I had dinner last night in Old Nice -- the pictures I've included are from Monday night (not last night).
Old Nice is a pretty neat place because it really is constructed ignoring cares and vehicles of all types. It's both a tourist destination and and active living, eating, and working area for locals. At many of the windows you can see the day's wash hung to dry. Most of the restaurants don't open until after 7 pm, and actually, about half of the shops and restaurants were closed last night (I suspect it is a big vacation time). Most restaurants use primarily outdoor seating.
I had dinner at a restaurant which was one of the cheaper full-service restaurants (21 euro three-course meal, or approx $30). It was pretty obvious I was the American tourist. The waiter was polite but didn't seem too fond of me, although in general he was having a good time -- he seemed to warm up to me later. It probably didn't help that I tried to pronounce everything on the menu in poor French while he spoke very good English! It also didn't help when he asked for my drink order I asked for water -- he said Perrier and another fancy water and I said... "Just plain water... tap water!". Yeah, I'm a cheapskate.
A little later, I reconsidered and decided I should get a glass of wine. But after looking at the list it was way too expensive... $30 for pretty much every wine! So I ordered an $8 Heineken. Only after I drank half the beer did I realize the prices in the wine-list were probably by the bottle! Oops... The beer was very good though, and since it took me a long time to get food, I got a little buzzed. On the food, at one point the waiter brought food over, looked at my check (on the table), and made a face and took off again -- made the wrong thing for me. When I got the food, it was quite good, reasonable servings (i.e. not huge American servings, which I prefer) and I generally enjoyed the meal! The tax and tip was included in the price, so for 27 euros I got a pretty big meal (and even swiped the second roll and put it in my pocket for later -- they couldn't use it anyway!).
While I was eating, I kept an eye on an artist nearby who was doing pencil (charcoal?) portraits of people going by. At one point, he put a really hard sell on two girls (American, I think) but they turned him down and walked on. But then, two minutes later, came back, haggled a little on the price (I think it was 15 euros for both) and both sat for portraits. Pretty amusing to watch. When they were done they got their picture with the artist :)
Anyway, once I got past the whole part about being alone (I'm not used to dining out alone) it was pretty enjoyable!
(I think Sean made a point here to make his email worthy of my blog!!!!) Thanks Sean!
Old Nice is a pretty neat place because it really is constructed ignoring cares and vehicles of all types. It's both a tourist destination and and active living, eating, and working area for locals. At many of the windows you can see the day's wash hung to dry. Most of the restaurants don't open until after 7 pm, and actually, about half of the shops and restaurants were closed last night (I suspect it is a big vacation time). Most restaurants use primarily outdoor seating.
I had dinner at a restaurant which was one of the cheaper full-service restaurants (21 euro three-course meal, or approx $30). It was pretty obvious I was the American tourist. The waiter was polite but didn't seem too fond of me, although in general he was having a good time -- he seemed to warm up to me later. It probably didn't help that I tried to pronounce everything on the menu in poor French while he spoke very good English! It also didn't help when he asked for my drink order I asked for water -- he said Perrier and another fancy water and I said... "Just plain water... tap water!". Yeah, I'm a cheapskate.
A little later, I reconsidered and decided I should get a glass of wine. But after looking at the list it was way too expensive... $30 for pretty much every wine! So I ordered an $8 Heineken. Only after I drank half the beer did I realize the prices in the wine-list were probably by the bottle! Oops... The beer was very good though, and since it took me a long time to get food, I got a little buzzed. On the food, at one point the waiter brought food over, looked at my check (on the table), and made a face and took off again -- made the wrong thing for me. When I got the food, it was quite good, reasonable servings (i.e. not huge American servings, which I prefer) and I generally enjoyed the meal! The tax and tip was included in the price, so for 27 euros I got a pretty big meal (and even swiped the second roll and put it in my pocket for later -- they couldn't use it anyway!).
While I was eating, I kept an eye on an artist nearby who was doing pencil (charcoal?) portraits of people going by. At one point, he put a really hard sell on two girls (American, I think) but they turned him down and walked on. But then, two minutes later, came back, haggled a little on the price (I think it was 15 euros for both) and both sat for portraits. Pretty amusing to watch. When they were done they got their picture with the artist :)
Anyway, once I got past the whole part about being alone (I'm not used to dining out alone) it was pretty enjoyable!
(I think Sean made a point here to make his email worthy of my blog!!!!) Thanks Sean!
1 comment:
Amazing pictures!
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