Monaco - One day in the 2nd smallest country

My second visit to Monaco, the last time was a long time ago. For such a small country there is a lot to see and the weekend visit was worth it.

Monaco is the second smallest country in the world (right after the Vatican and a bit bigger than Nauru) and incredible what they are capable of in such a small place. The whole area is cramped with apartment blocks and everything is built upwards, due to lack of space.

Map of Monaco

So said, you don't have to be a big country to make it regularly on screen

Monaco as the whole country is ONLY 3km in length and 1km in width, but every year they host a Formula 1 Grand Prix which takes place inside the city and around the resident apartments blocks.

September 2nd - From Nice to Monaco

Came to Monaco from Nice by train. It's only a 30 minutes train ride along the coast from Nice to Monte Carlo, the capital of Monaco. All along the nice south coast.
Arrived in Monte Carlo early in the morning and immediately equipped with croissants and cappuccino. The train station is on the elevated area of Monaco and when leaving the upper part of the station there is a preview of the stunning view onto the bay of Monaco. Perfect to start the day.

The first stroll leads me to the western district of Monaco. This sounds like I walk a long distance but in fact, this is done by about 15 minutes of slow walking. In the morning the sun comes with a great light from the Mediterranean sea and lightens up the whole Monaco, the best time for taking photos.

It's almost impossible to get lost here. Due to the Formula 1 races which are shown in TV since dozens of years already, the chance it high to have already a clear idea about what Monaco streets look like, even without having been here before. The main roads lead to the tunnel and then to the bay, or, up to the mountain. So as I came from the mountain there is only one way, and that was towards the tunnel and to the famous Casino of Monte Carlo.

Monaco is famous for its rich people with nice cars. There might be no country in the world where the money lies on the street, but here in Monaco it either drives on the street or swims in the sea. It feels like there is a constant presence of expensive cars or other vehicles. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Bentley, Masseratis, Rolls Royces are driving around like its the most normal thing in the world. And if they're not visible right away, they are hearable from the echoing sound coming from the city center streets.

The bay area is stunning. All the yachts and the tall apartment buildings overlooking the small harbor. Nice view.

Then there is the area around the castle on the other side of the bay, up on the hill. From up there its also a stunning view of the harbor, but it looks different from there and with the tall buildings in the background.

When the weather changes the whole scenery at the harbor looks different.

Visiting in and around the Casinos

There are two famous casinos. One is, of course, the Monte Carlo Casino and there is right next to it the Sun Casino. As I was wearing shorts I only was permitted to enter the Sun Casino.

It was afternoon and a few people were already wasting their money. One particular table was having a few more people and they were playing roulette. I was watching there and after about 30 minutes I was still watching there.

It was simply too impressive how the attendees threw their money in the trash... eeeh.. table. Within these few minutes I was watching, I saw thousands and thousands of Euro's changing the owner. From one guy playing there, I counted several thousand Euros which he threw out. He played like he was in a hurry and wanted to get rid of the 100 Euro papers. He must have been rich, rich with money and rich with addiction.

This is the area in front of the Monte Carlo Casino. The glass ball is mirroring the casino.