-- When were walking by the water
Splish splash me and you taking a bath
When were walking by the water
Come to my toes to my ankles to my head to my soul
And Im blown away --
Dave Matthews Band, Lie In Our Graves
Splish splash me and you taking a bath
When were walking by the water
Come to my toes to my ankles to my head to my soul
And Im blown away --
Dave Matthews Band, Lie In Our Graves
Greetings from the international man of mystery...
Yesterday we made the 50 minute bus ride to Monaco, which was a treat. We pulled into Monte Carlo about 10AM, and had some time to kill while waiting to go in the aquarium they have there. So we walked around, looked at the yachts in the harbor, a few of them had helos parked on them. We saw the changing of the guard at the royal palace, which was somewhat dissapointing. The palace itself was pretty plain looking, and smaller than you would think a palace ought to be. The changing of the guard drew a big crowd of people, most of them American. Everywhere I went, I heard English, which was different. Even after only 10 days, I've grown accustomed to constantly hearing French all the time. Anyways, the view of the city of Monte Carlo from the palais was breathtaking; I took three shots so I can put them all together and see the same 270 degree view.
We walked around some more, and went into the aquarium they have there. The fish were beautiful as always, but the day before, I had seen sea life up close. This brings me to my scuba diving adventure. The College had an excursion for 43 euro to go scuba diving just off the coast here. I jumped on the opportunity becuause I've been snorkeling many times in the past and loved it every time. We arrived at the boat, turns out the instructors barely spoke any English, and the few kids that I came with were in the beginner class at school. So I explained to them after the older woman who was our instructor explained to me in French. Luckily I understand ten times better than I speak. But my speaking is improving every day...anyways we suit up; I offered to go first (we couldn't all go in at the same time because there was only one instructor abord). So I step down the ladder into the water with my very heavy tank on, not to mention weights around my waist to make me sink. The instructor eases us down and I had to equalize my ears 4 or 5 times before we got to the bottom 30 feet under. Once on the bottom, we explored around directly under the boat - the water was crystal clear and the sun was out, so visibility was good. There were schools of fish swimming around, and at one point, a school of tiny yellow fish overtook my instructor and I (meaning we were in the center of the school.) Then the coolest thing happened, as I was quietly propelling myself forward with massive flippers, the bottom we were staring at dropped off vertically, and I could no longer see the bottom. It was an underwater cliff. It felt like I took a running leap off a cliff and was frozen in midair. I equalized my ears once more, and we went deeper to explore the side of the cliff, with its cracks and crevaces. This is where I saw an octopus asleep inside a wide crevace. My instructor signaled me to look inside but not to touch, and there was the scariest yet most peaceful thing I've experienced. I sat there looking at the eight tentacles doing nothing, knowing they could do some serious damage. We let it alone and kept going. At that point we were about 12m down, and it was time to go up slowly. We went back to beneath the boat, and began nursing ourselves upward. I was unprepared to feel bubbles coming out of my ears as we climbed. She didn't mention that (I dont think..) so I was just hoping it wasn't blood or something equally as bad..but it wasn't. I snorkeled around as I waited for the others to finish their excursion. I discovered that it was incredibly fun to position yourself over the divers below and frolick in their millions of air bubbles that rise. I felt like a little kid! After that, we all got back on the boat and headed in. Amazing time.
Woah, got a little carried away there...coming back to Monaco, after the aquarium, we headed to a small midieval town on the tip of a mountain, called Eze (pernounced Ez). It was very beautiful, though a little touristy. Many more Americans there. Small galleries dotted the interior of the walls of the town. At the base of the mountain, is a perfumerie, which we toured for a half hour. It was interesting to see how they extract scent from flowers, but beyond that, I was bored out of my mind. With that, we returned back to the school, but not before the couch bus got in a fender-bender on the highway. It was nothing big, but it ate up 45 minutes of time before dinner at school.
