Travel Books

You have many ways to die in Grand Canyon: fall, jump, get pushed, clown around, drown, starve, thirst, or be in an airliner collision over that vast chasm. Ghighlieri and Myers, a wilderness river guide and a Grand Canyon physician, methodically, graphically, painstakingly document the known deaths by name, date, events leading up to and subsequent rescue and/or recovery efforts. A fascinating read, should be required for anyone planning a visit to such a beautiful and potentially fatal attraction.

Although it sounds a bit morbid, this book is a very good read. There is a good mix of entertaining anecdotes and statistical analysis. The authors delve into the root causes and chains of events that have led to the hundreds of deaths in the canyon and really drive home the point that people make the same mistakes over and over and over again. If you are thinking about hiking, backpacking, or rafting in the canyon, I highly reccomend reading this book first - it will help you make the right decisions about your time in the canyon.

Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon
Excellent service, great book, well laid out and very informative

I was at the grand canyon when I bought this book-I didnt want to buy it,but a stranger had told me about it,and not wanting to tell a lie in case I ran into this person again (which I did)I picked it up and glanced at the first few chapters-within minutes I was hooked-it is an unbelievable read - to even think about what some of those victims must have gone thru was terrifying-yet it is one of those books that once you start to read it,you can't stop!It made me respect mother nature even more and appreciate the safety rules and regulations the forest service puts up,no matter how trivial it may seem to be.

I have been to the Grand Canyon more than once. In fact, I bought this book from one of the stores in the park on the rim. I too, could not put it down. I have told numerous people about the book and recommended it to friends and associates and anyone visiting the canyon for the first time. This book is NOT fiction folks, it is the real deal. It absolutely amazes me some of the ways people have died here. EVERY conceivable way is mentioned. It , in a way seems morbid to some degree, kind of like reading detective magazines or something, like my Grandpa used to do. But once into the first few pages you realize, that it is not just about death , but about living too. People that have come to see the awe of the Grand Canyon and its life and their lives intermingling. What's unfortunate is the complete utter disregard some people have for what is so obvious. Granted, some of the deaths are COMPLETELY accidental, but some are beyond stupid. One that I will mention here is the park WORKER, who had a few drinks , decided to get up on the wall , and fell to their death. The episodes that also got me, are the people who take a bottle of water in the SUMMER in ARIZONA and think they can walk twenty miles of very rough country with no problem...well, many of them found out , or were able to look down from heaven and realize what a bad mistake they made. While shocking , this is also an instructional manual for anyone who goes. Moms, Dads, Kids...please think twice before posing for that picture with your back to the Canyon...and be EXTRA careful where you place your feet! GREAT READ.

We have both books, the 1000 Places to Go Before You Die and this book. This one is much better, because it focuses much more on experiences rather than shopping and staying at fancy hotels. The other book seems like half advertising. Sure, the experiences might not all be my cup of tea. I won't be doing any extreme sports, and I won't be partying now that I am a mom. However, there is something for everybody, the pictures are compelling and the descriptions are opinionated, evocative and short.

I buy a lot of books from Amazon, especially books on travel. This is hands down the best purchase I have made in that genre. The descriptions are great, there is lots of valuable information, and the photography is wonderful. I would say that this is a book that will give you many, many good ideas, but you will need to depend on other more specific guidebooks for the actual planning (Lonely Planet and Footprint are what I prefer).

As an aside, I also purchased the "World Party" book that too is published by Rough. There is some repetition, but on the whole I think that the two books compliment each other quite nicely. If I were choosing between them, I would probably select this volume. After all, there is more to life than parties...or so I've been told.

I simply bought this book to remind myself that there is so much to see around.......
The recommendations of the book are really good. I've been to several of them, and those are worth it.

If you're looking for a reference book on travel ideas, look no further! This book is beyond excellent.

