Day 22

This morning we sailed to Monaco.



This country (though technically still part of France) is BEAUTIFUL!! very clean, very expensive, and tax free (thanks to the casino instituted by Charles III to save himself from bankruptcy). We parked next to gigantic yachts again. Everyday we think we've seen the biggest yachts but today has trumped them all, and for some reason they all seem to be from Georgetown.







Monaco is the worlds second-smallest country after the Vatican. They have been ruled by the Grimaldi family since 1297. Prince RAinier was married to Grace Kelly and our first destination was their castle.



Juls and I hiked it to the top of the hill and looked around the little village while we waited for my Dad to join us.



We tried to get him to buy this



Then we took an audio tour of the castle (which is still where the royal family lives today) but they said no photos. We'll just have to tell you about it when we get home. I was not very impressed with the outside, they have just added on sections throughout the years and they don't really work together that well, but the inside was pretty amazing. We just got to tour one section of it since they actually still live there.

We walked back to the boat to pick up Mal and then headed up the hill to Monte Carlo (the north side) to see the infamous casino. Another impressive building. We didn't go inside, we weren't quite dressed right to be accepted through the doors. Next time.





Apparently there are quite a few suicides that take place here after people gamble away their fortunes and there is a German naval officer who wrote a book in which he claims the bodies were stuffed into cracks in the limestone under the foundations of the casino, until the smell became too great and the bodies were taken out into the bay, weighted, and dropped into the water.

The Grand Prix was a few weeks ago and they were taking everything down throughout the area. I wish we could have seen that. The streets are perfect for a race—winding and steep.



We also saw this fancy party taking place.





What a country, I loved it!