Welcome to Monaco

By 0300 this morning, the wind had picked up to 9 10 knots on our beam. The waves picked up, too, of course. It still was not a bad ride. Despite it being wavier, our speed increased, and we were flying along at 6.5 knots with only 1600 RPM. We had a current with us.

By 0800, we could clearly see Monaco in the distance. It is a cluster of tall and midrange buildings, which start along the shore and creep up the green mountain. But the major development only seems to go part way up the mountain — there is almost a clear line where it changes to a scattering of small buildings. That must be the northern border of France. The top of the mountain was covered by a cloud, so we couldn’t tell what was near the top.

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Off to the right, in France, it is mostly smaller buildings, both along the coast and creeping up the hill. To the left, also in France, the tall buildings creep down the coast, but above the shoreline there are a few smaller buildings and not much more.

We approached the Hercules Harbor entrance. We imagined how the call on the radio would go. “Do you Continue reading

History of Monaco

Monaco is only 1.95 square kilometers, making it the second smallest country in the world after Vatican City. And 20% of that land is man made land produced in the 1960’s. Monaco has a population of 32,000, but only 7,800 are actually Monegasque citizens (by birth or marriage). Monaco is surrounded on three sides by France, and the fourth side is water. It is on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border and to the Alps. Monaco has a natural harbor that is well sheltered, and on the west side of the bay is an enormous rock that made an excellent natural fortress from which to defend the harbor. Combined with overall good weather, this was always an attractive location to control.

There is scientific evidence that Continue reading

Passage from Rome to Monaco

Yesterday we had a low key day. Since we were leaving later in the day, we took our time with our get ready to go routine. We pulled out of port at 1600.

For those of you that asked about marina specifics, we have found that the front of the boat moves an awful lot being secured only to one mooring line instead of two. The marina is also not super flat. Rolly may be too strong of a word, but the side to side movement combined with the gentle swell activity is certainly noticeable enough to make someone sensitive to motion not feel good.

Anyway, when we pulled out, the winds were moderate. Seas were Continue reading

Adjusting to the Italian Way of Life

Today was chore day. Eric changed generator oil. Christi cleaned. Our big outings were lunch and dinner in the marina complex.

A few weeks ago we had complained about the short number of hours “real” restaurants are open in Europe. Today we found out it is not our imagination that restaurants only open for like an hour. The day we arrived, we had gone to the restaurant closest to our boat for lunch. It was a few minutes before 1400. The kitchen was already closed. Today we went in at 1215, confident they would be open, and were told the kitchen didn’t open until 1300.

And, while we are in complaining mode, here is another interesting story. In Italy and Malta, we Continue reading

Castel Sant’Angelo

Continued from yesterday”¦ When it looked like the rain had slowed down, we ventured out and caught the bus. It turns out we caught the right bus, but going the wrong direction. Oops. We decided to ride it out, knowing that sooner or later it would get us to the Castel. This was not a good of an idea as we originally thought, since it took us way out of downtown. At least we were warm, out of the rain and got to see more of the city than we could on foot. Rome has a lot of nice looking churches, buildings, and sculptures all over the city. After an hour, the bus turned around. Hmmm”¦ it would be at least an hour back to the Castel. We saw Continue reading