I am currently researching for an extended round-the-world backpacking trip with my son. I spend a lot of time in bookstores taking notes. This book, however, was so full of excellent info that I actually bought it, despite my strict budget. It is one of the best travel investments I have made so far.

It is arranged in chapters, each dealing with a specific region, such as the Iberian Peninsula, Southeast Asia and even the Polar Regions! In each region are listed fantastic and interesting things to do there. There is a great variety: from walks on castle walls in Wales to walks on hot coals in Greece, from Christmas shopping in Kutch India to sampling wines in Liechtenstein, from turtle watching in Costa Rica to tracking rhino in Namibia. There are, literally, a thousand things to do. And they're of all varieties - relaxing, adrenaline-pumping, cultural, outdoorsy, athletic, lazy, cheap, pricey - there is truly something for everyone in here.

At the end of each chapter, there is a "Miscellany" section with little tidbits about each region, like best places to dance or dine, trivia, unusual hotels, best souvenirs, etc.

At the end of the book, the activities are listed alphabetically by country. Then they are all listed by number, after which there is vital info for each entry, such as a website or directions.

Each entry is well-written by its respective author, condensed but informative and interesting. The photographs are numerous and fabulous - they get you excited about the place. I suppose even armchair travelers will get their kicks from this book!

In short, this book is a bargain, a must-have for anyone who plans to travel anywhere. Or even for those who like to pretend! Hold me to it, you won't regret it.

P.S. Rough Guides has been cranking out some great books lately. I also highly recommend World Party, similar to this book, but with a focus on festivals and other celebrations both wild and tame. Awesome.

I have yet to put the phrases to use but I feel more confident already...the phonetic pronunciation guides are very clear. The humor and variety make the book easy to read and become familiar with. Thanks also for the hints on manners and realistic expectations.

I speak enough French to survive in France without assistance if I had to, but why do that when I have this handy little guidebook? Seriously, this book brought back to memory much of the vocabulary I learned in high school and college. I didn't really need to use it much, but it was a great refresher. If I didn't speak any French, it would have been a lifesaver. My husband actually referred to the book quite a bit because he doesn't speak French.

I would not recommend this phrase book because I found it very hard to access the phrases. It is organized by situations where you would use the phrases, such as counting, traveling, eating, and sleeping. It requires too much skimming and scanning to find what you want to say.

While this is helpful, it is not a necessary purchase if you purchase the 2008 Paris Guide by Rick Steves. But it is a fun and entertaining read!

Great book! Highly recommended. Easy to use, easy to find the topics you need when you need them. The phonetic words are easy to understand, and are spot on with the real corresponding word (with some other phrase books I have tried, the phonetics were not quite right). There are phrases for real situations, even some funny situations, covering everything from being pulled over by police in your rental car to dealing with pushy street venders (which are abundant in Paris! - which came in handy for us when at the Louvre!). There is a menu and food decoder which we referred to quite a bit so as to know what we were ordering to eat. With this book, we were able to communicate easily everywhere we went: the metro, the train station, eateries, museums, grocery store, and even in the countryside where hardly anyone speaks English.

My Spouse and I were in France last month and I had purchased this book weeks ahead of time and began reviewing the phrases inside. By the time we got to France, we both had learned enough to communicate nicely with the people. In Paris, there are a great many people that speak English, or at least understand it a bit, but it's still nice to be able to say something to them in French even if it's just a greeting. But we stayed in the countryside where English is rare, but we got on just fine at the grocery store, the villages, and the cafes with this little book in hand. The easy to use words and phrases are great in a pinch, but as a helpful tip: Don't just buy the book and wait to use it until your there standing at a ticket booth trying to figure what to say - familiarize yourself with the key phrases that are important to you, and where they are located in the book before you even get on the plane.

I bought this for a 70 yr old friend who had suddenly taken an enormous interest in Costa Rica, and who was seriously thinking she wanted to go there. So I surprised her with this as a gift. I have to admit that I had an ulterior motive: at her age and level of physical abilities, I believed she would not be able to participate in all the loveliness and would likely find such a trip too much for her to enjoy. But I did not want to deliver that disheartening message.

