Oh Monaco, how I loathe thee.
I remember it like it was yesterday. My friend Mindy and I had just wrapped up our stay in Nice, France and decided that enroute to Cinque Terre, Italy we would make a brief stop in Monaco.
Located on the coast, sunny, wealthy – we had to see it.
Leaving about 3 hours between trains to stash our bags in a locker at the train station, we would walk through the city/country, visit Grace Kelly’s grave, the Monte-Carlo Casino & the castle then bounce out before we could spend a single euro.
Once we arrived, we quickly discovered a glitch in our plans: we could not leave our luggage in the train station. It gets worse. You can’t leave your bags ANYWHERE in Monaco, unless you are spending the night.
Uh oh.
Monaco is hot and Monaco is hilly. Carrying around our bags in the midday sun and heat would pretty much kill us. We quickly opted to walk down through some beautiful fountains to the pier right next to the Monte Carlo Casino.
Once we made it, we sat in the shade breathing in the fresh air and chatting our adventures together so far. The key in these scenarios is being able to laugh it off and go with the flow. That we did.
Before heading out, I captured this shot as a memory to the time I visited the Monte Carlo Casino. The juxataposition of me dawning a gorgeous tank and flag covered backpack outside one of the most famous and expensive casinos in the world is marvelous.
What you don’t see is the lamborghinis & porches parked around us. We got many a look.
Too funny.
So, if you visit Monaco, stay the night or don’t bring your bags.
To laugh some more, check out the Monaco video here on the blog.
Have you been to Monaco? Did the same thing happen to you?