Bucket List #18: Monaco

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a great day 🙂 My evening posts are most likely going to become the norm with work starting to return. Although our employees aren’t back to work yet, due to state restrictions, we have been preparing for when we return to work, which has cut into the normal afternoon writing time. That being said, I’m still committing to writing a post every day, Monday-Friday! I’ll just have to wait until we put our young one down to get going. However, I’m really excited about today’s post! Coming in at a population just above 39,000, we have Monaco! I’ve only ever heard amazing things about this country, so it’s definitely got my gears turning about what this trip will be like! Here are the 3 things our family would want to do on a trip to Monaco:

First: Spend a day in Monte Carlo.

We would definitely want to stay in the Hotel de Paris, and I would most certainly want to be here AT LEAST a whole day, if not more! I can’t imagine a scenario in which this trip would be cheap, so we might as well blow it out in this beacon of beauty and glamour. I envision a trip to Casino de-Monte Carlo, enjoying a meal or two at one of the three Michelin-starred restaurants, and maybe spotting a celebrity or two! We might have to start saving now for this one…

Next: Musée Oceanographique

I know, I always have a museum on my posts, but this one is just pure magic! This museum is more of an aquarium than an actual museum, and has 3 separate aquariums (Tropical, Mediterranean, and Shark Lagoon). It houses several thousand species of exotic fish, and has a rooftop restaurant offering a panoramic view of the coastline! One of the coolest parts: It’s been here for over 100 years! Besides it being right on the coast and being simply gorgeous, I personally love going to aquariums!

Last: Formula One Grand Prix

As you know, our family loves sports, and this is an absolute no brainer! We currently live in Carmel, which is about 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis. If you know anything about Indy, you’ll know that every year, it plays host to the biggest racing event in the world: The Indy 500. We aren’t huge racing fans, but we’re fans of anything that brings that comes with that kind of magnitude! As much as we love watching Indycar, we’d love to see it going through the streets of Monaco instead of in a circle like Indy! (We love watching the Indy 500, it would just be cool to see a change)

Alright, now let’s talk about 3 dishes we want to try while in Monaco!

1. Barbajuan
   • This is the national dish of Monaco, and is similar to a fritter or empanada that’s stuffed with ricotta and some sort of greens like spinach or Swiss chard. Some preparations vary by adding in onions, leeks, or rice, but the cheese and greens are a must! I can confidently say that I could consume 10 of these in one sitting…..Not that I should! But I probably could.
2. Gnocchi
   • While it’s not necessarily native to Monaco, it’s on every list I can find about the most popular foods in the country. I could eat gnocchi every single day of the year. As much as I wish i was kidding, I totally could! Count me in for every version of gnocchi I can find while in Monaco!
3. Porchetta
   • I’m ashamed to admit….I’ve never actually had porchetta! I’ve seen it made several hundred times on YouTube, and it looks positively fantastic! If you aren’t aware, porchetta is a rolled, boneless pork belly that’s stuffed with herbs and spices (several different variations, but this is what I would like), and roasted until tender with a super crispy skin on the outside! Okay, who’s coming with us?!

This country looks absolutely magnificent! I will say, this looks to be one of the more expensive trips I’ve written about, so we’ll start tucking our change away right now so we can go and fill you all in! Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your evening 🙂

Blessings,
Madison