Our second full day in Europe brought us to Monaco, the most opulent and affluent place I have ever been. The most common type of car in the principality is either Rolls Royce or Bently. Any car under 100 grand appears to be scorned. The sheer amount of money in the place is mind boggling. The huge 100 ft yachts are dwarfed by the larger personal vessels in the harbour; nothing in Vancouver could compete for any kind of prestige at this mooring.
The Montecarlo Casino is a beast all its own. The building is extremely grand, reminiscent of the palace at Versailles the paintings and the gold gilt ceiling are regal and magnificent. In this monument to money, a drink of vodka will run you 18 Euro, while the tables offering blackjack, baccarat, poker, and roulette will almost certainly relieve you of any other extraneous money you happen to have. This is clearly the sort of place James Bond would be in his element.
People here take losing with good grace, while I was playing with chips in denominations of 5 euros; more adventurous people around me were losing thousands and still smiling. You pay for the experience, and if you win it is an added bonus.
In addition to seeing the yachts of my dreams like the Wallypower sailing yacht, I got another treat. One of the patrons at the Montecarlo casino decided to drive his Bugatti Veyron, while several others took their super high end or rare sportscars.
also blogspot is still hating on me, so no pictures yet, I will try facebook and see if they take more kindly to Italian internet.
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