She read thru the book and thoroughly enjoyed it but realized on her own that other places and trips would be better for her to consider. Sad but true, so the book did it's job. Frommer's can always be counted on to deliver a good product, even if as in this case it ends up turning away a potential visitor.

We brought two guides with us to Costa Rica -- this one and Explore Costa Rica (Fifth Edition) by Harry S. Pariser. We found this to be a useful guide. It had plenty of information on basics. However, it lacked the detail found in Explore Costa Rica which has many places and much information not found in other guidebooks we looked at. We really enjoyed the author's sense of humor, as well as the extensive background information provided. For example, we learned a great deal about the rainforest and other ecosystems, history, culture, and economy. We also were able to find some great local restaurants as well as several ecolodges that we did not find elsewhere. The book contains thousands of website URLs and e-mails and this was a tremendous help in planning our trip, as was the additional tips and online update found on the publisher's website. The color photos are great also! If you are interested in getting off of the tourist track, then Explore Costa Rica is a better guide to bring along.Explore Costa Rica, 5th Edition (Explore Costa Rica)

I went to the bookstore and looked at Fodor's, Lonely Planet, etc and ended up buying this one. This is the most recent up to date version, but not as detailed or as well written as the LP version. Better than Fodors in my opinion. I used Fodors on my last trip to CR. Will use Frommer's this time.
When travelling, I'd rather have up-to-date more so than better details.... but if you've got money, always buy two guides. The best trips come from a collaboration of opinions and perspectives.

I went to Costa Rica in 2001 for five weeks and took an older version of this guide (that was co-written by the same author as the current one). I found this invaluable and constantly referenced it for both daytime activities and accommodations. It is very well-written for the active traveler and I highly recommend it.

I did not give it 5 stars as there were a few omissions that I was surprised to find. For example, the vans that tourists can take between the main tourist cities that are a LOT more convenient and safer than the buses.

Although the information in this book is accurate, I ended up replacing this book with Lonely Planet's Costa Rica book. I do not recommend Frommer's book for backpackers who are trying to paying under $40 per night for lodging, who rely on maps for walking from a bus station to their lodging. This Frommer's book lacked a map for La Fortuna and non-touristy towns. It had very little information on inexpensive hostels. Also, unbelievably, there was no information on border crossings to Panama or Nicaragua; if this information was in the book (and I doubt that it was), it was difficult to find from the index.

I wouldn't call this a "travel guide" so much as a beautiful little glance at Japan. It would be wholly unusable for someone actually trying to get around an unfamiliar area- I suggest a Lonely Planet instead.

This guide book is the most current and much better than others out there! The pictures are not dated (you could tell by the eighties hairdos in other guide books) and DK Eyewitness travel are usually better than other ones out there. The only thing is that it's more focus on Tokyo than other cities, so if you are looking into Osaka and other cities, it's not as detail as Tokyo!

This series is simply one of the best travel guide series around today. I have used at least 10 other guides from this same series and have found them to be comprehensive, easy to use and up-to-date. You cannot go wrong with this book and some internet web research. Definitely worth every penny and then some.

I love this book. I looked at several other books, but they were not up-to-date. This is a great book for anyone planning to visit Japan. It is arranged by geographical district and has beautiful maps and/or pictures on every page. It is extremely informative and no matter what you want to know, you will probably find it in this book. I'm now using the book to document my photographs taken in various areas of Japan. The only drawback to this book is that, because of all the pictures and maps, it's printed on glossy paper and is quite heavy. I took it with me every day on a Japan tour, but kept it in my carry-on for reference. I found it too heavy to carry in my purse while walking on a tour.

