Links to Port Pages

Barcelona

Marseille

Monte Carlo

Livorno (Florence)

Civitavecchia (Rome)

Naples

Palermo

Valletta

Day at Sea 1

Piraeus (Athens)

Day at Sea 2

Istanbul

Monte Carlo, MONACO

Friday, 16 March:

Back on schedule we arrived in Monte Carlo about 8 am. It does look exactly as in the pictures, but smaller. We were able to walk from one side, up on the hill where the palace is located, all the way along the harbor and up to the Casino on the other side in about 20-30 minutes. The weather was still hazy and cool, like the weather the day before in Marseille, but still fine for spending the day walking. With the goal of climbing all the way to the top of the Acropolis in our near future we needed to go through "training"!

The day started with a massage for Carey, a relaxing morning and lunch on the pool deck. We headed off the boat about 12:30 and walked up the hill to the palace. A treat for us was being on the palace grounds during a changing of the guards. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the process. See the video -

We were also able to stand at the edge and take our own "classic" picture of the harbor from the palace, even though it was slightly hazy.

Our evening was wonderful. We had met the International Hostess, Bianca, on our Gaudi tour in Barcelona. She's a lovely young lady and we kept seeing her around the ship and chatting for a few minutes. We received invitations to join her for dinner. We even gave her our RSVP in person when we ran into her on the palace grounds. That night was great food, enthusiastic discussion, and lots of laughter. We truly enjoyed the evening. Afterwards we went to the Bar to dance and listen to Ramon.

Dinner Invitation andplace cards	Chronicle for 16 March 2012
Bridge to access the hill to go to the palace	Silver Wind docked in Monte Carlo
View of the harbor from the palace	Plaque commemorating Princess Grace's Arrival
The statue of François Grimaldi outside the palace commemorates his capture of the fortress disguised as a monk in 1297	Status honoring the Foreign Colonies on the 25th anniversary of Prince Albert's reign
Palace on the Rocher de Monaco	Bianca, Silver Wind International Hostess
Princess Caroline street walking down to the harbor	Beautiful yacht
Walking up to the casino	Monte Carlo Casino
Reflection of the Casino in mirror in pond	TJ, Amy and Randy with Silver Wind
Watercolor print of the palace	Map of Monte Carlo
Postcard of palace at night	Postcard of Casino at night

On to Livorno to go to Florence and Pisa, Italy!

Postings before the Trip:

We are scheduled to arrive in Monte Carlo, Monaco Friday morning, 16 March 2012 at 8:00 am.

From Wikipedia - "Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.

Monte Carlo is widely known for its casino and its prominence. The permanent population is about 15,000 in Quarter. Monte Carlo quarter includes not only Monte Carlo proper where the Le Grand Casino is located, it also includes the neighbourhoods of Saint-Michel, Saint-Roman/Tenao, and the beach community of Larvotto. It is also one of Monaco's 10 wards with a population of 3,500. It borders the French town of Beausoleil (sometimes referred to as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur).

Charles III of Monaco who was responsible for turning the Monte Carlo district and Monaco into a thriving town.

The history of the area and the ruling Grimaldi family, however, dates back centuries. The port of Monaco is first mentioned in historical records as early as 43 BC, when Julius Caesar concentrated his fleet there while waiting in vain for Pompey. In the 12th century, the area fell under the sovereignty of Genoa, which was granted the entire coastline from Porto Venere to Monaco. After much conflict, the Grimaldis regained the rock in 1295, but suffered a significant amount of opposition in the ensuing years. In 1506 the Monegasques, under Lucien, Lord of Monaco, were under siege for some four months by the Genoan army, which had ten times the number of men. Monaco officially received full autonomy in 1524, but experienced difficulty retaining power, and on occasions briefly fell under the domination of Spain, Sardinia, and France.

By the 1850s, Monaco’s reigning family was almost bankrupt; this was a result of the loss of two towns, Menton and Roquebrune, which had provided most of the principality’s revenues with their lemon, orange and olive crops. At the time, a number of small towns in Europe were growing prosperous from the establishment of casinos, notably in German towns such as Baden-Baden and Homburg. In 1856, Charles III of Monaco granted a concession to Napoleon Langlois and Albert Aubert to establish a sea-bathing facility for the treatment of various diseases, and to build a German-style casino in Monaco.  The initial casino was opened in La Condamine in 1862, but was not a success; its present location in the area called "Les Spelugues" (The Caves) of Monte Carlo, came only after several relocations in the years that followed. The success of the casino grew slowly, largely due to the area's inaccessibility from much of Europe. The installation of the railway in 1868, however, brought with it an influx of people into Monte Carlo and saw it grow in wealth.

In 2003, a new cruise ship pier was completed in the harbour at Monte Carlo."