Sunday 4th May 2003
Introduction

--- READ THIS ---

Well, I'm home. And I've even sorted out most of my photos... My trip was cut short by two days due to SARS in Singapore. I hope they get it sorted because my 2 hour stopover in the airport hinted at what a great city it was.

This site holds my basic itinerary for my international trip as it was before I left. I am slowly updating this with actual events - but it all takes time.

The major addition worth noting is the photos. None of the photos you see are colour corrected, contrast level adjusted, or cropped. They are simply the shots straight off the camera and resized for the web (with a white border added). I've limited the number of shots online for bandwidth reasons. I took a LOT more photos than this, and of course they are a lot higher resolution. If you are interested in any higher resolution shots - or possibly other shots of the same item/area that I am bound to have, don't hesitate to ask. Also, I may be able to accommodate editing of the photo you want (levels, contrast, colour, cropping etc etc) if time permits, to bring it up to scratch.

A big thank you to Everyone on tour and whom I stayed with, I had a BALL!


-Anthony

Saturday 15th March
Melbourne 1250 1410 Sydney 1510 (West Coast USA) .....

My first international flight sees me spending nearly 24 hours straight on a plane.
I fly out at 12:50pm and am required to check-in 3 hours prior.
Good-bye Melbourne, see you in a month! The early check in was well worth it. I got Exit row seats all the way to New York on three different planes. Next time I'd go exit row window, instead of isle.

Saturday 15th March
1749 New York.

I land Saturday evening in JFK airport and catch the A-Train into Manhattan (a little intimidating). Changed trains at... 59th street. This new train takes me roughly to 81st and Columbus? and Felicity's hospitality is just a 2 block walk (5mins). Here's a map of Felicity's prime location! (she's moved two blocks North since, to ensure I can't ever find my way back ;). Dumped my pack and Fliss took me to a nice little Mexican place for a late dinner of enchiladas - with chocolate in the sauce. Interesting. I'd planned my sleeps on planes pretty well, so after 30+ hours travelling I was nice and tired and got a good nights sleep.

Sunday 16th March
New York.

Had a great day playing with Fliss and Georgie (another aussie, and fliss's flatmate Nick's sister... also bumming at the time like me in their grandeous flat ;) We had brunch at Georgie's work (I had TexMex eggs with potatoes, polenta and jalepeano jack cheese) walked around the city a lot - saw sites like ground zero and the financial district. Had coffees. Was great! And no jet lag! Dinner was at a little Italian place a block away on Amsterdam and 84th. With Felicity's help I think I recall a couscous, baked capsicum and sliced steak (rare, naturally) dish. Lovely.

Monday 17th March
New York.

This must have been Guggenheim day because I don't have photos. I paid US$15 to see Matthew Barney: The Cremaster. The Lloyd Write building is amazing.. the art was so-so. This was also St Patrick's Day so getting around was a bit of a hassle once I'd walked across Central Park past the Met (closed on Mondays). Streets were blocked off everywhere across the East Side for the big parade that runs up 5th Avenue. But I had a great day looking at weird art and wandering around the East Side. Fairly good wakeboarding water over there on the East River too... but a bit polluted. Fliss got my camera in the mail Monday night and I was soon charged up and ready for full day Tuesday playing with it.

That night we sat around the laptop (no TV!) and watched Bush's 8pm address to the nation outlining the 48 hours the USA was giving Saddam before they'd launch an offensive to force him out. Felicity cooked some beautiful salmon for us all for dinner and I met Nick who'd been away for the weekend. Bruce dropped in too, whom I hadn't seen sice he was in Oz ages ago. They all made me feel really welcome - although I'm quite sure I'd inadvertently stolen someone's usual bed. Nothing was said - everyone was too lovely!

Tuesday 18th March
New York.

By train first thing (9am!) down to Lower Manhattan and the Staten Island Ferry. Free, by the way. It's a pretty little ride past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. You get great views back toward the city too. Didn't get off the ferry of course, straight back to the big smoke thank you! I then wandered around through the financial district again, this time on a work day. Lots of security given the 9/11 and Iraq guff going on. Made my way by foot, and via a bagel with "locks" (cream cheese and salmon), up to the Empire State Building (US$10). I only had to que for about 20 minutes, which is apparently rather quick. Wandered over to Broadway, Times Square, the Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Central Station, and goodness knows where else, before taking a train home.

