Wednesday in Nice

It's Wednesday. I am still in Nice. I just went to the train station to get a ticket somewhere else, and they were closed, so I guess I'm sposta spend another night here. That is fine. I like it here. I am sitting in my hostel room with a loaf of french bread, some cheese, some olives, and a small bottle of wine. Life doesn't get much better.
I moved from the hotel to a hostel down the road (the one I wrote about earlier). It is costing me $15 for the night. It's small, packed with beds, very old, and run by a woman who speaks little english. She goes by "pink lady." She's about 70. She wears a tattered old pink prom dress ever day, with dirty white slippers and although she doesn't speak english, for some reason she and I are able to communicate perfectly well. I think she understands a lot, but only says "Oui"
There are more old people here than in Paris. Maybe Nice is like our Florida. I am the only female here at the hostel so far, so I have the room to myself. There are just two others here, in the next room. I would assume the Pink Lady doesn't get a whole lot of business, since her advertising consists of a sign outside on the street that says "Rooms e17."
Today I went to the Chagall Museum and the Matisse Museum. Both were great! Small, limited collections, but therefore manageable. It was 5.50 for the first, and the Matisse Museum was FREE!! The bus from on to the other, one Euro. The breathtaking view of wall-sized colorful art by Marc Chagall - priceless.

I am about maxing out my physical capabilities. Each day walking around gets harder and harder. I am now sore on the FRONT of my legs, like not the calf muscles, but the shin area. I didn't even know there were muscles there. With all the walking I've done, you'd think I would lose a few pounds, but I seriously think I have gained. Not sure how, I have walked literally hours each day, and aside from amazingly high calorie pasteries, have not really eatten much. It is too difficult to eat because I cannot read the menus. At first I figured I would just order anything and see what I get, but once I got here, I realized that I could be paying e8 for a side of fries or something.

Not sure what I will do tonight. Might just stay in and catch up on rest. Tomorrow I am heading for Genoa, Italy, which will get me to Cinqua Terra. Cinqua Terra is a line of five little (tiny) towns in a row, all on the coast. Google it and take a look at a few pics. Super cute and peaceful. The population of one of the towns is under 250. I was thinking of heading down to Rome, but I'm running out of money, so I probably won't. I do have some extra time though, since I removed Germany and Austria from the itinerary. Could always put them back though... who knows.

I am a bit worried about the packages I sent home. I went into the UPS store yesterday to see how much it was to send one that way, and it's over e200. I know, holy crap, right? But the woman there said be careful if sending by mail, as things may not get there, or may end up broken. I'd be really sad if that happened, because a lot of what I sent home was stuff I bought here -- clothes and gifts. I really hope they arrive OK. I think I may just purchase another suitcase to bring stuff home in. Since I only have a couple more destinations, it won't be too bad to lug it around, and then I can check it on the way home.
So far on this trip I have lost two things: the zippered case for my laptop, and the case for my travel towel. Nothing too terrible, but I liked them both. I believe the laptop case is in Amsterdam, and the other in Paris.
My bed is right at a window. I love the windows here. They are old and fancy, and open like french doors, and have no screens. I think I will take a nap now, under this window with the cool air trickeling in.