[ibarry92]

I'm vacationing to Barcelona, Venice, Milan, and Paris. I was wondering if anyone lived or visited there because I was just curious about fun activities to do there. Like sports (jet skiing, kite surfing, scuba diving, places to eat, shopping, etc. I was looking for kinda luxury but affordable. I would really like tour guy's input. Thanks.

[1speedbike]

never been to Barcelona. Been to Venice, Milan, and Paris.

Venice - pretty much sightseeing and shopping is all there is to do while in actual venice. soak up the nice scenery, buy authentic hand-blown glass pieces, venetian masks etc. it's cheesy and REALLY expensive (like 200 bucks), but you can also take a gondola. and if you're into that sort of thing, venice becomes Canal Street in NYC at dusk. lots of african immigrants selling fake coach/fendi/etc bags and purses and all kinds of little trinkets. if you get bored of that, go to Lido (by water taxi) and it's a nice little upscale resort-type area right across the water from venice, with actual beaches and actual cars, etc.

Milan - honestly didn't spend much time here when I went. Been to venice 3 times, here once. it has its sights and nice shops and stuff, but it's a decent sized city with lots of commercial areas. not as "tourist" friendly as venice and paris. still, the Galleria Vittorio and the giant Duomo are physically bigger than many of the sights I saw in venice. it's also a big place int he fashion industry if you're into that. Also, take a look around the small towns surrounding milan, for a nice local restaurant for dinner after sightseeing around the city itself. i had my best meal in italy in one such small town at a nice, small local restaurant.

Paris - last time I was there was the longest time ago, but it's a great walking city. Venice is too, but it's just very easy to get lost because of the way the city is set up with the canals and the way the bridges over the canals are set up. unless you go at an off-time the line for the Louvre is long as hell. however, the areas surrounding the museum and the eiffel towel are big tourist areas with lots of interesting architecture, shops, etc.

I also highly recommend visiting southern France (Avignon / Aix en Provence / wine country) and the riviera, especially Nice and Monaco. Great beaches, lots of stuff to do, great food. And in Monaco you see exotic cars like they're nothing. I love visiting my mother (she lives in Monte Carlo) and seeing the Bentleys, RR's, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Lambos, etc.. in front of the big casino. A BMW in those parts is like seeing a Buick