Thursday, August 1, 2013

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2008. Mattie's cousins came down from Boston that weekend to visit him in the Hospital. What you may not be able to see was Mattie's IV, which was connected to his brovaic in his chest. We wheeled it outside with us. Also notice that Mattie was holding rocks! Mattie loved collecting rocks and continued this tradition outside in the Hospital's garden area! That Saturday afternoon, Mattie's nurse, Miki, understood the importance of Mattie getting outside, in the fresh air, and to spend time with his cousins outside of his PICU room. Miki made every effort possible for Mattie to have a more normal visit, so much so, that she came down from the fifth floor pediatric unit to the second floor outdoor space to check on Mattie's IV periodically. That certainly added more work for her, but she did it without skipping a beat. That memory will always remain with me because I always felt Mattie's nurses understood what we were up against right from the beginning of the battle.

Fun Facts of the day: Monaco is an autonomous city-state and the world's
second smallest country. Monaco sits atop a narrow coastal area with its three sides surrounded by France and its southern side facing the Mediterranean Sea. It is known as Europe’s tax haven, each and every individual citizen of Monaco enjoys a tax-free lifestyle since the 1870s. For decades, Monaco lived off solely on its casinos. At present, Monaco’s current efforts to diversify its economy have made tourism its number one source of income and casino profits only at five percent. In fact, citizens of Monaco are not allowed to gamble, nor even visit the casinos.

The Ship docked in Monte Carlo (located in the Country of Monaco) this morning. When I woke up and looked out the window, I really couldn’t see much. However, when we went upstairs for breakfast and I sat down, I couldn’t get over what I was seeing. Monte Carlo is breathtaking!!! These days it takes a lot to capture my attention, but the beauty of the mountains, vegetation, buildings, and boats just knocked me over. Just looking at Monte Carlo from the windows of the Ship, I could tell this was NO ordinary place. Certainly we have all heard of the glamour and the life styles of the rich in famous in Monte Carlo, but seeing it is a completely different story! Three words sum up this city: wealth, yachts, and water. Monte Carlo is considered part of the French Riviera or the Cote d’Azur (meaning the blue coast).

I have never seen such BLUE water. The Mediterranean is indescribable. Almost like a shimmering sapphire. Just looking at it was peaceful and Peter said to me today, “I think people here must live a longer life.” I can appreciate that comment. Surrounding our cruise ship were yachts. The size of these boats was incredible, like hundreds of feet incredible!

There are 40,000 people who work in Monte Carlo each day. Rather amazing considering how small it is. Monaco itself is ¾ of a square mile, about three times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC. French is the official language of Monaco and like Spain the predominant religion is Catholicism. For the past two days, I have heard non-stop about the “International Crisis.” This pertains to the economic crisis in Spain, France, and Italy, all of which are in a deep recession. Clearly when you look at Monaco, there is NO recession going on here. My mom snapped a photo of me with my dad and Peter and you can see the opulence surrounding us.

Prince Rainier met Grace Kelly at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955. Grace Kelly had filmed To Catch a Thief that year in Monaco. Their storybook wedding the following year captured the hearts of the world. It is no surprise that after the wedding, the number of annual visitors doubled, and Monaco was placed solidly on the tourist map. The Royal Palace is where Prince Rainier and Princess Grace lived after their marriage. This photo captures the beauty of the Palace from a distance.

This is the Crown Princess, the ship we will be on for 14 days. It seems to fit in quite nicely within the Monaco harbor.

We took an hour long bus trip from Monte Carlo to Nice. What an amazing drive along the coast. Nice is the fifth largest city in France. It is considered a resort area and has hosted many dignitaries and other famous people throughout its history. Honestly spending only a couple of hours in Nice is totally frustrating. There is SO much to see and so much to soak in. Therefore you don’t know whether to listen to facts, stare at the water, take in the architecture, or sit in a café! This photo captures the Promenade des Anglais. This is the main street of the town and at the turn of the century it is where aristocrats came to see and be seen. It is also where Matisse painted! I can’t get over the fact that in two days I have walked the streets where both Picasso (Barcelona) and Matisse (Nice) once lived! I can see why Nice inspired Matisse!

It is clear by the colors of the buildings in Nice that it has been influenced by Italy. In fact, between 1388 and 1860, Nice was under Italian rule and leadership.

Get a load of the yachts in Nice! As our tour guide said today, people are either sitting in their yachts looking up at their villas in the hills or they are in the hills looking down at their yachts. Amazing!!! A life style many of us can only imagine and wonder about.

The beauty of Nice! In many ways, words are not needed to describe this beauty.

The old town of Nice boasts a well-planned grid of streets, with buildings of largely Genoese architecture. Nice is walkable, extremely clean, and honestly has a café or restaurant everywhere.

Once the bus dropped us off at Nice, we boarded a small tram that took us around Nice and to Castle Hill. Castle Hill is considered the cradle of the town of Nice and is an old fortified site that was occupied by the Celtic Ligurians. In the 16^th century, this Hill served as a formidable citadel. In 1783, the citadel was dismantled and believe it or not this area was turned into a cemetery as well as a park, with a beautiful waterfall.

On Castle Hill, it was easy to see Elton John’s home across the way. The one on the top of the hill! Not a bad location, right? Seclusion and beauty!!!

In the heart of Nice, on the Promenade des Anglais sits the Hotel Beau Rivage. This is the oldest hotel in Nice and for many years housed Matisse. In fact, Matisse not only lived in Nice for many years, but he also died here as well. As my faithful readers know, I discuss Matisse and Picasso with kindergarten students at Mattie’s school each spring. I have come to appreciate both artists, which I must admit I wasn’t in love with either prior to teaching these classes. However, I have great respect for Matisse. Toward the end of his life, in his 80s, he was wheelchair bound and suffering with cancer yet he still created! Nothing could stop the art from within!!!

Cours Saleya is the most traditional square in Nice. It features covered market stalls, shops, and restaurants. As you can see flowers were everywhere and the market stalls also sold incredible herbs, handmade soaps, and a variety of other local products.

When I walked through Cours Saleya, I passed SO many cafes. More than could be counted. What I deduced was this is the form of entertainment. People (locals) were out and about. Sitting, having coffee, chatting, connecting with others, and guess what???? They weren’t glued to a TV or a smart phone. What a wonderful way of living and I think in some ways our American progress has truly limited our capabilities as human beings. We have lost the art of sitting still and the beauty of conversation!

The highlight of our tour for me was having Nice’s famous Fenocchio ice cream. An ice cream shop started by an Italian family. Just trying to order ice cream was a feat. Forget waiting in a line or waiting one’s turn. It doesn’t work that way in Nice. Whoever speaks the loudest and captures the attendant’s glance gets service. Needless to say among me, my mom, and Peter, we got our message across and the fellow behind the counter spoke beautiful English and truly appreciated that we were from America. Seems to be a trend. We hear often in the USA that foreigners don’t like Americans anymore. Do NOT believe it! America is loved and respected for the most part, and when in doubt, you just have to look around and you can easily see that many of the Countries we have passed through are trying to imitate us in design, thinking, and pop culture.