This is wonderful book full of great pictures, fun facts and interesting snippits. It is very entertaining and remains interesting thru out. It is well written with the American Traveler in mind.
Major attractions of each city/region are covered. It covers a lot of area and provides a great overview without getting to deep into any one place. It gives pricing information and as such is well done. Interesting historical and modern facts are given about locations adding to the fun.

I used it on a 2006 trip to Japan and found it very useful. It was especially helpful in the preliminary planning stages of our journey.

For a more encompassing travel guide, I recommend "Gateway to Japan" and "Exploring Japan". These three along with a common phrases book or electronic translator should be about all someone would need to have an enjoyable trip!

Istanbul: Memories and the City


Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul, like Samuel Peyps' London, Proust's Paris, and Borges' Buenos Aires, is a collection of childhood memories informed by adult intellect. Born into a once prominent but lately downwardly- mobile family, Pamuk is preoccupied by the sense of lost glory that infuses Istanbul:
"The city into which I was born was poorer, shabbier, and more isolated than it had ever been before in its two-thousand year history. For me it has always been a city of ruins and of end-of-empire melancholy." It is this melancholy, or
`huzun' that infuses the city and his memories.
How to refer to the change in political control of the city from Greek to Ottoman is the subject of a fascinating chapter: "Conquest or Decline? The turkification of Istanbul." During the 500th anniversary ceremony in l953, the government downplayed the "Turkish' factor, partially because of Turkey's new membership in Nato. Out of fear of alienating the Greek population, the government chose to ignore the anniversary of the "Conquest of Constantinople."
But there were anti-Greek demonstrations and violence, leading Pamuk to conclude that "the government allowed mobs to rampage through the city, plundering the property of Greeks and other minorities. A number of churches were destroyed during the riots and a number of priests were murdered, so there are many echoes of the cruelties Western histories describe as the "fall" of Constantinople. In fact, both the Turkish and Greek states have been guilty of treating their respective minorities as hostages to geopolitics."
One of the attractive features of Pamuk's memoir is the generous use of archival, black and white photographs dating from the 1920's, thirties, and forties.
The original Turkish is ably translated Maureen Freely. I am now encouraged to read more of Pamuk's works available in English, "The Black Book," "My Name is Red," and "Snow," which he describes as his only political novel.

I have now read all of Orhan Pamuk books available. I have learned so much about another culture because of this brillian author.

The book is personal, moody, altogether a very lovely snapshot of an enigmatic city which hangs between East and West. Vintage photographs add their atmosphere to the text.

Orhan Pamuk is a master at his craft; for further reading after this, I suggest "My Name is Red."

I finished this on a flight from Izmir to Istanbul. It's a good thing I did: it provides an excellent preface to visiting that amazing city.

Pamuk has three guiding ideas in this book. First is that all Istanbullus share a sort of melancholy which Turks call huzun. The idea is that they all lament the decline of their city since it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and that they lament their servitude to the Western world. Secondly, Pamuk wants to harness this huzun and create an artwork that is distinctively Turkish -- not Western, not Muslim, but a harmonious blend of the two. Thirdly, Pamuk believes that the city inhabits the man just as much as the man inhabits the city: Pamuk feels Istanbul's moods and it feels his. Huzun is thus a strictly collective emotion. One cannot feel this sort of melancholy on one's own; one can only experience it in a collective way along with one's fellow-Istanbullus. (Indeed, it's not clear to me that residents of any other city -- Vienna, maybe? Pittsburgh? -- can feel huzun; it may be a nostalgic melancholy that only Istanbullus are logically entitled to feel.)

I didn't feel the huzun in Istanbul, but then I was only there for a few days; Pamuk doesn't believe that anyone can understand his city without living there for ten years or more. It may also be impossible for a new generation of lifelong Istanbullus to feel the huzun: those born into today's Istanbul may not realize that there's anything other than the Western model to follow.

