front seat to riots!!

rome ... vatican museum
florence ... galleria dell'accademia
venice ... wear a coat and just walk everywhere you can
paris ... musee de la musique
london ... british library at st. pancras

paris : centre pompidou, arab institute (but, actually go into the library and walk up the spiral ramp... also go up to the cafe and check out the city views... nice spot to get some good mint tea and baclava down on the ground floor)

venice: get lost (you'll do this whether you try to or not). walk every inch of the city. see the 'ghetto' (on side close to train station), take a traghetto to burano and murano (small islands just north of venice in the lagoon), go see the ship yards (on the side close to mestre), and if you're walking along the giudecca, you can probably find the area where they hand-make the gondolas. if you're curious, gondoliers are stationed all over the city and a ride four years ago cost 60. usd. don't eat in san marco -- a latte is 15. usd and a rip off. there are _plenty_ of places to find good food (risottos and pumpkin raviolis!)...and my favorite during my semester there -- the city is teeming with great gelatto stands + stores.

thanks guys...

btw. any contemporary projects i should take a look?

London: generally avoid the underground. Nothing to do with bombs, the smell is poisonous. Walk, or use a bus. Get an Oyster card. See some of the Jubilee Line stations on the underground, and take the Docklands Light Railway. Apart from the DLR and Southbank, do not venture South. Check out Hoxton and Shoreditch, be sure to go for a drink in Lounge Lover and look out for some David Adjaye. Do the Tate Modern. Do also the Victoria & Albert. Scour the walls for stencil art by Banksy. Be prepared to blank tramps and hookers. Soho check City check Westminster check Exmouth Market check Somerset House check Chelsea Farmers Market check.

For news of what to see nearer the time check www.Kultureflash.net

It's kind of cold, but I try to tell people not to miss the Viaduct park walk stretching from Bastille outwards. It's an awesome urban improvement space.

Also, there's so much stuff "not to miss" in paris that it's hard to even tell you what to see. Just, try to stay above ground and wander around as much as possible. There are a lot of hidden gems. If you can make it out to Villa Savoye, do, it's like a couple bucks and an hour RER ride out of the city, you could do it in an afternoon. There's also the Fondation le Corbusier but... the Villa Savoye is more striking and impressive.

I've heard not to miss the Picasso museum, but somehow I never made it. My personal fave is the Rodin museum, it's incredible.

i found the Picasso museum rather ordinary ... if your time is short, there are many other things in paris that would be a better use of your time