The weather was a balmy 17odd degrees C ever day with blue skies which was apparently a lovely change I managed to bring over from Melbourne with me. Jackets at night - but fairly mild. This evening we headed by train to some place in midtown (South of us, but not too far). We met Gerogie's friend, Victor, at a bar before the four of us met Nick at a nice little restaurant (run by Aussies?) for dinner. Very nice. Then we ditched Fliss and Nick (whom had work 1st thing the next morning) and took a cab to Alphabet City which was further East. We had a destination, and that was a little bar run by an Aussie. It was cool.. his name may have been Andrew... Adrian.. dunno. But he made great Mojitos.

I got home after 3am after finding out all about Georgie, Victor (7 years studying design!) and the barman. I was prepared for my last day in New York. Confident I wouldn't be seeing too much but the airport.

Wednesday 19th March
New York 1855 (London)

Yes, I had a hangover. Very nasty. Spent some time thinking about that for a while. Eventually got up and had a shower. Headed for the laundromat across the street and did my washing. Packed. Left by train for the airport. So much for seeing the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Next time. Got back out to the airport without any worries and time to spare. Almost had too much time really, as I saw lots of duty free and nearly bought a Swiss Military watch (turned out to be cheaper in NY airport than in Switzerland). Had a McDonalds Salad for lunch - got on the plane. Our Captain said we were running early and that was great, then we taxied for 45 minutes and then we were running late. Bring on Europe!

All in all had a great time in New York - Thanks Everyone!

Wanna see some pics now? (total page size 450kb)

Thursday 20th March
0650 London.

After an accelerated night on the plane of only a few hours sleep, and not many more without the sun, I arrived in England bright and early - 7am. Heathrow Airport doesn't believe in signs like "This way to catch a train to London" - so you need to know the brand names of the proprietary services and follow those signs. You read every sign, and still, nothing is obvious - so stupid. After buying a ticket, finding a train, and "watching the gap" (London public transport, in joke) I finally made it to Russell Square.

This is where Contiki have their base at the Royal National Hotel. Found it no dramas. Why was I there 4 days before my Contiki trip started? Because Contiki state that they have lockers available - which is what I needed so I could dump my pack for the day and go and see London, before heading up to Matty's where I'd be staying the next few nights.

After dumping the bag I had a coffee, spent some pounds on internet access and sent a few emails - then headed out into the big London adventure, part 1.

I walked around a fair bit. Through Soho, down past some big museum, to Oxford St. Around to Covent Garden markets, which were still shut at 9.15am. I was too early! How could that be, I've been up for ages! There was a movie being filmed down there, which I got a little action footage of. Kept walking until I hit the Thames - now I could see places of interest! The Millennium Eye or whatever their but ferris wheel is called was there, and Big Ben, and Tower Bridge.

I headed to the ferris wheel. Takes ages to get around it - so I didn't go on. I did go to the Dali exhibition right next to it though, which was really good. No photos allowed. Then off to Big Ben and the whole parliament area. There were lots of school kids playing "hippy" for the day in aid of protest from school and against war. They were obviously firm believers that the rest of the world really likes war and more importantly that the Iraqi people love their leader and wanted him to stay.

Enough politics. I wandered around a lot more. Got a baked potato somewhere for lunch. Then headed back to Russell Square, retrieved my backpack and caught the train up to Kentish Town. Matt had SMSed me directions to the key and I let myself in to their nice little pad. I spent some quality time veging on the couch with sore feet before the troops got in from work.

I hadn't seen matt for nearly 2 years! Hadn't changed a bit. Only Mia had an accent, and I gave her heaps of stick for it. Seriously thought she was a Pommy when we met.

Everyone was great (I only knew Matt previously) and I had a great time. But I didn't keep notes for London, so I'm going to struggle with what exactly we did...

Friday 21st March
London.

Day two. Took the train down to Kew Gardens in the South West first thing. It's out of town a bit, but not too far to be a hassle. The trains were great, and easy to use. Although the smell of home made pies and fresh baked goods was welcoming on the exit from the train station, big business doesn't let even these little quiet villages with their terrace houses go unnoticed. Starbucks had an empty store out here.

Kew Gardens are like London's botanical gardens. They were fairly cheap to get in to. You could buy a nice bit of lunch there. And there were hardly any people! The entire place was full of Spring blossom and flowers and it was really a top place to experiment with one's new digital camera. They have very old and extremely large greenhouses in Kew Gardens. One contains the world's largest indoor plant, and one has an aquarium underneath it. They have cactus buildings and orchid houses too. I spent ages there.

