ICSC Dealmaking Convention 2008 We're in town for the annual convention, that means a lot of work for Manny, and a lot of playing for me. We have the party at the Bellagio Grand Patio this evening, should be a toasty affair in more ways than one. Off the Strip Shopping We took the 7:30AM direct flight this morning to Vegas and got in early this morning. We started the day by visiting the malls around town to see what the market competition is in case we do a project in Las Vegas - for me, it's work; for Jennifer, it's [View Full Entry]

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Before starting on the busy couple days we had, some more info on our little bed and breakfast in Gulfport, the Sea Breeze Manor. When it comes to B&Bs, you win some and you lose some. This one we lost. I tried to like it, I really did but it is old and crusty, the carpets were dirty, the breakfast okay, the common areas dingy. A lot of old people stay here which is pretty much what Tampa Bay is all about and they probably can't tell what a lousy place this is. The lady who owns it is quite nice, [View Full Entry]

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North Redington Beach is great and all but we had to move on and get away as the crowd there was getting old and unpleasant to look at. Every online guide said that Fort DeSoto Park has the best beaches, so down we went for a looksy. Getting there is easier said than done, which is part of the appeal and keeps all of the tourists away, plus since it is a State Park there is no concrete. Furthermore, we checked into our little Bed and Breakfast in Gulfport today, which is a historical town which maintains turn of the Century [View Full Entry]

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30th Birthday It's good to have a job that let's you take your birthday off . . . amen to that. I am not sure why we picked the Tampa Bay Area, we had spent some time down here when we were in college but never got to know the area . . . now we know and we probably won't come back unless visiting others. After a brutal Ohio winter, we needed some immediate beach time and so stayed at the [url=http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/NORNHDT-Doubletree-Beach-Resort-Tampa-Bay-North-Redington-Beach-Florida/index.do]Doubletree on North Redington Beach which is actually not [View Full Entry]

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Josephine's Home Having visited most of Paris' palaces and in recognition of Jennifer's interest in Joséphine de Beauharnais, second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, we went to Reuil-Malmaison de visit the famous Malmaison. What spurred us on additionally was an exposition at the house of haberdashery and personal effects of royalty and aristocracy from the Napoleonic era to the 20th century. The house was not by any means impressive when compared to the palaces of Kings, but was interesting in that it reflected the living standards of French nobility for the period. Some of the rooms [View Full Entry]

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This was by far the most we have walked in one day in quite some time, I estimate approximately 10 miles which would not have been so bad had we worn some better shoes. Walk to the Tower of London The first order of the day was of course to locate breakfast for Jennifer which turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than we would have expected. The Tower and Bridge The cost of visiting the Tower of London seriously challenged our belief that the subway system is the biggest ripoff in the city, fortunately the experience was [View Full Entry]

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We had planned on going to bed early the night before but it didn't quite work out so well as is the norm for us here. We ate dinner at around 8:30PM and went to bed around 11PM with a wake up at 5:30AM to catch the Transilien SNCF train to Gare St. Lazare at 6:38AM and transfer via RER Ligne E to Gare du Nord for an 8:07AM departure on the Eurostar. We were absolutely exhausted the entire day and the itinerary for the day was an endless list of intense destinations around London which seemed more and more insurmountable [View Full Entry]

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We took the train de banlieue with Axel and Laurie to go into town, split up for our own sanity, and do some shopping and sightseeing. We are back at a reasonable hour though since it is Christmas Eve and we open presents this evening, travel to visit the grandparents in Normandy tomorrow. Paris at X-Mas Time I am impressed at how many shops are open in Paris, so accustomed to summer hours where everything seems to shut down right when you need it most. This is a fitting opportunity for a comparison between NYC and Paris since we were in [View Full Entry]

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Please refer to our special page for a more thorough list of the chocolatiers we recommend throughout the United States and world. A Perspective Guide to Chocolate In following from our New York trip where we visited (but did not properly detail in this blog) a number of French chocolatiers, I decided to prepare another such trip in the obvious capital of French chocolate, Paris. Anyone who knows anything about chocolate knows Godiva is Belgian garbage wrapped in an expensive gold box. Forget Switzerland's Lindt, French chocolate is the best kept secret in [View Full Entry]

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We're back safely, we will post photos later today on those entries missing them and we will also post a Best and Worst list giving credit or discredit to each place for what they were good or not good at. * Best Looking People - Belgraders * Worst Looking People - Sofians * Best National Cuisine - Sofia * Worst National Cuisine - Budapest * Best Dining Options - Belgrade * Worst Dining Options - Bucharest * Best Taxis - Sofia * Worst Taxis - Budapest * Best Sightseeing - Belgrade * Worst Sightseeing [ [View Full Entry]

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