I have just eaten the most insane amount of food at an Italian restaurant here in Nice. I am struggling to stay awake….you know how pasta works. Pasta turns to sugar, pops the glucose level in your body and then drops it in about a minute. Thus, lethargy and sleepiness. I’m there. But, I wanted to be sure that you had an update on our activities for today.
I may have mentioned this in a earlier post. Nice is very close to the Italian border. So, there are some things in the city that seem French and some things that seem Italian. This is reflected in the food choices. Last night, we definitely went French…tonight, definitely Italian. We have had a very varied diet while in Nice including our Franco Japonais meal that I told you about a few days ago. By the way, that meal was spectacular too. We had spring rolls, chicken with sesame sauce and a pork dish made in a Japponais style. For dessert, Mike had a lavender rice pudding and I had a ginger creme brûlée. What an interesting mix of cultures. It was delicious.
Because Nice is so close to the Italian border, we decided we would cross into Italy today to check out San Remo, probably the largest city on the Italian Riviera. Honestly, this was not my favorite day. It was expensive to go by train and when we got there, it began to rain. So, we spend a lot of time in a cafe waiting for the rain to stop. We really didn’t see much of what was there. From what I have read, San Remo is a bustling sea front town. I’m guessing that the waterfront area is very similar to that of Nice. We observed that as we looked out of the train windows on our way to and fro. There is also a Casino, which brings in a lot of people from other areas like Monte Carlo does. However, the scale is much smaller. There is also a central town where there is a lot of upscale shopping supported by those who are coming to gamble.
I did manage to make some observations about the town and people (I always do). Here’s what I saw.
There are no traffic lights in San Remo. Each time we crossed the street, we took our lives in our hands. There were the usual markings alerting the drivers that pedestrians may be crossing. However, the cars just kept moving along despite our best efforts to cross. On our last crossing as we watched the cars speed by, Mike looked at me and said, “I am going to be bold and cross now. But, you need to stay right with me. If you don’t, you will get hit and I will leave you behind.” Very harsh….We made it across, but by the skin of our teeth. WOW! I am grateful to be alive!
There were numerous traffic circles where we spent some time watching the Italian drivers chasing each other round and round and round the circles. There was lots of horn blowing and hand gesturing, which was unrecognizable to me. I’m assuming these gestures hold the same weight as profanities or the chin flip that you sometimes see in Italy. Almost witnessed a crash, too. I’m really not sure. But, it was pretty comical! Apparently, there are no rules in the traffic circle.
The Italian trains have a different type of ambiance than the French trains. Neither can even touch the Swiss and German trains in terms of comfort and cleanliness. But, the French trains have the edge over the Italian ones. The seats on the Italian trains were molded out of plastic rather than the cloth covered seats of France. The molded plastic was sending my sciatica and back issue into a tail spin. It was actually easier for me to stand than sit on the seats! Mike expressed his opinion that the seats were probably designed by Quasi Moto. He would be the only one that would be comfortable. Who knows!
The Italian trains also have a very interesting display of local artwork on board in the way of graffiti. On the way back, we struggled to find a window that we could actually look out of.
I, of course didn’t bring an umbrella with me. When we left the hotel, it was pretty sunny. I figured I was golden. I was wrong. About 45 minutes in to our visit, it started to rain….hard. As soon as it started to rain, some middle eastern men came out of nowhere with collections of umbrellas for sale. Of course, they approached me. I resisted at first. But, as the rain continued, I changed my tune and began to negotiate for the best price. The man that finally made the sale lowered his price from $6.00 Euros to $2.50 Euros. SOLD! I am quite the negotiator. Once I made the purchase, though, they continued to solicit me to buy more umbrellas. They wouldn’t take no for an answer. After some discussion and reassurance that, no, I was not going to buy any more umbrellas, they gave up and walked away. Mike and I had quite a discussion about this. His theory was that they had identified me as a “mark” and figured that I would buy another umbrella for him. Ha! Fooled them!
One other oddity of the day….we happened into a yacht club and had a cup of coffee. I turned and looked behind me and there was a ceramic woman right next to me. (Remember the ceramic girl and ceramic heads from the Negresco Hotel?) She was very elegant…all covered in gold paint. The strange thing about this woman, though, is that she didn’t have a head. Instead, she had a lamp shade where the head should be. I’m still trying to figure out the point of this. Is there some symbolism that I am missing? Don’t know… I’m wondering if the head is hanging on the bathroom door of the Negresco? It’s a troubling thought….
Around 4:00, I had had all the fun I could take and we went back to the train station and headed back. We got back to the hotel around 7:00….and, we were starving as we hadn’t really eaten meal all day. So, the friendly man at the front desk of the hotel gave us a recommendation for a restaurant. Apparently, in this part of France as well as where I was in Provence in January, most of the restaurants are closed on Mondays. Most were closed on Sunday, too. What is it with the French? They must not get hungry on these days.
Anyway, we took the recommendation of the desk clerk and had what I would describe as the biggest bowl of carbohydrates and fat I have ever seen. It was tasty though, which is usually the case with food that is bad for you.
So, here we are. Back a the hotel, fat and happy. I will need to leave you here for today. I need to sleep off the carb hangover. ZZZZZZZzzzzzz………….
Travel With Betsy 
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