Some might say I spent too long at Kew Gardens. By the time I caught the train back to the Tower of London (where they keep the crown jewels) and Tower Bridge, they were shut to the public. I wasn't too disappointed. Seeing the jewels might have been cool. I managed to walk around some more and grab a couple photos of the sun setting before my second battery went flat.

Back to Matt's. Friday night we went to Brixton by train. Very dodgy end of London, plenty of drugs on sale for those that partake. Eventually we found the (LoungeRoom?) club we were looking for. Not surprisingly it was full of Aussies :) If you're not drinking with them in London, then they are the ones serving you drinks. Matt had a friend who did a DJ set which was super cool, and at smashedO'clock we tool a minicab home. Minicab is not a taxi, by the way. It's just any dodgy guy in a car who says "ya want a ride?" It's cheaper than cabs if you barter up a price in advance, and he drives you all home. Shady huh :)

Saturday 22nd March
London.

Welcome to the weekend. Uh, too tired. I got up early, then went back to sleep. Woke up at 4.00ish in the afternoon - can't say that was jetlag. I had a shower... did nothing. Got a kebab from Matt's local for dinner before heading out for another night on the town. We queued at an inner city "rave" club for awhile. Got knocked back on dress code. Wasn't too worried, it was 20 pound to get in (AUD$55) and I was still nackered from the night before.

We ended up having a quiet drink at a pub around the corner. Of course, every pub in London closes at 11pm. It's the law. So the streets get very busy right about then - cause they boot everyone out. So a bit of a walk around (Oxford St?) until we hit a club (name Matty? I canna remember). It was small, the DJ was good, it was small. Matty would prove a trooper by sharing the miniCab home, having the driver wait whilst he changed his shirt, then head back in to 20 pound club land for an all nighter. I piked and went to bed.

Sunday 23rd March
London.

Just as well I had gone to bed, because the food poisoning I had today (refer Kebab) was the worst of my life. I couldn't hold down food, let alone something as hardened as water. I did a load of washing whilst evacuating both ends and still wasn't holding down water when I stumbled out the door to make my way to Russell Square once again, to first contact with the Contiki group.

Signage at the Royal National and associated Contiki office is worse than Heathrow, by the way. I eventually got my room pass for the Royal National for that night from the Contiki office in the basement. Upon walking back up the stairs to street level myself and another Contiki customer witnessed a guy break into a car (by smashing a window) and stealing stuff from it. Nice. I was too exhausted to care, and he was off on his pushbike at a fair rate of knots anyway. The crime around Russell Square would be a little closer to home for others in the near future....

So, got my room, met Greg and Matt (Baby Matt) who happened to be sharing with me, and on the same tour and proceeded to have another go at throwing up water. Great. At 6pm we all trotted down for the pre-tour briefing from our trusty Tour Manager, Dave. He was very excited. I managed to sit through the whole meeting, before hitting the bathrooms violently again. The Contiki people were a great help though. They rang ahead to a late night pharmacy, gave me a map, and sorted me out a bus route to catch - and before you could say, "I'm almost too dehydrated to walk another step" I had drugs!

Time for bed.

Wanna see some pics of my limited London adventures now? (total page size 384kb)

Monday 24th March
Contiki Trip: European Experience, 20-day tour

Up at 5.30am to be ready at the bus at 6.00am. I'm still feeling bad, but drugs have curbed the vomiting. A Ribeana juice for breakfast and advice to stay off solid food from the Pharmacist until I finish the medication. So, we all have our 1 bag wieghed. Everyone is under the 20 kilo maximum we had been warned in advance about. 48 bodies a driver and a tour manager all onto the bus - bring on Dover.

NB: I copied the itinerary and map from the Contiki website. It's all last years information, but at a glance the itinerary is the same. They have changed "Volendam" to "Edam" on this years brochure map though... strange, except for the fact that we did go to Edam, and not Volendam.

Simply click a spot to read the itinery, or scroll down below to
read a day-by-day breakdown of the Contiki Tour.

Monday 24th March cont.
London to Paris. A warm welcome from your Contiki Crew as we head for the White Cliffs of Dover and the Channel crossing to Calais, France. Past World War I battlefields to the splendour of Paris. What better way to begin than with an evening tour of the city illuminations. Contiki Village (D)

The bus rules were basic and all well thought out. No drinking alcohol on the bus. No using the bus toilet for number 2s. Number 1s only in emergencies. Vomiting is to be contained within the "double bag" (two plastic bags, one inside the other). No hot food, or hot food wrappers (like old McDonalds bags etc). No greasy food. No milky substances, drinks and ice creams etc. And please, try not to get chocolate on anything.