This is all his perspective as an insider to the culture. As an outsider to it, my perspective says something altogether different. When I visited Istanbul, there was at least one mosque, minaret, and muezzin per quarter square mile. One block off the main drag in Beyolu (Istiklal Caddesi), our cab had to stop to let a flock of sheep and their shepherd pass. One block off on the other side was a warren of little streets filled with conservative Muslims. I felt distinctly foreign there, both in nationality and in culture. If this is "the West," Istanbul-style, then Pamuk has nothing to worry about.

At times -- certainly over the last fifth of the book -- Pamuk's melodrama about huzun gets to be a bit much. He haunts the miserable streets of a lost empire, collar upturned against the snow, trying to shake off his own desperation at a lost love and make an art form that doesn't just ape the West. On and on he goes, trying to beat us over the head with the idea that the city inhabits the man and the man the city: we cut back and forth between his furious wanderings in the streets and his fight with his mother over what he'll do with his life. Pamuk thinks he is terribly clever. He wants us very much to know how clever it is; earlier in the book he drops hints about its "hidden symmetry." This symmetry, so far as I can tell, is just the symmetry between the man and the city. So now you know. If you were paying attention during the first half of the book, you already knew. I'd rather not be bludgeoned with the Cleverness Stick.

Still, it's a fun read. It's peppered with (deliberately) black-and-white photos of old Stamboul, from an era when people flocked to the shores of the Bosphorous to watch the Ottoman pashas' wooden "yals" (waterfront mansions) burn to the ground one by one. There's great romance in this book, great love for the Bosphorous, and delicious history. Worth reading, but not worth owning.

I remember the Boston of my childhood, though I remember Marblehead (a small town to the north) much better because I actually lived there. The two places had certain sights, sounds, smells, and "feelings" that, for the most part, have vanished like a morning fog off the Atlantic. But anchoring all those sensory aspects of the places was history, a giant kaleidescope of shifting people, institutions and events that created the then present, that created the new present, and will create the next present. I can't imagine Boston or Marblehead without that history.

Orhan Pamuk chose to write his great love for his city in a strange form. He weaves himself and his personal history into the picture, but completely avoids any historical details. I wonder whom he wrote for ? If for that "western audience" he refers to so often, there is not enough history to make sense of why Istanbul became such a melancholic, declined, fallen, poor, neglected place (at least he says it was). Fires and accidents, rain and snow, the hiss of tires slipping on old cobblestone alleys in a city that once ruled a big part of the world. If he wrote for a Turkish audience, his style of describing his family and his personal behavior would probably turn them off, along with his emphasis on Turkish cultural poverty. Maybe he wanted to "send a message" to those who insist too much on "Turkishness", by mentioning the now-mostly-disappeared non-Muslim minorities quite often. Maybe, but I conclude that he wrote it for himself---full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes to come. Pamuk writes of western painters and travellers and their views of the city in the 19th century and how they influenced him. He also writes of Turkish authors and how they viewed the city, though I have never seen any of their work in translation (meaning I have no idea how they would resonate with me). I liked this gambit, though I knew nothing about those Turkish writers. What I liked best is how he describes the city itself, how he walked around it as a child and a youth, how he steeped himself in the decay of the old Ottoman heritage before all the old mansions burned, before concrete apartment blocks sprang up like toadstools to sweep away the sad wooden houses that had seen better days. I loved the chapter on smoke from the funnels of steamships in the Bosphorus, and above all I liked the dozens of black and white photos of bygone days that fill the pages. It's a world class essay of nostalgia, but done in a very new way.

It's an interesting way to describe a city and write the first part of an autobiography. It's not a travelogue. There's not a single map---as if all the readers would know the geography of Istanbul. This is not Istanbul for visitors, this is Istanbul for those who loved it (who could AFFORD to love it) back in the Fifties and Sixties, when it had not been inundated in a huge tide of immigrants or refugees from the countryside and abroad, when Turkey was a poor, slow country. I saw it, once, briefly then, when Pamuk was an eleven year old kid. The dynamic, vital, amazing city of 2008 bears little resemblance to that other Istanbul. I understand why he wrote the book; I know a little of what is lost. To know that, you couldn't find a better book than this.

