French Riviera - Cannes

I did a day trip to Cannes from Nice. The train from Nice took about 45 mins to reach Cannes. The  entire train ride pretty much goes by the coast, so the journey itself is as much a part of experience. The Cannes train station is  chaotic and walking out of the station through the  main shopping district  and onto the waterfront was really quite uneventful. We all know then that through the years this place has become famous for its film festivals, which in turn has given the town the 'glamour' tag. I would say that only a tiny part of the town lives up to that expectation, but most of cannes doesn't. 


The main waterfront promenade, Le Croisette is lined with palm trees and surrounded by grand Belle Epoque buildings on one side and sandy beach on the other. These building were loaded with designer stores that makes no apologies for their flamboyance . The promenade is one of the most touristy and liveliest places in Cannes.  

I walked towards the harbor passing Palais de Festival which hosts the Cannes Film Festival.   You can see the hand prints of the movie stars near the entrance of the tourist office. Again, the auditorium itself is  hardly glamorous.

The harbor is lined with restaurants and cafes and the port was filled with yachts. 

After walking around the port for sometime, I headed up the hill to the Old City "Le Suquet" overlooking the west end of the port. The Le Suquet area has narrow streets climbing up and around the hill, with 12th-16th-century church Notre-Dame  giving a touch of medieval flavor to the city.  And you get a 360 degree view  of Cannes from the top .

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French Riviera - Monaco

Monte Carlo is not far from Nice as it took less than an hour on the bus from Nice. We just walked up to the bus in Nice and purchased the tickets from the driver. I think they were about 1.50 Euro per person.  The view getting there along the mediterranean coastline was beautiful.You pass  lots of nice looking homes, two or three stories high usually on sides of mountains overlooking the ocean. 

Monaco definitely lives up to the hype. When we first got off the bus this was immediately apparent with the incredibly clean streets, and all types of expensive cars around. It was uber posh and aesthetically beautiful. Monaco itself is a pretty weird-to-navigate place with all kinds of fancy underground walkways, stairs and elevators. Monaco is built up the very steep mountains surrounding it. Monaco has 35 public lifts and travelators to help with the hills, so its not challenging to stroll around Monaco, if you do your homework. 

View from the Palace

Harbour

We strolled around the old town. The old town doesn’t seem that old but  the palace is grand  and the garden has some pretty views of the Blue ocean and green hills. We  strolled  down around the bay to the harbor and walked around the streets which is part of  the Monaco Grand Prix circuit. The harbor had great views of  the expensive yachts and water.  From there we  walked up to the  mountain known as Monte Carlo. It is here the famous Monte Carlo Casino is located.  We walked over to the casino which was lined with some of the flashiest and most expensive cars in the world.I have never seen so many pretty and expensive cars in one place! It was almost like I was in a car show. The building is old and looks impressive . However, Monte Carlo is more than the casino; it's actually an entire district. Lots of restaurants and shops.

Monte Carlo casino

We then walked back around the bay and into the famous tunnel  under the Fairmont hotel (which is part of the Monaco grand prix circuit )  towards the harbour to catch our bus back to Nice .

The famous tunnel

Overall, I would say that compared Nice or Cannes, Monte Carlo is spectacular.

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Whistler Blackcomb Adventures

The advantage of living in Seattle, is that it’s so close to so many fantastic getaway options across the border in British Columbia, Canada. A weekend in Victoria,a beautifully vibrant city on its own, or the Vancouver, both within a 3 hour ferry ride or drive is rarely out of the question in any season. For that reason, I thought it was time to venture out further and we planned to spend a week up in Whistler.

Driving through West Vancouver to Whistler is easy! It takes approximately two and half hours in one of the most scenic routes in Canada: The Sea to Sky Highway. Its a windy road up to the ski resorts, but amazing scenery with lots of mountains and lakes along this route.

We arrived in Whistler around late afternoon. Our hotel was right in the Whistler village and within walking distance of everything. The village is nestled at the base of the mountain, surrounded by apartments, houses and hotels. We wandered around the village for couple of hours and checked out the scene. Whistler village has a great resort town vibe.They have festive lights for the whole winter ski season and was full of people walking and looking and shopping.The village had range of the fast-food type eateries, plenty of restaurants, and shops specializing ski & outdoor wears. The streets around the central square , the main thoroughfare through the village is pedestrian-only so the kids can walk and run anywhere in the village.

