Monaco Formula 1 GP 2009

I guess the title says it all.
Anyway a little more detailed... We arrived in Monaco early morning to still get a good place. We got tickets to the so-called Rocher sector, that is on the hillside above the harbor, the best place to view the GP (maybe after Casino place, but that is quite $$$).
We watched the Renault 3.5 and the F1 Saturday practice and qualifying session from the lower part of the hill, where you are closer to the cars being able to hear as they explode at each gear change with full throttle:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

but you see mainly a small stretch only. But from here we could also see the action in the pitstops which at times was quite interesting too:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

For the afternoon, we went up till the Royal Palace. From here one had a great overview on the entire harbor including the start/ finish line:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

From up the hill we could see about 80% of the race track being able to follow the entire race (GP2 only since we were in Monaco only on Saturday):

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

As everyone knows, in Monaco the weekend has a lot more to offer than the race itself:
- The girls: Special dedication to MOZSI:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

(yes, the third one is a BLONDIE)

- The Yahts:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

- and some landscaping to make your place more comfortable:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

All our photos from the Monaco Formula 1 GP 2009

A friend did the Zurich-Monaco trip by bike in 3 days. Check out his unbelievable trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb-kL2-zCR8

See our videos on youtube as well:

Weekend getaway to the French Riviera

This last trip was a great surprise from my wife. On my birthday all the information I had, is to pack my luggage since we are travelling to warmer places. I only found out where we are going on the airport, at the check in counter where it was already inevitable.

Thursday evening we landed in Nice, a very beautiful resort on the French Riviera.We have spent here the entire Friday and Sunday till noon. The weather was very warm, but unfortunately the water was still quite cold to swim.


















On Saturday we visited the glamorous Principality of Monaco. We arrived there in the middle of their preparations for the F1 Grand Prix. It is amazing that they manage to build the entire infrastructure of a racing circuit within a few weeks. We visited in turn the Marina region, the Monaco Ville with the Prince's Palace, and the Museum of Oceanography. After that we walked along most of the GP circuit with a detour at the Japanese Gardens, all the way to Monte-Carlo with its famous Casino and Cafe& Hotel Paris.


















On Sunday we spent a few more hours on the beach, after an unsuccessful attempt to go to Eze (a marathon in Nice proved to stop all buses in and around Nice, whose public transportation we found to be a total disaster thus we almost missed our flight).
In early afternoon we returned to Switzerland where we were glad to see that at least here all public transportation is reliable.




More pics:
Nice
Monaco