My skins getting pink...

I've made it to Nice. Not that it has been that much of a sruggle up til now seeing the great wonders of Ireland and then taking a quick flight over to Grenoble. The happy tones from the last blog will be of a very different color. I have become miserably sick for the last 3 days or so, and this was a lot of the time that I was by myself, which is for the best in some ways. That final night in Dublin after the Pub Crawl I knew I was coming down with something. Headache all day, and my nose was throbbing. Then that night it hit me, and my nose got all stuffy and I was warm and stuffy all the time with no energy. I think that this is the worst sinus infection I have ever gotten in my life. I've been going without medicine which may be why it seems worse and strung out. Last night was the 4th night of restless sleeping and waking up many times each hour and my body becoming ridiculously hot and uncomfortable. As I know any mom out there reading this is thinking, yes, I'll try to find some kind of nasal decongestant today. I am sick of this and its making me a lousy travel buddy.
Flying out of dublin I got to Grenoble late at night and tried to crash early which was fruitless, the next morning waking early I walked around the city, and grew rather fond of it. Grenoble is a very charming city surrounded by mountains on most sides so its the perfect little mountain town nestled in the alpes. Beautiful buildings clean streets, it was just too bad that everything closes down in france on sundays. I left at 11 to go to Marseille with high hopes of beating this sickness and seeing Emily and Kevin who were already there for another full day.

I arrive feeling like crap, and am greeted by a station in shambles more or less. More accurately it is just under construction but they make it impossible to find your way out, and nothing is done in a clean and efficent way as almost every street in this city is being redone. Finally make my way out after not being able to contact neither of my friends, finding on a map that their hostel is out of walking distance outsied the city, i decide to wing it and find some random cheap hotel. After walking for half an hour towards the center I drop into a respecable hotel out of my price range and he directs me to the street where the wooden shacks that my money could buy could be found.

I set off as it wasn't far and immediately was shadowed by this strange red cloaked black man. He walked about 10 feet behind and then came up and started bumping into my hips good natruedly but I didn't like it. Something was wrong with this. He would walk ahead and then circle back around and make another pass, grabbing at the pocket s of my bag. It finally dawned on me the tactics he was using was for pickpockets and i got very nervous. The next hotel i would see i would dodge into. This guy was creepy and relentless and kept pushing me, I finally saw a weather worn sign and crossed the street to get away and would you believe it but he followed me in. I ran up the stairs which he didn't follow and found myself in the dodgiest building you could ever find. It was a hotel where a single was 9 euro. that is unheard of even in hostels these days, so i knew what i could expect, but i had no idea...

I took the room just to get off the streets, scared shitless from creepy and unkind folk wandering about. My door wasn't even on straight with a weak little lock on it. Old newspapers lay on lawnchairs in the room. Rusty sinks, cigarette butts in the corners, brown stained sheets, peeling wallpaper, it was the sorest sight for a room I had ever seen. Now I wanted to escape this room, so i packed my valuables in my little bag, and hesitantly hit the streets to explore. Ever since I as almost pickpocketed I am now edgey constantly wary of everyone, and the streets were packed with strange not necessarly well to do people. There was trash everywhere. Besides a cathedral, a charity haven set up by nuns, and an Arch de Triumph mimicking the one in Paris in its own little way, this city has nothing to offer. I hated it. Matter of fact I have dubbed it the worst city I have visited in Europe thus far, so please dear friends...steer clear.

Nice is the exact opposite. Beautiful sparkling and clean, and the four of us living here for 4 days have gotten an apartment to ourselves for a great price comparable to any hostel, only it is amazing. Clean and perfect for us. Walked along the beaches for a bit. Not hot enought to truly catch some sun but we'll try. This city is seriously amazing and ranks high on my scale. I don't know if its the extreme contrast from the worst in Marseille but it took me 10 minutes of walking its streets to fall in love with it. We are so lucky, and we just went grocery shopping last night, and have gotten food for our 4 days, and have saved tons of money. I'm talking that money spent on groceries wouldn't have gotten us two meals in resturants or anything. We are so lucky. I am ready to be rid of this awful sickness. Some sea air may do me some good, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lie for an hour or two to relax with a box of tissues next to me and popping pills. Hopefully next I write all will be well.