I am a little behind with the posts as I've visited another place since Monaco, because the wireless internet I was picking up in my room has failed for 2 days. They probably caught on...thank god for internet cafes. Bon nuit.
Yesterday we made the 50 minute bus ride to Monaco, which was a treat. We pulled into Monte Carlo about 10AM, and had some time to kill while waiting to go in the aquarium they have there. So we walked around, looked at the yachts in the harbor, a few of them had helos parked on them. We saw the changing of the guard at the royal palace, which was somewhat dissapointing. The palace itself was pretty plain looking, and smaller than you would think a palace ought to be. The changing of the guard drew a big crowd of people, most of them American. Everywhere I went, I heard English, which was different. Even after only 10 days, I've grown accustomed to constantly hearing French all the time. Anyways, the view of the city of Monte Carlo from the palais was breathtaking; I took three shots so I can put them all together and see the same 270 degree view.
We walked around some more, and went into the aquarium they have there. The fish were beautiful as always, but the day before, I had seen sea life up close. This brings me to my scuba diving adventure. The College had an excursion for 43 euro to go scuba diving just off the coast here. I jumped on the opportunity becuause I've been snorkeling many times in the past and loved it every time. We arrived at the boat, turns out the instructors barely spoke any English, and the few kids that I came with were in the beginner class at school. So I explained to them after the older woman who was our instructor explained to me in French. Luckily I understand ten times better than I speak. But my speaking is improving every day...anyways we suit up; I offered to go first (we couldn't all go in at the same time because there was only one instructor abord). So I step down the ladder into the water with my very heavy tank on, not to mention weights around my waist to make me sink. The instructor eases us down and I had to equalize my ears 4 or 5 times before we got to the bottom 30 feet under. Once on the bottom, we explored around directly under the boat - the water was crystal clear and the sun was out, so visibility was good. There were schools of fish swimming around, and at one point, a school of tiny yellow fish overtook my instructor and I (meaning we were in the center of the school.) Then the coolest thing happened, as I was quietly propelling myself forward with massive flippers, the bottom we were staring at dropped off vertically, and I could no longer see the bottom. It was an underwater cliff. It felt like I took a running leap off a cliff and was frozen in midair. I equalized my ears once more, and we went deeper to explore the side of the cliff, with its cracks and crevaces. This is where I saw an octopus asleep inside a wide crevace. My instructor signaled me to look inside but not to touch, and there was the scariest yet most peaceful thing I've experienced. I sat there looking at the eight tentacles doing nothing, knowing they could do some serious damage. We let it alone and kept going. At that point we were about 12m down, and it was time to go up slowly. We went back to beneath the boat, and began nursing ourselves upward. I was unprepared to feel bubbles coming out of my ears as we climbed. She didn't mention that (I dont think..) so I was just hoping it wasn't blood or something equally as bad..but it wasn't. I snorkeled around as I waited for the others to finish their excursion. I discovered that it was incredibly fun to position yourself over the divers below and frolick in their millions of air bubbles that rise. I felt like a little kid! After that, we all got back on the boat and headed in. Amazing time.
Woah, got a little carried away there...coming back to Monaco, after the aquarium, we headed to a small midieval town on the tip of a mountain, called Eze (pernounced Ez). It was very beautiful, though a little touristy. Many more Americans there. Small galleries dotted the interior of the walls of the town. At the base of the mountain, is a perfumerie, which we toured for a half hour. It was interesting to see how they extract scent from flowers, but beyond that, I was bored out of my mind. With that, we returned back to the school, but not before the couch bus got in a fender-bender on the highway. It was nothing big, but it ate up 45 minutes of time before dinner at school.
I am a little behind with the posts as I've visited another place since Monaco, because the wireless internet I was picking up in my room has failed for 2 days. They probably caught on...thank god for internet cafes. Bon nuit.
posted by Mikey R @ 2:38 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Excellent adventure--I felt like I was there with you! Thanks, it brought back memories of snorkeling in the Bahamas and all the beautiful colored fish there. It's truly another world.
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