Andrej Gregov

Traveling in Phoenix I was looking for free wifi. Of course that means coffee houses. I popped up on 43places and found this spot. As a Capital Hill regular in Seattle, the “alternative” crowd is found at pretty swanky coffee houses. In comparison, this place is a dive—torn up furniture, empty in the late morning. But it’s got character and the coffee is good. Lonely Planet recommended Coffee Plantation near the ASU campus siting it as a poplular student hang out. It too was empty when I visited. If you have to chose between the two, make it the Counter Culture Cafe.

The NY Times travel section had a piece about Valencia today. They’ll be holding the next America’s Cup in 2007. I’ve always wanted to see the event in person. Also, Santiago Calatrava has several well known projects there. Sailing and architecture make a great photo safari location for an upcoming vacation.

With my parents both architects, I did have a chance to once visit Vicenca where there’s the highest concentration of buildings done by master architect Andrea Palladio. I’d like to return now (as an adult) and do a little architectural photo safari to take some pictures of a bunch of the villas.

The New York Times travel section had a brief piece about hiking along part of Hadrian’s Wall. Looks like a fun way to hike through some of the English country side. The article mentioned http://www.walkingholidaysuk.com as one tour provider. Assuming there’s some nice villages/towns along the route, this could be a fun vacation outing.

Some time next year I’d like to take a longer vacation. Where to go? I’m not sure yet. But as I come across different travel locations, I decided to use my 43Places account to keep track of new interesting places.

Recently the New York Times had an interesting article about Girona, Spain. Apparently this is the cycling destination for the pros training for the various big European races. It’s close access to the Pyrenees is the obvious lure for the pros. Lance Armstrong has a sweet condo here. For the cycling vacation, this might be a cool stop.