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I'm now in Nice. I arrived this morning at 4 am on a bus.
But...before I get into that I must mention a few things from yesterday.
So yesterday in Barcelona I woke up and had breakfast, where I met a girl who had just been in Cinque Terre in Italy. After talking about where she stayed and how incredible it was for awhile I met up with Luke and we headed into town. We visited the Joan Miro gallery which was super cool. I loved all his work and there was one piece (by a different artist) that was just an entire wall of dart boards, and then two boxes of darts for you to throw. (See photos) After that we headed back into town but first we passed the Olympic Pool. It's pretty cool how it is built on the hillside so onlookers can see all over the town and to the ocean. Well.... our tour guide from the bike tour had talked about how he likes to jump the fence and go swimming there and then just hops out and jumps the fence once the fat security guards come. So... of course as we passed it Luke was like "hmm... I wonder" So we spent awhile debiting if we should or he should and ultimately we chickened out. We chickened out means I did, mostly because I had my bike and bag with me and had to leave on a bus 2 hours later. So we started to leave when he was like... well I just want to see if they are even going to react. So next thing I know this crazy Canadian is hopping the fence and walking around the Olympic Pool taking photos and then, pop, hes back over the fence again. He said that he was going to try and go back the next day and do it when he didn't have his bag and had someone else who didn't have theirs either.
Then after sharing a big dinner of some yellowy rice stuff and meat (I don't even know what kinda food it was I think Indian) I headed to the Bus station and boarded for Nice. We were supposed to leave at 5pm... and it wasn't until 6 that we even started moving. Then we stopped to pick up more people on the other side of Barcelona before continuing. When I first got on the bus and everyone had boarded I was actually kind of excited. For the first time ever I had 2 seats to myself. Finally. Or so I thought. I actually didn't hold onto much hope of it. So in my journal it literally says "This might be the first time I get a row to myself. That is if no one joins later." Sure enough at the first stop before even leaving Barcelona on comes a slew of people and plop...next to me is a girl in her mid twenties. At first I was a little upset, but it turned out to be better than having the seats to myself anyway. Her name was Julian (I hope I spelled it right) and she grew up in Spokane but currently lives in San Fransisco. We talked for a LONG time. I actually felt pretty bad for all the people around us, but.... it was really nice to have someone to talk to that knew of the northwest and had lived there. Anyway after talking for about 5 hours we both decided we should get some sleep. So we did. Before going on though I must say that once again it was assumed that I was older than I am. I have not as of yet had anyone even come within 3 years of how old I am. The youngest I've had is 22 and the majority guess 24... she guessed 26. Which is also strange since she was 25. Hmm...
ANYWAY. So at 4am (surprisingly and somewhat magically the bus ACTUALLY arrived on time... WOW) we arrived in Nice and I hopped off the bus... or more-so dragged my tired, sleep deprived body from the bus. "Now what" I thought. It's 4am I don't have a hostel booked, I hardly even know where one is and even if I did I wouldn't really want to check in... so what now. Well... once again God provided. While standing and thinking and deciding what to do God answered my silent prayer. Another girl who I had talked to before getting on the bus and happened to live in Nice was also trying to figure out how to get to her apartment at 4am. So she asked me what I was doing. "Well I don't have any plans. It's 4am and I'm trying to figure out what to do". So to make a long story short (TO LATE) I told her I'd walk her home so she wouldn't have to pay for a taxi and so she wouldn't get mugged and to give me something to do and an idea of how the town is laid out. I also hoped that possibly I'd find a hostel or something to do on the way there. Well.. God one-upped my hopes and so once we arrived at her apartment she offered me the spare room that currently was without a roommate. WOW. It was super nice to have my own room and also kinda made me feel like I lived there.
So ya. God totally provided. Granted it was really just a bed from 5am - 10am but boy was it nice to sleep in a bed with no one else in the room or for that matter to simply be in a bed at 5am. So once again let's all send a blessing on this wonderful girl. Her name was Oana and she was also from California but is currently an assistant English Teacher in France.
So then today....
After waking up in the flat/apartment and taking I shower I said goodbye to Oana and headed into the town. I tried to figure out where to get a bus ticket ...but couldn't... so I took that as God's sign of telling me to take a train to Cinque Terre (he has really seemed to be pointing me there). So I headed to the train station and booked a ticket for tomorrow at 9:23am. Then I got back on my bike and headed to the beach. Now I must say I only kind of agree with all the people I've met who said the beaches of Nice are NOT nice. I will say they seemed pretty crowded and they are big pebbly rock beaches...but I also must say the water looks BEAUTIFUL and if you go farther down the coast it really is extraordinary where all the old run down buildings and walls and whatever make up the coast line. I saw some kids jumping off this one platform/staircase thing and lots of other people just sitting on the giant rocks or ruined staircases along the coast. Anyway. I kept biking and biking until I reached Monaco. Whhich... really is a sucky ride. Now I admit the scenery was beautiful. Being along the coast for most of it and seeing the beautiful water and big houses was nice.... what wasn't so nice was everything else. For one it was super warm... and very very hilly. Which meant I felt silly biking on my folding bike that's way to small, carrying a backpack full of my stuff, in my flip-flops and cargo shorts and without a shirt on. It just made me feel all the more dorky/geeky when I would get passed by one of the 9 Ferraris I saw, or the Maserati, or Lotus, or Tesla, or Bentley or even... one of the SEVERAL bikers going by on there fully carbon fiber bikes with clip-in pedals and full biking gear. Now the second thing that was super annoying is that the road is super narrow, and even more narrow is the sidewalk...if there even is one. Or... if there was a sidewalk and it was narrow or not it would be bumpy and made of gravel. FAIL! I don't know why so many people had said it's a nice bike ride. I mean.. ya if the roads are closed and your doing the Tour de'France maybe!
So nonetheless I can say I did it. I reached Monaco which honestly was really rather disappointing. Short of it being almost impossible to get out of there wasn't much to see short of huge hotels and giant yachts. LAME.
Two things I did learn...or I choose to believe. One is that I believe they purposefully make it hard to get out of Monaco or for that matter anywhere in Monaco because it means if you are rich and have a nice car you get to spend more time in it showing it off...I mean honestly if it was straightforward you'd only be in your car for 30 seconds...or you'd walk. Secondly I believe that they also purposefully chose to create tunnels on the way to and from and in Monaco simply so the rich people with their fancy cars can drive through them while revving the engine so it reverberates and sounds cool. Which, admittedly, it does. Still. I rather disliked Monaco and so ... not wanted to bike all the way back and have people yell at me for blocking the road again and arriving at 9pm back in Nice... still not knowing where I was spending the night.. I splurged and took a bus.
So now here I am ... sitting in the Hotel Antares about to go to bed. It's actually pretty cool. They have the entire hotel part and then behind it is what feels like a pool house for the dorms. Free wifi, free breakfast and a cool atmosphere for 22 Euros a night and I'm RIGHT across from the train station. Pretty sweet!
Anyway... another long post simply telling what I've done and nothing super exciting. So ya. Thanks for staying updated AGAIN. I miss you all.