178 tunnels to Pisa

We made a day trip to San Remo to visit the market. We stopped for lunch on a nearby plaza. 

San Remo for lunch

We rented a car for the 4 hour trip to Tuscany where we spent 2 nights in Pisa. 

Arno River, Pisa

Leaning Tower

Leaning Tower of Pisa Facts:

• Tower of Pisa stands at 60 metres and until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle.

• Although it was designed to be perfectly vertical, it started to lean during construction.

The first building constructed at Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa, was the cathedral, or Duomo di Pisa, which rests on a white marble pavement and is an impressive example of Romanesque architecture.

 The Pisa tower is one of the four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Field of Miracles.

Baptistery

The angle is a bit off, but had to do it!

Dave holding the tower on his shoulders

Watching the crowd do all these arm gestures is fun to see. 

We went through 178 tunnels between Menton and Pisa.

Our first view of the tower

You can get into the cathedral free if you take a designated time slot

The River Arno at night

Walking Cap-Martin

This coastal footpath is part of a longer walk between Monaco and Menton, alongside the picturesque Cap Martin, a rather wild peninsula with very secluded villas separating the two towns.  It affords fantastic views of Monaco, the perched village of medieval Roquebrune, Menton and the Italian coastline so is well worth a few hours on a beautiful afternoon. 


The path winds its way along the coast, offering views of the skyscrapers of Monte Carlo, the older buildings of Monaco Ville as well as hang-gliders diving from the mountains and landing on the beaches.

Roquebrune

Roquebrune Cap Martin Castle is 900 ft above the Mediterranean. The castle was built in the 10th century and was a fortress without luxury or ostentation. The Castellans, appointed by the Republic of Genova between 1157 and 1395, lived a soldier's life in the castle.

View from the castle

Monaco as seen from the castle

Some of the houses in Roquebrune

Narrow walkways in the town

Wine bottle creche

We walked around the Cap (as seen jutting into the Med) to reach the city

View from the castle

Time on the beach

Running from the waves

The beach in Menton has a little sand

Aliens are not allowed to kite board

A view from our window

Yes, that's an orange tree

Playing in the Mediterranean Sea

Dave and Jeremy went to pickup the car we will be using for the week yesterday. A, b, and I walked around Menton.

Aliens are not allowed to kite board here

A socca oven at the Christmas Market

A speciality of the area 

Turkish Air Lounge in Istanbul

The BEST lounge we have been in!! Not only are there half a dozen kitchens on two levels, there is also a library with a pool table, movie theatre, kids area, lockers, golf, enough liquor to open a bar, snacks everywhere you look, and a super fun race set. 

Flying into Nice

Monaco Zoo

The Jardin Animalier de Monaco is located on the Esplanade Rainer III, in Monaco's Fontvieille ward, on the southern side of the Rock of Monaco. It was  established by Rainier III, Prince of Monaco in 1954. 250 animals are held in the zoo, representing  50 species.

The zoo is a hectare in size, set over four levels on the rock. None of the animals were purchased, all have come from donations, circuses, or abandoned animals and those seized by circuses.

Basie and I went to the zoo by ourselves. It cost me 5 Euro and Basie was free. We were there about an hour but he had visited before so went to see his favourites. It is a great little zoo!

Lemurs have cool tails

The zoo is on the side of the mountain, so good views up and down

Basie calls this hippo, Gloria. She had her mouth open to catch water sprayed from a hose above