Since we had our 4 year old and 18 month old with us, we did not plan on going skiing. Next morning we headed to the Visitor information booth at Whistler Mountain to explore non-skiing and kids friendly options. The Customer service people were really helpful and gave us trail maps to the best options for our needs. There are so many non Skiing activities in whistler like tubing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snow mobile tours, and many other activities.

Next we went over to check out the Upper Village towards Backcomb Mountain, where the famous Four Seasons and Fairmount hotel is located. There seemed to be plenty of ski in/ski out options between Whistler and Blackcomb and plenty of other upscale hotels built recently for the Olympics. 

We did cross country skiing with the kids around Lost Lake .You can rent skis for all ages and sleds specially designed to pull the the kids along at the entrance to Lost Lake Park. We spent the entire morning in the groomed lost Lake trail system 

Apparently the Peak to Peak gondola is the top attraction of Whistler and a must do. It is a gondola that takes you between the peak of Whistler to the peak of Blackcomb and back with amazing scenic ride along the way . Unfortunately we couldn't do the Peak to Peak gondola with little kids, but that something I want to try next time.

In the evenings we would go to to Whistler’s Olympic Plaza in the heart of Whistler Village for some ice skating. The admissions to the outdoor rink is free and skate rental is available for just $5. They has plenty of pushers to assist little ones on the ice. We went there quite a few times and by the time we left Whistler My 4-year-old girl was pretty much ice skating on her own without falling.

Everything about the Whistler experience screams easy, accessible mountain fun.and there’s plenty to do for the non-alpine skiers.

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Singapore in 2 days

I’d always wanted to visit Singapore, but never really had the chance. Sure, I’d transited through Changi Airport before, but that doesn’t count. This time around, I planned a 48 hour layover in Singapore.

Being my first time in Singapore and with limited time, I decided to skip some of outskirt touristy stuff and shift focus instead on doing a bit of sightseeing around the downtown/city center area. To truly experience Singapore I spent most of my time walking around the the city waterfront. The waterfront promenade is central to so many attractions and landmarks, from ritzy 5-star hotels, to the Singapore Flyer and Merlion Park. Merlion, a half-lion & half mermaid, is like a landmark for Singapore.

Merlion Statue

Marina Bay

Then I did a bit of back-tracking towards areas such as Clarke Quay and the business district.  Then over the helical bridge, and all the way around towards Marina Bay. The promenade towards Marina Bay takes you on the famous F1 course and many restaurants and outside food alleys.

Fullerton Hotel

Part of Formula 1 track

Marina Bay is a modern place and offers a completely different view with the setting of the sun. The buildings are huge that dominates the downtown skyline. Its a nice place to wander around with plenty of shops, casino and you can go all the way up to the roof top garden.

Marina Bay

The cityscape changes dramatically in the night.I spent a few hours in the evening walking around the bay.  Its definitely worth to see the building spectacle at night

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Devonport & Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

I had the opportunity to explore Devonport , a nice seaside town on Auckland's North Shore. Its a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland across the harbour from the Ferry terminal. Also, great sights of the Hauraki Gulf to take in from the ferry. 

The town with old victorian style houses gives a taste of what a village in New Zealand might be like.  Mt Victoria, The North Head and Chaltenham Beach are places to visit when in Devonport. Both North head & Mt Victoria  are  volcanic cones and  offer great views of Auckland City, the eastern bays and the Hauraki Gulf.

Davenport is small, compact and walkable.It took me about 25 mins walk  from the ferry terminal along the coast  to Cheltenham beach, which is on the opposite side of the peninsula. 

From there I trudge uphill to  North Head. North Head, is a historic reserve and was used as a defense site and lookout for centuries. It is interesting to walk  up and around  the rugged paths of North head exploring the tunnels,  guns,naval bunkers and other fortifications. The the views of the harbour and city are stunning.  

On the way back I strolled down the main street which is full of shops, cafes and restaurants. I decided not to climb Mt.Victoria and headed back to the ferry terminal.

Main Street

Auckland Skyline from Devonport Ferry terminal

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