photos show, little fishing boats littered the mini harbours. Absolutely gorgeous..
Tim thought it would be a lovely idea to do a 5 hour hike along the whole Cinque Terra - going through all 5 villages. I was a little nervous but whacked the nikes on reassuring myself all morning that this was going to be enjoyable?? Anyway, first 20 minutes of the walk was just perfection. The time absolutely flew as we wondered around the edge of the cliffs gazing at the amazing coastline.. We thought for sure we would do the walk in 3 hours or less! This was until, the great hero Timothy, said we must take a path to shortcut the MOUNTAIN! Of course I argued and got absolutely nowhere.. So off we trot on the rocky, crumbling path.. We start to veer away from the ocean. We can see it but appear to be heading further and further inland and further and further upwards!! We are dripping with sweat - black leotard under the mini dress was not ideal hiking attire! We were starting to get a little worried about where the F*C$ING HELL we were going when we start to see people with hiking boots and poles coming down the track ahead - you know you're not on a beach walk when you see hiking poles and lesbian hiking boots hey Mum!!
Anyway, after many rolls of the ankles and ef-words, 3 hours later we finally reached the summit! I nearly cried I was so excited!! Admittedly the view was spectacular but when you are so puffed that you're seeing stars it was hard to appreciate it! The excitement soon turned into pain of the knees and ankles however as we began the steep hike down. It was so steep and the rocks all so crumbly that there were many slips and skinned knees. No biggy though it was just another HOUR to go??
We can now officially say, we have gone all the way down through a deep valley and up over a MOUNTAIN! Finally we reached the next village, sweating profusely, legs shaking, closely resembling panting like dogs with our tongues out and dying of thirst…
What a day… I had to keep reminding myself why I came on this trip and why I love Tim so much, I honestly thought I would knock his teeth so far down his throat, he would have to stick his tooth brush up his arse to clean them!! Never have we ever been so lost.
I shall leave you here, for those that have hung in this far we are truly grateful to you! Keep the comments coming, we love them!! Off to Florence next..
Til thenJ & T xxx
- comments
Robyn OMG what a hike! Jaz you crack me up..I needed the laughs! Thank you. Sounds like an amazing time and congrats on 3 years! XXX Robyn
Jan As I have said before, you have definitely missed your calling in life Jaz. Your blogs are absolutely fantastic. I always end up having a bit of a giggle. Hope you enjoy Florence and Rome. Can't wait for the next instalment. Love, J.