Mediterranean Cruise - Days 3 & 4

The alarm went off at 6:30am so we could get ready for our next excursion: Monte Carlo, Monaco.  I felt miserable: achy, coughing, sore throat, and chills.  I got in the shower anyway, hoping that I was just feeling the morning gunk and would improve with some steam, but I didn't.  I told Chris I needed to see a doctor, which was no easy decision: the ship's medical bay and doctors function on maritime law, so you pay for everything out of pocket.  But I felt that if I didn't get whatever this was stopped soon, I'd end up in a foreign hospital and pushed off the cruise.

I went down to the medical bay and they discovered I had a 102.4 degree fever.  The doctor diagnosed me with pneumonia (aspiration pneumonia from that cherry tomato), after ruling out flu and Legionnaires disease (required by the CDC for all cruise ships) and after hearing an awful-sounding right lower lobe of my lungs.  They gave me a Rocephin shot in my tush and started me on zithromax.  I was put in 24 hour isolation in my stateroom due to the fever.

So needless to say, we missed our excursion.  I pretty well slept the remainder of the day.  After seeing that my fever went away and I had eaten, Chris decided to leave the ship and explore some of Monte Carlo on his own.  He described the town as something straight out of a James Bond movie,  In fact, it was the scene of two Bond movies.  Monte Carlo has some of the priciest real estate and yacht slip space rental in the world.  The shopping scene is top-tier, catering to the uber rich.  Unbelievably expensive cars line the street, mega yachts fill the bay, and of course there's the casino...

Yachts parked in the bay

Our ship parked at the end of the port.

These next three photos are odd, but they indicate the finish line for the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, which has been run since 1929.  It's considered one of the most important and prestigious races in the world.  Along with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it forms the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

The starting line, and a fancy car just happens to be there.

Chris made his way through town and up to the casino.  There's a cover charge just to go in and see the casino, and I'm told that cheap slot machines cheapen up the image, but it is nonetheless impressive inside.  Photography was not allowed.  The casino was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's fictitious casino in Casino Royale, as well as being the setting in Goldeneye and Never Say Never Again.

He made his way back to the ship.  With me still in isolation, we spent the rest of the evening resting in the room.  Chris brought food from the Lido deck buffet, and we called it a day early.


On Day 4 - I woke feeling a bit better, maybe 50%.  I had to report back to medical bay to ensure I didn't have a fever to be released from isolation.  All was good.  We had already missed our excursion to Livorno, Italy (seeing the leaning tower of Pisa) by the time that was done, and that was kinda fine with me... I wasn't too sure how much energy I had.  We spent the day napping and watching on-demand movies (I was really grateful that they had a nice selection!).  I did venture out of the room to eat meals, and then watched the Da Vinci Code in the ship's movie theater in the evening.  By the end of the day, I was feeling 70% better, and hoped I would have the energy and stamina to make tomorrow's excursion to ROME.