Europe 2011 - Day 6

Our first port – Monaco and Monte Carlo.

Part of the harbor

The first picture is what we awoke to, the harbor.

We are docked right next to the mega-yacht, Atlantis II which was built in 1981 and is the 17 largest moor yachts by length in the world! It is 380’ long – wow.

Then next to it was the Lady Moura. When it was launched in 1990 it was the 9th largest yacht in the world and now it is just the 25th. It is owned by a Saudi businessman and is 344 feet long. The lettering on the sides and the back are 24 caret gold. Yes, yes, the rich are different.

When we left the ship, we walked into the old city and then took a ½ hour tram ride around the country of Monaco and the city of Monte Carlo. It was fun little ride and it shows you just how small and rich this country is. There are only 32,000 inhabited in the entire country and there sure are a lot of yachts.


Two mega-yachts next to us

 We then walked around the city, ate at a little café on the street and then walked back to the ship.

After changing, we walked to the local bus stop and took a bus to the only beach area in the country. It was interesting in that the beach had no sand but small pebbles. There were several sections of the beach, some owned by private companies and some owed by the country.

We stayed till late in the afternoon and then took a bus back to the waterfront and walked along the docks looking at all the yachts. It was amazing to us that you could walk right up to these yachts and no one would stop you. Of course I am sure you would have a problem boarding any of the big ones.  (Astrid and Maurice - no one even notice Barb here!!!)

The tram

When we got back to the ship we got a couple of pieces of pizza for a snack and then went and took a jacuzzi.

Dinner was fine and we were short one couple and last night she had been sick so we hope she is still not sick.

After dinner, we skipped the welcome aboard show because we have seen it many times before and it is just a bunch of introductions with just a little bit of entertainment.
 

The beach

So the next thing to do is to go to the casino and play for our first night. We had fun and also spent most of the time meeting the staff. Our host offered to send us to the extra charge steakhouse, so we will do that at a later date in the cruise.

Tomorrow is Marseilles, France and we were able to do a little research on it tonight so it should be fun to see this new city.


Pebbles on the beach - no sand



Night for now.