Our first stop was Dover. The home of the white cliffs. Onto the ferry after a brief passport inspection and we were away. There's food and drinks on the ferry (not that I could have them, being so sick). Here you can spend pounds or Euros! How handy. There's also a big duty free store selling not-so-cheap compared with Australian duty free alcohol etc etc. I advise buying a couple of bottles of spirits here. It's still cheaper than buying it once you're in France, and cheaper than drinking out, even though you know nothing about room parties yet...

Calias is a hole. Industrial port really. The bus heads striaght for Paris.

Our first stop is at a what in Europe they call a "services". This is a truckstop. You get food here, petrol, there are toilets, you get the drift. They are a little more organised than Australian takeaway counters at the servo. These things are big, sometimes there are multiple restaurants, newsagency and minimart.

So our first French experience was going in and ordering lunch. I did okay - I was on an all fluids diet and not feeling so great so the "Evian Please" in French I could manage. No one knew the French word for water, so brandname goods were very popular. Everyone had Evian.

I very quickly referred back to English when I was overcharged by 10 euro ($20 Australian). Of course almost everyone knows a lot of English in Europe, everyone knows at least a little. All went well and I got my extra 10 euro note. Mental note, "Never trust the French". Only joking.

Onto Paris! We hooked up at our accomodation outside of the city at a caravan park with wooden cabins. 4 to a cabin, 2 to a room, a toilet and shower in the middle. Very cozy. We ate garlic snails which of course, are called something in French that I don't remember. But they are very yummy. Oh, are they "snails escargo"? Spelling is probably wrong, huh. Of course I was still meant to be on a liquid only diet so I compensated the snails by partaking in the french wine that went with it.

I have no recollection of what was going on for dinner that night. I think I had some vegetarian kebab-stick bbq things made for me especially (non-wheat diet). I got great treatment all over from the Contiki folks trying to help me eat a more or les Gluten free diet. What everyone else had is a mystery too me... it might have been chicken and potatoes and salad.

What's important is that we ate, and then we hit the bus into Paris for a bit of a night tour. This was when I took the night photos of Paris and we had a quick walk around the base of the Eiffel tower. We did a lap of the massive roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe. Very cool. It's a huge roundabout with no lane markings, maybe 8 lanes deep? About 8 main roads converge there and there are no traffic signals, lights or signs. The only rule is that you must give way to traffic entering the intersection... So getting on is easy!

Interestingly here no-one has insurance. It's famous for having one of the highest accident rates of any intersection in the world, so no car insurance or travel insurance cover you if you enter the intersection. Anyway, it was getting late, so back to the campsite for one and all. Some hit the campsite bar - I was completely drained from lack of food and the exhausting effects of that food poisoning. So I hit the hay.

By the way, you can look at Paris LIVE NOW and see what it's like, here.


Tuesday 25th March
Paris Sightseeing. On our included sightseeing tour we visit Nôtre Dame, view the Champs Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. There’s time to shop, stroll along the Seine or just relax at a sidewalk café. Tonight, why not experience a famous Parisian cabaret. Contiki Village (B)

After a hearty breakfast (my stomache was finally starting to feel better) we bussed back into Paris and stopped off at Notre Dame. It's a big, gothic, ornate cathedral. Very cool. Very old. Very rushed back onto the bus to head down the Champs Elysées which was lined with police in full riot gear (some important goverment person in the area, and dogey invasion of Iraq happening - so no chances were being taken) to the Arc de Triomphe where we were dropped off for the day. We took the walkway under the roundabout and came up in the middle.

No doubts about it, this thing is big. I paid the 7 euro or whatever to go to the top and wound my way up a tight spiral staircase. There's a museum up there inside... but it was boring and I was there for the view. No time to dilly-dally, after all we only have about 6 hours to play in Paris, total.

The views were good, but not as great as they could have been. The smog in the morning seemed worse than New York. We could just make out Sacre Cour on the hill. I'd recommend the trip to the top to one and all however. It was very beautiful.

Down the Champs to a McDonalds toilet stop. Occousted along the way by Japanese tourists who pay other tourists to buy them Louie Vatton handbags. They have a policy to only sell one bag to each passport. The Japanese take them home and sell them on the black market - so one is not enough. We declined the offer. We only had a few hours in Paris!

