Parma

February 18

I left San Remo and continued driving east along the Italian Riviera.  My destination: the gorgeous craggy cliff towns of the Cinque Terra. But as I drove, I realized that I didn’t want to spend any more time by the beach. I adore beaches (and mountains), but I’m here in February. All of my time spent in these wonderful locations (Nice, Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, San Remo) is like a big tease. I want to swim in the Mediterranean, layout slathered in coconut-scented sunscreen, drink an umbrella drink and eat seafood at a beachfront restaurant. But it’s cold and I’m wrapped in layers of scarves. A quick check of my iPhone and I see that the best hotels are closed and the ones that are open looked pretty blah.  So, by the time I drove up  the coast and around to the La Spezia peninsula where the Cinque Terra begins, I had decided to change my plans. I’d drive inland and save the Cinque Terra region for later in my trip, when, I reasoned, more hotels would be open.

I decided to drive across Italy to the east coast to visit Ravenna and San Marino, another of the worlds tiniest countries! To get there, I’d drive through Parma, birthplace of parmesan cheese!

I stayed  in Parma at an incredible 5 star hotel called Park Hotel Pacchiosi. My room was absolutely luxurious!  There were 20 foot ceilings, an amazingly perfect bed, a chandelier over the bed, a gorgeous bench and a beautiful rug. 

And then I saw the bathroom and literally started laughing..that's how happy I was!

Huge vanity and marble EVERYWHERE.

There was even a huge 12 foot wide double shower.  So, of course, I turned on both and walked from side to side.  Ahhh, the joys of a great hotel!

After a ridiculously long shower, I decided to get all gussied up and treat myself to a nice dinner. It felt really good to get all cleaned up and even better to have an awesome meal.

I love when my place setting includes 6 glasses. There are separate glasses for water, prosecco, white wine, red wine, dessert wine and an apertif/digistif.

I started with sparkling prosecco called Cartizze.

 And of course, in Parma, they serve you a few big chunks of awesome parmesan to nibble on.

Next, the chef sent out a few special appetizers just for me.  Smoked salmon, anchovy mousse and a third thing I've forgotten.

For a main course, I had asparagus and proscuitto rissoto with parmesean cheese and my favorite, Chianti.

And of course, I had to treat myself to dessert and cappuccino.

After my awesome meal, I went back to my hotel room and discovered that they had FREE movies in ENGLISH on the TV.  I snuggled into my comfortable bed with a glass of wine and drooled over Jeremy Renner in the Bourne Supremacy and laughed at Despicable Me 2. 

Ahhh... the joys of vacation! 

Tiny country: MONACO!

This is part of 4 posts on Nice, Monaco, Carnavale and Antibes and Cannes.

• All about Nice, France. Check it out...! 
• If you want to read about Carnavale... Check it out...! 
• My tiny country profile of Monaco...read below!
• Antibes and Cannes is where I fell in love with yachts. Check it out... !

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About 45 minutes up the coast from Nice is the 2nd smallest country in the world...the Principality of Monaco.

Now, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I'm planning to visit 4 tiny countries on this trip: Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco and Vatican City.  I love learning about their tiny rules, regulations and histories!

A few fun facts about Monaco:

• home to only 35,000 people but 125 nationalities
• 0% unemployment and 0% income tax
• citizens of Monaco are NOT allowed to gamble or visit the casinos, including the famed Monte Carlo
• Monaco has a small military of about 100 people, but no navy or air force
• France is responsible for defending the country if attacked by another nation
• Monaco has a massive police force, with just 500 police officers for 33,000 people.  
• the Monaco Grand Prix has been held since 1929. 
• It takes 6 weeks to set up the circuit and 3 weeks to take it down 
• the flag is identical to the Indonesian flag

Sunday afternoon, we drove from Nice up the coast to visit the tiny country. It was a cloudy day but warm and the drive was nice. The water was beautiful and I just wanted to drive all day.  

We arrived and parked in the marina area...not realizing how far we were from the Monte Carlo, which you can allllmost make out high on the hill behind us.

