I’d love to say that following our wedding in June, Bobi and I rushed off to a romantic honeymoon – but we didn’t. Instead we rushed off to a couple of Flash conferences – FlashForward NYC, and Flash’n’Splash at the Banff Centre. Yes, I am a nerd.
These were both fun – NYC was a great chance to catch up with all our friends in the Flash world, and we went horseback riding and white water rafting in Banff – but they weren’t exactly a relaxing, or romantic.
Three months later, and I’m finally going to take my wonderful wife on the trip she deserves for putting up with me (grin). We’re going to be spending 3 weeks in September traveling along the Mediterranean through Spain, France and Italy. I’m a little stressed about leaving the business alone for that long, but I completely trust the the awesome people on my team, and have no doubts that they will keep everything rolling smoothly in my absence. Thanks guys! This will be my first trip in 3.5 years that is not business related, and that I won’t have my laptop with me – I’m betting on withdrawal symptoms within a week.
We will be stopping in Barcelona, Aix-En-Provence, Nice, Monaco, Venice and Florence. If you have any suggestions for things to see or do, cool restaurants, bars, etc to visit we’d love to hear them. It should be a wonderful break prior to speaking at MAX, and rolling out my Flash 8 workshop.
Congrats Grant, you deserve it.
Hi,
I think you’ll love Barcelona (it’s my hometown, after all). If there’s anything you want to ask, feel free to use my e-mail address :-).
You MUST MUST MUST stay at Auberge De La Vignette Haute in Auribeau sur Siagne (7 minutes tops by car from downtown Nice). It is unquestionably the most romantic place I think I’ve ever stayed.
While in Venice, take a trip to the island of “Burano” – its a quite, beautiful, pastel colored fishing village, worth the trip, but Venice alone is romantic just wandering the streets, you will dearly enjoy this laid back romantic place. I wish you the best on your travels and congratulations with everything your doing.
If you’ve stopping of in St Tropez – check out beach and resteraunt at club 55. Have a spot of lunch.
The Vedgetable Crudetez started is like NOTHING else you will ever have anywhere.
Actually, La Vignette Haute is 7 minutes from Downtown Cannes. : )
I went to several of these places last year on my sabbatical. My recommendations:
Venice
Avogaria â cool, modern restaurant far away from the crowds of San Marco http://www.avogaria.com/index_2.html
Enoteca San Marco â excellent wine bar/restaurant near San Marco. Watch out for the large portions of food
Il Refolo â Pizzeria not far from the fish market (Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio). Try the fig and prosciutto pizza
Peggy Guggenheim Museum â Smallish modern art museum, http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/english/index.htm
Venice Film Festival â depending on when in September you are there, you may be able to catch a film, http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/
Gondola ride â yes it is expensive (80 euro last year) but you should take one! Itâs romantic and if you donât take one now, you will wind up regretting it and taking one on a future trip.
Gelato â When in Italy, you should eat gelato at least twice a day. Yum!
Avignon (southern France, near Aix-En-Provence)
La Mirande â hotel with beautiful garden restaurant, http://www.la-mirande.fr/UK/home.html
Barcelona
All of the Gaudi buildings and Guell Park, http://www.gaudi2002.bcn.es/english/
Picasso Museum, http://www.museupicasso.bcn.es/eng/index_eng.htm
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (north of Barcelona), http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/ingles/home.htm
Monaco
I personally found Monaco overrated. The traffic to get to it from Cannes was insane and there is nothing to do there. Maybe if you wanted to go at night and gamble, it might be worth it but otherwise I would recommend passing on it.
Congrats! & safe travels
If you want to go in the “1st best” restaurant on this planet… try to reserve at el-bulli restaurant: http://www.elbulli.com/main.php?url=/prensa/
These guys are just crazy, they do scientifics food search for six month and open only six.
I personaly didn’t go, but my collegue yes.
It is jsut experimentation of food!
Has it is said on this page… http://elbulli.com/main.php?url=/reservas/ it will be difficult to find a place… try to reserve for next year!
I personally found Monaco overrated. The traffic to get to it from Cannes was insane and there is nothing to do there. Maybe if you wanted to go at night and gamble, it might be worth it but otherwise I would recommend passing on it.