Monte Carlo, Monaco….Al gets to go gamble!

 Today we entered Monaco.  Just docking ,you will realize that you are somewhere special.

 The only part of Monaco I will see today is from the balcony of my room. My bronchitis has got the best of me today an even though my mind wants to participate, my body says “stay in Bed”. So Im including the pictures Al took and again, his outstanding commentary.

 One thing we have notices is the port dogs… Every single port has had random dogs that roam the port area and never harass or bother passengers. This one was more friendly than usual.

 One of many many yachts moored in the harbor. Lots of money sitting in port! Heading up hill to the town

 The aquarium

 Outside the aquarium

 Entrance to the aquarium

  

The people of Monaco absolutely loved Princess Grace. 

Part of the harbor from above

 Botanical gardens

 An interesting statue Prince Albert the navigator 

 Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate

 Where Princess Grace is entombed

 City scapes

 The royal palace

Panorama of the palace

 In a few weeks the F-1 will be found careening around these city street for the Monaco Grand Prix race.  Al managed to grab a few pictures of the raceway

Now when we watch this on tv He will be able to say he knows where things are!

And now to the big event: the Monte Carlo Casino. It costs 17 Euros just to enter, a passport showing you are not a resident of Monaco ( not allowed to gamble) ,be dressed without shorts, sandles,or casual wear.. opens at 2pm and elegant casual dress code. After 6pm the dress code is Tux and gowns..

Albert got chips for blackjack table where minimum bet is $25. He gambled for a half hour and came back with a cash out ticket for 0.23 Euros.. There were only photos allowed in the entrance.

He had fun!  Tomorrow we head to Barcelona Spain for our next adventure.

One of us Stays and one of us goes…Civitavecchia and Rome

 Today we awake in the Port of Civitavecchia.. The port for Rome.  Rome is about one hour fifteen minutes away from here. Ive been feeling kinda tired so Ive chosen to skip Rome until another visit and just stay in port while Albert will jump on the bus for a tour of Rome. The port is very pretty and we have very nice weather today so a simple walk around town will be my adventure. Those are the pictures I’ll post first. Susan decided to stay behind also so I will have a friend to keep me out of trouble….

 At the entry to the port there is a large fortress  Fort Michelangelo. It currently houses the city and port authority offices

Interesting sculpture

 A large boardwalk with a gigantic sculpture of a navy boy kissing a girl.

Along the port

 Pizza!

 Veggie Pizza!

Susan and I had one errand to complete.. Find me some cough medicine and some antibiotics.  Once again I seem to have bronchitis. I think it was triggered by the immense amounts of cigarette smoke in the public since Greece. Anyway, my job was to find a Farmacia and get results.

And I was successful! Along the Main Street (up above picture) we saw the customary green cross and I proceeded to buy the Z-PAC Im hoping will do the trick.

After the success of our errand there was nothing left to do but walk around and look for Pizza and wine!

We left the Main Street and walked to the boulevard that overlooks the harbor.  

 Art in front of the local theatre

 The theatre building 

 Duck and blue egg….

 We got Oysters!! So sweet and fresh from the harbor across the street!

 And Four cheese Pizza!  Like a giant cheese crisp!

On our way back to the ship we found this interesting sculpture.. from close up it is a collection of rods..but from afar:

 

 

And that’s my day!  Next I will include Al’s pictures of Rome.  I can’t remember all the captions, so just enjoy the pictures and I;; try to caption them later.

 The dark spot was a circle on the bus window! Al says some Roman dude is buried in it.

 One of the arches in Rome. Al can’t remember the name

 A cool house on one of the hills of Rome.

  Al says “ another cool building”

 The coliseum 

 He thinks this is part of some wall that went around Rome

 Another nice building 

  Saint Peter’s square and the white line is the border

 The colonnade around the Vatican

 Maybe a sculpture of a bunch of Jewish people  

 Al swears this might be someone important!

 The front door of Saint Peter’s that Al couldn’t sneak into.

 Looking out of the front door of the Vatican at Rome

 Al say’s a cool looking fountain with statues on a bridge

 Vatican Swiss Guards

And I’m sure now you can see the difference between Al’s sightseeing and mine! But he does assure me he had an awesome time seeing cool stuff in Rome!

On the way back, from a Mountain View point you can see our ship .. Its the little one between the big boys!