that time I went to Europe: part two - Monte Carlo

As my friend Mark suggested a little while back, I am going to start a series of write-ups on my trip to Europe. Really it's an excuse to share a bunch of my pictures, more than anything. To find part one about Barcelona, you can go here here.

The Boat
We woke up on our last morning in Barcelona, and after breakfast we re-packed our suitcases.

Not necessarily successfully.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Barcelona, and catch our cabs to the Ruby Princess, our home for the next 12 days. I've been told a lot about cruises and how they're all like omg so big u wont beeeeleeeeeve it! But oh my God you guys, I was a little intimidated.

We went through the process of getting our keys, our luggage taken, and getting on the boat and all I could think was where the hell am I? Because the stuff on this boat was just... insane.

My boat had a piazza. My boat had a piazza. Seriously.

Since Jennifer and I were sharing a room with my aunt, we got a cool bunkbed room!

I called top bunk, obviously.

The top bunk had a neat little nightlight and a railing to make sure you didn't fall and die through the night, which was reassuring. Though the rooms are small and look pretty basic, it was so comfortable and the man who kept our room in order was the sweetest person ever. He was all smiles and always called me Miss Amanda. Also, he left us chocolates every night, and I know that it's his job to do that but I don't care. I love anyone who gives me chocolate.


The best part about our room though was the fact that we were right next to the elevators, and a couple of rooms down from this:

The adults only pool. It was pretty much heaven.

Initially, we didn't have much time to explore, because we had our emergency demonstration.

Oh, the excitement.

After that, we watched the boat leave port with the rest of the passengers in a big deck party.

The ship's band, Lots of Fun! (Really.)

Once we left port, Jennifer and I did some exploring. There was EVERYTHING. The ship had a theater, a casino, multiple bars, fancy restaurants, a library, multiple pools, a mini golf course, a running track, and just more things than my mind could comprehend. Every part of the boat was just beauiful.

That was the boat I was on. Holy shit.
The last part of the night we spent curled up on deck, wher they had movies under the stars. Seriously.

They gave us blankets, popcorn, pizza, and ice cream. I knew then that I was in for a good two weeks.

Monte Carlo

The next day we awoke FAR too early but were so excited to arrive in our first port. So, up with the sun, we went to the buffet for our first breakfast on the ship.

Deeeeelicious.

Then we walked from the buffet to the back terrace and caught our first glimpse of Monte Carlo.

I'm just going to put it out there right now that there are not enough pictures in the world to show you how gorgeous this place is, with the mix of modern and historic. My mind was blown.

So we got off the boat, and started walking, aimed towards the castle that was hanging out.

We walked along the coast, and even found a nude beach!

You could instantly tell how rich this place was. Sports cars were abundant; Mini Coopers were like Civics there, it seemed. Everything everywhere was just gardens and beauty, all well manicured and just gorgeous all over the place.

We found a yellow submarine...

and the cathedral where Princess Grace is buried.

We then made it to the top of the hill where the castle is (which I got no decent pictures of, unfortunately), and I got this pretty awesome shot to give you an idea of the size of the boat I was on.

I'll let you guess which one I was on.

I cannot stress enough how utterly breathtaking the view was.

From there we caught a train tour, which was nice, but didn't allow for much outside of blurry photos. We got to see the famous casino, famous restaurants and stores, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Soon after that, it was time to board our boat once again, and set off for our next port. And so we said goodbye to Monte Carlo.

Next in my Europe series, a lifetime dream of mine comes true when we dock in Florence!