Day 5 Pisa, Mama Mia!

So now I'm pretty darn sick of the bus and such, but we must ride onward to the city of pasta, pizza, and failed soccer! You know, when I think or hear of Italy, I imagine wide open country with small hills filled with olive trees as far as the eye can see. With fields of grape trees and small country side cottages connected by small cobble stone roads. Well, it might have been like that but I'm not quite sure. Italy looked completely different from what I imagined. The areas we passed through were quite mountainous and although there were many olive trees its not quite so picturesque as I assumed. I'm sure Sophia's cousin would kill me for saying so but I was nonplussed. Perhaps it was also the fact that it was really hot when I was there too. The leaning tower of Pisa wasn't what I thought it was either. Its just one building next to a small cathedral in the middle of nowhere. I didn't do the whole leaning against the tower picture because I thought it was too cliché but now I kind of regret not doing it because it took us so long to get there and we waited in the hot sticky weather.

However, all was not lost. The hotel city area we got to was pretty darn cool! My mom and I went to a nice restaurant and had one of the first nice meals of the trip. She had a nice pasta dish with prawns and I had a spinach, swiss and basil pizza. After dinner we had this candy my mom really loved so we scoured the city looking for a place that sold it. There was a jazz band playing in the square by our hotel and an italian guy (goodlooking I assumed) playing jason Mraz by our restaurant. The quaint mood and feel of the city was really relaxing and a welcome change from our hectic schedule so far. I went out with one of the girls and guys on our tour and we got ice cream together. (this was not the same girl from the first night btw) Well, it was my favorite part of the trip so far so her

Day 4 Monaco, All that glitters is not gold

So here is the description that was written for the tour today: This morning drive along the magnificent Riviera coastline to visit the principality of Monaco. See the Monte Carlo Casino, see the Royal Palace and the Cathedral where the late princess Grace is buried. Later visit a well known perfumery before returning to Nice.

My description for the tour today: Ride on a bus asleep for nearly 5 hours and miss all the coastline before arriving at one of the most ostentatious cities you've ever been to. Hike up long hot hills before reaching the Monte Carlo Casino which you cannot enter because it happens to be closed for the half hour that you happen to be there for cleaning. Then go to a perfumery and go on yet another droll tour of a small, unknown perfume shop you've never heard of.

OK, so maybe it wasn't all that bad. Monaco is actually one of the most rich cities I've ever seen. All the condos and houses along the hillside on the ride down into the city were elaborately decorated and you could tell that everything was really expensive. Just on the ride down we passed a couple ferraris and once you get to the Monte Carlo Casino you see several Rolls Royces, Bentleys, and Ferraris parked outside like a mother trucker. We visited this nice little city inside Monaco with quite breathtaking views. Well, I don't want to ruin it with flowery words so I'll let the photos do the talking:

I kind of wish I had bought a souvenir from the city though. Ok then, till next time!

Day 3 Nice, Fresh Off the Bus

Day 3 was awesome, we sat on the bus again for what seemed like ages until we reached Nice. We visited one of the castles/forts there that I can't remember the name of now. I was lucky enough to find some cool gifts for you guys and hopefully I can keep them safely in my luggage the whole trip without smashing them to bits and pieces. It really was quite beautiful there but we barely had time to take a few pics and leave again. To be perfectly honest, the area we stayed at in Nice wasn't the greatest and I'm not so sure the rest of the city was either.

For the past few night we've been having only gas station and hotel food. But tonight's hotel food was espcially good! Fried Chicken and French Fries. And then we kind of got in trouble with the tour because our bus didn't know what was going on and we checked into hour hotels too soon; this caused a lot of chaos and confusion. There's also one bus whose air conditioning broke. Man, if my trip doesn't sound exciting so far just wait until you hear about drama on days 6 and 7. Let me tell you, having too many Vietnamese people crammed onto a hot bus for hours is just asking for it. Felt like I was going back in time to when my parents escaped from Vietname to the US by boat...or in this case bus.

Day 2 Lyon, Italia!

So day 2 wasn't so bad. I spent about 4-6 hours on the bus to get to Lyon, Paris. The hotel I admit, is considerably nicer than it was the first night. The first night we stayed at the ETAP hotel which was kind of cramped and very basic. Although last year's hotels that we stayed at I admit were at times ghetto, I think they were a lot more fun than this trip. I liked meeting people in the hostels and making friends :p

Regrettably we didn't get to do much today because it was raining so the tour bus just took us past the city and I have a few ugly photos of rain on bus window. We then went to the beach which was qutie amazing. I've never seen water such a light blue and it was amazing weather with ample sunshine. I think I got a sunburn on my face...and I didn't even go in the water =( Well, on a bright note I did get to see the final game of the world cup. It was actually kind of funny/sad because our bus driver was Italian and we got to sit there and watch the Italians get their butts whooped. I drank a Heineken and got really tipsy. Ok that's all, onward to day 3!

So just a prologue to my blog, I am writing this blog to hannah and sophia. I hope you guys just keep it to yourselves because I made it exclusively for you guys since ya'll are so special.

Day 1 Paris, City by day < by night

Hey guys! Sorry this blog took so long!! As I am writing I'm already half way through my trip unfortunately. But I'm sure you guys remember how hard it is to get some free time to send post cards or what not, so I apologize for the delay :p I have to admit though, France the second time around is just not as cool. When my mom and I arrived we were picked up by a Vietnamese friend who took us to the Arc' de Triumph and we ate at one of the restaurants there, it reminded me of harry potter because of all the pots and pans decorating the ceiling. I have to say it was one of the worst meals I've ever had. The beef almost made my mom throw up because it smelled like it was rotting. I guess we can't always win right? ><. Well, afterwards we went to the eiffel tower and did the whole take 20 photos of the tower at different angles thing. I have to say, we were extremely extremely lucky to have the guy take us on a tour of paris by night last time. Paris is ten hundred times more beautiful at night.

When we got back to the hotel, we had about 15 minutes to get ready for the gala that was going on that night because we were late. My mom splashed water on her face and out the door we went. I met all the other kids that would be going on the trip with me that night and met a girl who I was immediately infatuated with. But more on that later, that's all for now :)