Europe: Day 4 (Monte Carlo, Monaco) - "Shaken, Not Stirred."

Today we're in Monte Carlo, the playground of the rich and famous! Monte Carlo is part of Monaco, surrounded by France. Monaco is 2 square meters with a population of about 36,000, the second smallest country in the world after Vatican City. Their government structure is a constitutional monarchy run by the Grimaldi family, the oldest ruling house in Europe. On our tour we we walked through a beautiful garden to Cathédrale Notre-Dame-Immaculée, a New Gothic cathedral where most of the Grimaldis are burred. The original entrance of this cathedral faced east like normal cathedral but it was moved when the cathedral expanded. This is also the final resting spot of Princess Grace. We know her as Grace Kelly.

Monte Carlo is also the home of the world famous Monaco Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious motor races in the world and part of the Triple Crown. This is one of the most demanding races in the Formula One. The elevation changes, tight turns and tunnels also make this the slowest, most dangerous race.

This is where things get good:

Casino de Monte Carlo is THE must see in Monaco. We walked from the port for what seemed like forever and a half to get there. It was originally built to save the Grimaldi family from bankruptcy. You can probably guess how that turned out! We were told that there was a €10 entry fee and we weren't planning to go in but we had to gamble a little while we were here so we went to Casino Café de Paris, the casino next door. I wasn't going to gamble much but I thought a players card from another country would be cool to have so I signed up for one. The attendant told me I could go to the "famous" casino for free now that I had a players card. SCORE! I played a little bit at Casino Café de Paris then I went off to explore what the big boys do around here. After dropping my back pack off at the bag check I went to the door attendant, handed him my card and nervously waited for conformation to cross over into the main room. It was almost ceremonious. There I was at Casino de Monte Carlo, with barely any money in my pockets! That was anticlimactic. The main floor is absolutely gorgeous with huge vaulted ceilings. There isn't much there though, just a bar, a few slots, table games and a lot of empty space. While exploring I came across another door in the back. I'm pretty sure that's where the rest of the casino was, the door that all of the high rollers go through. I walked past the attendant and got a peek through the door way, I couldn't see much. I awkwardly walked past the door a few times, contemplating going through but I wasn't dressed for the occasion and I felt out of place, which is weird... Me? Out of place? In a casino? I also didn't want to risk getting rejected at the door so I didn't push my luck and try to go in. In hindsight I should have tried to go through the rest of the Casino. I don't think I'm ever going to get that chance again. Ugh! Hindsight is always 20/20.

I went back to Casino Café de Paris and played a little more. At the end of the day I ended up winning a little bit of money. Not enough to write home about.

What an adventure!