Next up I crossed the Siene and hit the Rodin Museum. A very reasonably priced garden full of the sculpter and artist's fine works and also an internal museum. and only 3 euro! Bargain. One thing the Contiki photocopied maps didn't show you, was which side of the block the hand numbered attractions' entrance was on. There was more than one occasion where we did a 3/4 lap of a city block only to find the entrance right near where we had started... dammit!

Onto a cafe and lunch was a point and smile routine which had me with a bottled water and a nice tuna salad before they could say, "Something I can't remember in French." Takeaway was the preferred option and I ate in a terrible location right on the river. Disappointing. After a bite to eat I entertained myself for a couple of hours in the Musee d'Orsay. Lots of Impressionist artworks that I had studied over the years and they also let you take photos! I like France!

They also had some interesting architectural drawings of many of the buildings in Paris. I got the impression they would have taken longer to draw than the did to build. So ornate are the recorded details.

Whew, what next. Back to the bus at the designated time and place, back to camp. This was washing time for me - unfortunately the instructions from Contiki about washing were not completely straightforward. For starters the lady in reception where we were told to buy laundry tokens didn't speak English. We got past that with the help from a Frenchman and me pointing towards my dirty laundry. It helps to have a prop. That went okay. Next problem was the instructions on the washer and dryer. I got the wash sorted, but unfortunately I would be taking a bag full of wet clothes to the next stoppover, as by the time I realised my dry token had been wasted on a "toss salad" setting that was void of any heat - the reception was closed, and with it my chance of another token.

So, off to dinner in Paris. An optional extra on the Contiki tour - which meant watered down wine and mediocre food. More snails were good... wine was bad - night was okay. It was good to sit down and have a chat with a few folks without the need to dash off somewhere. Of course we did have to dash off, we were late for the bus.

Another quiet one for me and my washing back at camp. I was still feeling the effects of not eating for two days. A good nights sleep was in order regardless, we were planning to squeeze in the Lourve in the morning.


Wednesday 26th March
Paris to Beaujolais Wine Region, Lyon. We travel south and stop at Fontainebleau to see the magnificent château. Then to the Beaujolais vineyards near Lyon and two nights in Contiki’s exclusive Château de Cruix. Contiki Special Stopover (B,D)

An early rise had us packed and fed and on the road to the Louvre as early as possible. Upon parking the bus we got the instructions we knew were inevitable. This was an unplanned stop simply in place to accomodate our desire to see the Louvre. But with the 45 minutes we had before needing to be back on the bus, it was unlikely our tastebuds would be satisfied. They were not.

After dashing from the underground carpark up into the lobby we bought tickets and consulted maps. We needn't have bothered - we had time to see only a very few things, and that may as well have been the Mona Lisa. So, in a staggered start almost everyone on the tour paid the entry fee of 7.50 euro and followed the little signs pointing the way to the smirking "lady". Touted of course, to be a disguised self portrait of the artist himself.

A quick whip around some of the other paintings in the vicinity, then high tailing it back to the bus. The only stops on the way for the token bottle of Evian and a .50 euro stop to a vending machine toilet. Onward to the Beaujolais region of central France. A serene area and one of France's wine growing centres.

(Diary Continued 8th March 2005!) -- From memory the drive south from Paris was mostly through farming areas. We had an hour or so at Fountainbleu, a big old estate that was no doubt very historically significant. We got to wander around the beautiful gardens and take some pictures. We didn't go inside.

I remember passing lots of tractors and frost covered laneways early in the morning. I don't think we actually saw snow though. We stopped for lunch at one of the huge fuel and food centres and had some lunch and toilet stops. I probably ordered some fried chicken thing and salad and water and paid a forture for it. I still have all the reciepts someplace! Most of my wheat-free lunches cost about 12 Euro, or AUD$25. They hurt, and I was usually still hungry.

Once we arrived at the Chateau de Cruix we got to work unpacking and getting our rooms. I was quick to set up my elastic clothes line across the room between bunks and hang out all my wet clothes from the Paris dryer disaster.

After a wander around the backyard, the just-thawed pool and our new residence we went across the drive and had a demonstration about how the wine on the property was made. Badly, is probably a good way to summarise. Pick the grapes, crush em, add suger and let it chrum for 3 months. Bottle and drink within 3 years before it turns to salad dressing! We had some tastings (eww) and some cheese.

I assume we all sat down for some chow then. I don't really remember. I probably bought some an internet token from the "bar" and went upstairs and used the internet on a weird french keyboard. It is so similar to the US keyboard, only a couple of keys are in different positions. And you have to use a 3-key combination to get the "@" symbol!

