Captain Giske promised us rain for our first day in Monte Carlo, but we awoke to sunny skies and this view from the balcony. We were happy to enjoy our coffee and muffins watching the tender boats .
We jumped on a tender around 11:00 am, then walked along the pier in search of the Hop on Hop Off bus. Along the way we came upon this bronze of Juan Manuel Fangio…his 3 Grand Prix victories were enough for him to win the 1951 World Championship.
November 1 is a holiday in Monte Carlo and there were limited HOHO busses running. We waited about 15 minutes, engaging in conversation with a very nice couple from Montreal, their son owns a business in Huntington LI…near where Timmy worked. The bus came and was full…standing room only, the couple in front of us demurred and we hopped on. I climbed the steps and hung on, taking these snaps.
We all live all live in a yellow submarine.
Timmy parked himself in the only spot he could find. Sure, we could have waited for the other HOHO bus to come along, but I’m not the most patient person and Timmy never says no. (Just one of his many charms).
After one stop, some folks got off…and at the next stop we moved to the front row seats…just like Bob Uecker.
The ride along the coast was delightful, allowing for many photos, including this one of Serenity.
We also came upon the Changing of the Guard…we had a nice viewpoint from atop the bus.
More pics.
We walked around the waterfront enjoying the ships in port and a small pop up carnival…lots of families out and about.
Seeing the young children caused me to miss our lovebugs. We walked a bit; found a souvenir shop, purchased postcards and some beautiful stamps. After writing the postcards we headed back to the Crystal tent, enjoying some orange juice while waiting for our tender back to Serenity.
A nice young man took this pic of us.
As it was relatively warm, we took our lunch outside on Watersides’ deck, enjoying the view and just being grateful for this wonderful life.
The wind began to pick up so we headed to the Bistro for dessert. The Bistro is open from morning till evening, offering a wide variety of yummy snacks.
By now, it was after 3, chilly and overcast, so we did what we do best…repaired to our cabin…Timmy napped, I read and attempted to upload photos to the Cruise Critic site and this blog. After many failed attempts, I headed to the super nice folks in the Computer Center who told me that the issue is not my ineptitude, rather a function of being in the boat basin…tons of ambient interference. On the way back to our cabin, I popped into Prego and made some additional reservations for the remainder of our voyage at both Prego and Umi Uma- the Nobu Matsuhisa restaurant on board. It’s Nobu’s only sea-going restaurant.
Speaking of Umi Uma, we enjoyed a wonderful dining experience with our new friend Steven. We met in the Cove for the requisite cocktails. Timmy and I ordered Lemon Drop Martinis in the spirit of James Bond, Steve sipped an Aperol Spritz.
Among the wonders that we delighted in : lobster tacos, lobster tempura, tuna tartare, warm mushroom salad, soft shelled crab spring roll and Waygu beef.
This steel cask Chardonnay is really delicious… no oak😊
Steve opted for green tea ice cream, Timmy had chocolate soufflé cake with sesame ice cream, I went with the Whiskey Cappuccino and loved it.
Another wonderful day and evening.