The marina area was very pretty... lots of cafes and restaurants spilling out onto the sidewalks and great views of the country/city built into the hill.

And of course, what's a marina without some boats?

But this is Monaco... so the boats put all other boats to shame. There are yachts...

And then there are YACHTS....(look at the very top of the photo...)

After checking out the yachts, we started the trek up the hill. It was surprisingly hard to find the Monte Carlo casino, but that was probably just because we came up the hill in a strange way. But it made for some great views!

We saw this plaque dedicated to Princess Grace of Monaco.  Of course, we Americans know her as Grace Kelly, the actress who met Prince Ranier III of Monaco and married him in 1956.  Isn't that every little girls dreams, to marry a prince? Sadly, she died at the age of 52 when she accidentally drove her car off a cliff near Monaco.  It was nice to see this tribute to her.

 Walking around in Monaco, you realize quickly there is no shortage of opulence, wealth and gorgeous architecture!

Apparently, Monegasques appreciate the finer things in life.

French...

 And Italian...

Finally, this sign let us know we were on the right track.

In my head, I could almost hear the James Bond theme song starting up.  (James Bond visits the famous Monte Carlo casino in at least 2 Bond movies... Never Say Never Again and Golden Eye. I think there might be a third, but it escapes me at the moment!)

And then, I was busy photographing this gorgeous building....

I didn't realize that behind me, we'd finally found the world famous Monte Carlo casino...!

 Here's a better view... (i.e. a photo I didn't take!)

The casino has a strict dress code, does not permit smoking, doesn't allow residents of Monaco to enter, and of course, you must be 18 years old. It also doesn't open until 2 on Sunday, which we didn't realize.  We decided to have lunch at the Cafe de Paris right next door. It has a huge patio with extraordinary views of the casino and courtyard, where all the fancy cars are parked. 

It was at the Cafe de Paris that I ate the most expensive cheeseburger and fries of my life.  I paid  27€, or about $37.50.  And it wasn't cooked enough. I'd asked for med-well. It came med-rare. When he came back to the table 30-ish minutes later, the waiter was very snooty and seemed annoyed when I only ate half of my $37.50 burger.  He asked if there was a problem and I admitted it wasn't cooked to my liking.  He seemed hostile the rest of the meal, as though I'd done something to offend him. $37.50 gets you lots of French attitude.

Oh, but there are two things more worth remembering than the snotty French waiter.  

1. The two women lunching next to us ordered RAW hamburger patties with french fries.  My mom, dad and I almost died! In my entire life, I've never seen anything like that. Just a raw ball of meat on a plate. They are it with a fork and acted like it was delicious. Yuck!

2.  I'm 98% certain Ralph Lauren was sitting at the table behind us. He was tall, white hair, dressed impeccably and wearing a pair of loafers that cost more than my first car. Probably more than all of my cars.  

After lunch we headed over to the casino. The interior was gorgeous! 

                                        

The bathroom had way too many mirrors - a girl could get lost in those mirrors.

The bar was made of these draped, gorgeous crystals.

Mom and I explored every inch, including this empty staircase to nowhere. Photo op!

We gambled a bit, and my mom was the big winner. She pocketed almost 9€ you guys!

But perhaps my favorite part of the Monte Carlo was the area outside, where all of the expensive cars were parked.  I've never seen so many expensive cars all in one area.  Lamborghini's, Ferraris, Maserati,  Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce, all lined up one after the other.

My mom looks so adorable next to this Rolls Royce...

But, the only way to tell the residents from all the others is this, the coveted Principality of Monaco license plate.

After looking (drooling) at the cars for awhile, the afternoon was winding down and it was time to return to Nice. The sun was starting to set as we walked down the hill to the marino where I parked the car. We walked slowly, looking at the architecture, the yachts, the beautiful, blue water that stretched out into the horizon forever. We looked in shop windows, pointed to things of interest, and tried to absorb every sight, sound and smell. We wandered past one shop window displaying Grand Prix trophies and winner photos.

I think we all did our best to walk as slowly as possible.  Because really, I doubt anyone ever wants to leave Monaco...