European Adventure - Day 5

Well after a few days break, I'M BACK!!!! And now we can continue on the European adventure...

Day 5 dawned, and once again, we woke up early because this was the day we all had been waiting for...THE MONACO GRAND PRIX!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! With a bounce in our step we made our way to the train station to catch a ride to Monaco. When we stepped out into the streets in Monaco we all were in awe because soon we would watch one of the most (if not the most) historic races! We started wandering the streets of Monaco and, of course, came across some Ferrari's.

 Then the next order of business was to find food (food is definitely a priority in my life!). With our sustenance in our hands, we decided to make our way to the race track area. One of the first areas we came acrossed was the street with the starting grid. Super exciting! Then we found the marina and the grandstands there. Every moment the excitement kept growing. Oh. My. Gosh. We were in Monaco about to see an F1 race!

 It was still early (the race didn't start until mid-afternoon), but we decided to make our way to our seats to get the best view possible. Our tickets were for a hillside view, which means there wasn't actually seats. You just got to find a spot on the dirt/grass/rocks. Or if you were like the genius folks close to us, have a swing built on the hillside to watch race from (mental note: next time I go to Monaco for the race, bring a swing. That should fit on the plane as carry-on, right?).

Walking up to our seats.

Such a cute couple!

The view from our seats.

I started taking random pics. This is what happens when you sit on a hillside for hours waiting for a race

Pit lane

That's my yacht...don't I wish!

 

I got to sit on a rock, while these three amigos were in the dirt in front.

Got to spend hours sitting on a hill taking random photos, visiting, reading books on my phone, gazing out on the horizon, eavesdropping on nearby conversions, and watching two pre-races (F2 and something else).

After all that, it was finally time for the drivers lap.

Lewis Hamilton...GO HAMMIE!!!!

 

Only Lewis, only Lewis. Apparently it's too far to walk back to the pit lane. :)

And then....the race!!!!

GO HAMMIE!!!!

We actually had a really good view of the race. Most places in Monaco, you are only able to see a small portion of the track. From the hillside, we were able to see most of the track and race which was awesome! The race results, not so awesome. Hamilton got 3rd. :( Despite not winning the race, it was an AWESOME experience!!!!!

We then joined the masses leaving the hillside, slowly we crept forward until reaching main streets. Instead of following the masses to the train station, we decided to meander the streets of Monaco. Plus, we really wanted to see the Monte Carlo Casino. :)

Can you find the princess in the tower?

So this is where the 1% hang out.

The hairpin turn in front of Monte Carlo Casino

Casino de Monte-Carlo

They rolled out the red carpet just for me. :)

After gambling away our life savings (just kidding), we made our way to the train station, which still was packed and pushed our way onto the next train back to Nice. Of course, when we got back to the flat it was decided that we needed food. I was craving some crepes, so we looked up a close crepes restaurant and made our way there. However, when we arrived we were informed that we needed a reservation. The best part, there literally was two people eating there and the restaurant closed in an hour. Hmm. Weird. Anyways, we found another close place that had crepes and ate there.  I had a chocolate nutella crepe. Ooolaaalaa!!!! So delicious!!!!!! Thus ends a wonderful day.

To be continued....

"That's All Folks!"