Monaco Madness

F1 - MONACO!

As many of you may know, Augusto is a HUGE sports fan.  Of course, being that he's from South America, his tastes veer from the traditional football, basketball, baseball rotation.  Instead, our TVs are faithfully tuned to football (the kind with the kicking of the round ball), cycling (the kind with guys in lycra with shaved legs), and car racing (the kind with open wheel, million dollar cars).

So when our great friends the Walkers causally asked if we might be interested in joining them at the Formula 1 race in Monaco, Augusto was actually rendered speechless (this, I assure you, happens about as often as comet sightings).  See, for F1 fans, Monaco is not just a car race.  It's a life event.  It's THE car race.  It's everything F1 means to be - glamour, speed, mystery.  If James Bond attended a sporting event, it would be Monaco. 

Imagine Augusto's reaction when Geoff added on that his tickets came with Ferrari Club and Pit Lane passes.  Now even I was excited, because I realized that Rule #2 of event attendance applied - If You Need A Badge To Be There, It Must Be Good. (Rule #1 is Just Because It's Free, Doesn't Mean You Want It in case you were curious).  And this event required not one, but two badges.  Score!

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the unique thing about the race in Monaco is that it actually races through the curved, winding streets of Monte Carlo.  As such, when they are not racing, you can walk the track.  Here he is.  The Start/Finish Line.  He made it:

Shauna and I are not ones to miss out on a photo op, so we get in on the action:

Monte Carlo is absolutely stunning - a tiny city carved into a hillside, forming a perfect tiny inlet in which the uber rich squeeze their ginormous yachts. 

We stayed at the Fairmont (required a badge, YES!), home of the world famous Hairpin Curve which is right in front of the hotel.  Here is the view from the roof:

And can we ever thank Geoff enough for these amazing tickets?  The Ferrari Paddock Club was incredible. 

It allowed Augusto to get THIS close to his driving heroes, who came to chat:

And provided great seats for race viewing.  We were right across from Pit Lane, so we could see the action.

And we also had this incredible view of the fans, who crowd the hillsides just to get a glimpse of the race:

For several hours each day, we were permitted to walk Pit Lane and check out all the team garages.  Augusto was in an engine induced trance:

Shauna and I people watched and checked out everyone's shoes. 

Some of you may know that I always wanted to be a Barker's Beauty (you know, from The Price is Right? The girls who are there to make the prize grandfather clocks and supplies of Jell-O look exciting?).  So I've been practicing the leg pop and ta-dah arm for years.  So many opportunities to use it in Moncao!  Voila!  Shauna and I present the Pace Car!

Monte Carlo is known for it's amazing night life as well.  Women wear actual gowns and flock to civilized casinos, where you need a jacket and tie to enter.  Five star restaurants book months in advance. And Moncao weekend is the biggest party of the year. We can attest to that - we spent one evening at the Buddha Bar with some fabulous TASIS friends Christine and Jamal.  It was so fabulous that there are no pictures.  If I tell you it involved vodka, sushi, techno and sparklers, you get the idea. 

All and all - it was a weekend we will never forget.  Thank you again, Shauna and Geoff, for making Augusto's dreams come true!!