2) Monaco and Cannes

Tuesday (25.09.) the EMBO meeting finished and afterwards Eric took me to visit Monaco :D The city is absolutely sterile and smug... but still the appearance is great to watch. We started at the oceanographic museum to the castle and enjoyed the views over the bays. Then we went to the famous Monte Carlo casino. But unless you are into spending quite some money, the town quickly becomes boring. Overall great to visit, although I wouldn't want to stay here for longer^^ On our way back to Nice we stopped at a hill for a night-view over Nice. Right on the last meters towards Nice's train station Eric's car broke down :( We pushed the car into a parking lot and I rushed to catch the train to Cannes. Luckily the train was late^^ In Cannes I stayed a little outside (la bocca) with Verena, a language teacher and soon to be mom. The next morning I entered Cannes, viewed the town and finished reading my book at the promenade savoring the sun, which I would miss in Germany^^ Well, it didn't last long as I was covered in a huge rain storm on the way towards the airport which left me all soaked :(
Anyways, Cote d'Azur is a great destination for a short late summer trip :D

early evening view over Monte Carlo

the royal castle

Monaco's football stadion literally glows when running after sunset :)

Cannes' palm

1) Nice and the 3rd EMBO meeting

21.09. I flew from Berlin to Nice to attend the 3rd EMBO (european molecular biology organization) meeting. Eric - a couchsurfing friend of Ben - generously let me surf his place. Right the first day he took me to the birthday dinner of his friend. The next morning I checked in at the EMBO meeting and suddenly had most of the remaining day free. So I first explored the city on my own... up the castle hill (Le Chateau) to have a good morning view over the bays and the old city... then a walk along the promenade and through the old city before I read some book at the promenade enjoying the sun :D Early afternoon I met with Eric and his friend Silvie, who had two couchsurfers (Stephan and Fatme) with her :) Together we explored the old city again and enjoyed some nice food. At the evening I attended the first lectures of the meeting and afterwards Eric and I met at Silvie's place where her son made dinner. Simply a great day^^ The next day (23.09.) I attended the meeting all day and had a party afterwards... exhausting and great day, although I felt very sorry to wake Eric late at night :/ Monday (24.09.) was another long day at the meeting before we met at Silvie's place for dinner again. Stephan and Fatme made Tortillas/Burritos and the best Tiramisu I had so far :)

Having a break just next to the conference center Acropolis

Spice store in Nice's old town

Small waterfall at Le Chateau

View over the old town and super long beach :)

12) Novi Sad and Zagreb

31.08. we left Belgrade and visited the fort of Novi Sad on our way to Zagreb... driving on the motorway again definitely was boring compared to the multifaceted places to see from the country roads. Near Zagreb we stayed at a camping ground and enjoyed our last BBQ this trip :)
During the night heavy rain arrived... all our stuff was soaked wet in the morning... it took us quite a while to somehow get moving... it didn't stop raining, even as we arrived in Zagreb... after an hour McDonalds stop used for internet-connection the rain finally lessened and we started a walk through Zagreb. The city might be nice, but we definitely didn't catch the right weather to enjoy it by any means :( Hence, we got in the car and drove home already, although we planned to stay one more day in the beginning^^
Despite the last day - Trip was amazing :D

view over Novi Sad and Danube from the fort

Marcus church after rain :P

fuck that weather! let's go home... ^^