I'm pretty sure I had an early night. I was still recovering from my food poisoning and the only alcohol they were licensed to sell was wine (bad), beer and cider. All fairly average.

Thursday 27th March
Beaujolais Wine Region. Drink in the atmosphere, enjoy our included picnic lunch and explore the French countryside - the choice is yours. Contiki Special Stopover (B, Picnic Lunch, D)

Today was an event free affair. We had no choice but to buy a dogey bottle of wine from the Chateau to take on our picnic. I went halves with someone. So long ago I can't remember who. We walked up the narrow country roads and up the what they call The Top of The World. Really, it was just the top of the hill.

We all sat around and had our bread, cheese, fruit and stuff. Scoffed the bad wine and made our way down via another path. It was a nice walk and there was a nice view. Coming home we wandered through the desserted streets of the village. It was lunch time, nap time. We had been asked to be respectful of the French culture and to be quiet as we walked. Some of the guys found a cheap little store and bough a lot of beers at much cheaper than Chateau prices.

We veged out around the pool in the afternoon and played frizbee and stuff. Pretty mellow.

That night we hit "The Cave". This was essentially the bomb shelter of the Chateau converted into a disco of sorts. I assume during peak season it would have been awesome, but given the Chateau was only half full (ie, only our group), it was a limited good time. Not only in part, due to the lack of spirits available at the bar. I drank some bad wine and some worse cider to try and cheer up, and struggled.

Friday 28th March
Lyon to Antibes - French Riviera. Our route today takes us south along the Autoroute du Soleil to the Côte d’Azur. Make the most of this splendid region, visit Cannes before trying your luck in a Monte Carlo casino. Contiki Village (B,D)

From memory this day was not so special. We had breakfast, packed our stuff, had breakfast and left the Chataeu. One fun thing was that the showers at the Chateau weren't segregated. Boys showered in the cubicles alongside the girls. It made for interesting talks.

We never actually saw Lyon on our drive south, even though I had a friend living there at the time, we went around it. One guy in our group skipped the picnic yesturday and took taxis and buses into Lyon and found his friend. I was on holiday and decided to save the $100 or so it cost him.

We must have arrived in Carne after lunch. I don't remember being hungry. We checked out the hand-prints in the concrete tiiles around the waterfront venue where they hold the film festival every year. This was our first glimpse of the Mediteranian Sea. It looked very tropical blue in parts, but it was way too cold to think about swimming. We wandered around for an hour our so. I bought some chocolate treat at a store that only sold such treats. It wasn't great, but I ate it because it cost lots.

A couple fo the girls had really bad chest infections by this point. So we found a pharmacy and a Chemist (Apothicry? They use the Shakespearian term in France) who spoke English. He agreed to sell them some antibiotics without a perscription. He got a lot of business from our tour once word spread of his English speaking kind nature.

Back on the bus and we headed to Antibes. Just enough time to unpack the bus, make ourselves at home, and have a relaxing drink in the bar of the caravan park before we headed back out. Actually, I assume we had dinner here... I might have been on washing up duties actually. Anyway, back on the bus and off to Monacco and to the Monte Carlo F1 circuit and the Grand Casino! We also went for a wander up on the hill that overlooks the city and is home to the Aquarium and the Royal Palace. We didn't go into either.

There are lots of expensive cars in Monte Carlo. It is a tax haven and home to those who are rich enough to pay millions for residency. Michael Jackson and Madonna are said to have been knocked back upon application. Sometimes even money is not enough. Suffice to say, I didn't pay the $20 just to enter the Grand Casino. I walked through the front carpark, observed the opulance, and then retired to the lower paino bar casino and lounge.

I got some gaming coins, about $15 worth, and tried a poker machine. If I'd had any clues I'd have played blackjack or something, but I didn't. I lost all my tokens very quickly. The cheapest machine in the place was .50 euro per credit (line) so it disappears fast when you're losing.

We chilled in the lounge for awhile. Most of the group kinda ended up down there. There was some nice mix-ups with people disappearing at the end of the visit and I ended up sprinting back to make the bus pick-up time. Eventually everyone got accounted for, and I got some video footage of a Ferrari coming through the F1 track underpass. Perfect.

Wanna see some pics now? (total page size 935kb)

^ Back up to the map ^

Monday 14th April
0745 Singapore.

Tuesday 15th April
Singapore.

Wednesday 16th April
Singapore 0955 1910 Melbourne.



Of course my time in singapore was reduced from 2 days and 2 hours, to just 2 hours.

Monday 14th April
Singapore 0955 1910 Melbourne.