These CDs are amazing!! I use the Magic Tree House audio books during rest time, with my Preschoolers and Kindergarteners. They love them and I love the educational information that is interwoven into each story. They especially liked #38. My students have learned so much just from listening to these books!

As always, she really liked this Magic Tree House Book. She said it wasn't her favorite, but it was "pretty good."

Best place to get the MTH books at a good price, especially if you pre-order. I recommend this series all of the time.

Monday with a Mad Genius is a great book! It's part the great series Magic Tree House,
Written by Mary Pope Osborn. Monday with a Mad Genius is about two people named Jack and Annie. They go in their Magic Tree House and go on a huge journey to Florence, Italy.
There they meet LEONARDO DI VINCHI
And do a week's worth of things in only one
Day. They traveled to a hill to try out his so
Called "flyer" and later in the day Leonardo
Did a self portrait of a woman, and that painting
Is a real painting in real life and is one of the most famous paintings in the history of art. I
Think Mary was trying to say that she was
Really interested in the Renaissance period
And Leonardo Di Vinchi. And she was saying
That you can too, because the book tells you
A little about the time period. So if you like
Fiction books or if you like history (the Renaissance) or if you just like to learn new things you should read this book.


By, Craig

This book is a must have! I just bought this book for my 9 year old in the third grade and he loves it. This is the first book in this series he has read and is begging me to by each and every book in this series by this author. Every free minute he has he is reading this book and has almost finished the whole book in a couple of days!

This well-organized book breaks down places to see in Australia by thier states. The sixteen Best of Australia lists; descriptive reviews of hotels and suggested itineraries; and 'Fun Facts' such as where to cuddle a koala are interesting to note. I am already planning to go back for a second visit because I cannot see it all in two weeks.

I have been using Frommers for many years. So naturally I chose this book to prepare for our first trip to Australia. It is the only guide book that you will need, though you might want to pick up a free AAA guide after you arrive if you need hotel info as Frommers can't cover every property.

This book will provide basic info on all the major sites. In addition, you will find a great deal of info on smaller towns that you may visit if you decide to do any driving. It was invaluable for providing info on the fly.

If you buy one guidebook, this one should be it.

The streets go every witchway and having this map that we could pull easily out of our pack was a lifesaver. If you don't have a car, the BART and MUNI maps were also handy. People on the street saw us using it and always chimed in with extra advice.

Handy map, with excellent info on bus routes and all manners of public transit!!!! Can't do without this map if you're on your own and want to use public transit!

I stayed at The Red Vic in Haight-Ashbury, a little off the beaten path. This map and my weeklong muni pass paid for themselves a gabillion times. The map worked great; I was never lost. The way they depict the touristy section of Lombard Street makes me giggle.

These "streetwise" laminated maps are the best there is to get you around any city. Walking OR driving. We wore this one out on our recent trip to San Francisco.

I have a few of these for various cities and they are all very good and great for residents, new residents or even vacations or as a gift for someone moving to a new place.

It provides laminated clearly written and very detailed for it's size. It provides, buses and subway lines, landmarks and tourist attractions for many major cities.

Last fall, as a 21 year-old college student in his final year, I started pondering what to do with that ludicrous accumulation of wealth that all university students find upon graduation. Lies, actually: I scraped together the best I could and bought a ticket for London. A pair of "Let's Go" guides accompanied me for practical reasons, but Neither Here Nor There was my travel bible, my Psalms, as it were. I read it that Fall of '07 and it inspired me to take the trip in ways that no other source had. It revealed to me that even travel hardships can result in the most absurdly funny, cherished stories.

His ascerbic wit goes gangbusters on the little quirks of the Continental, from country to hilarious country. I partially molded my trip to make sure I checked out some of his destinations--they were that well-described.

Interestingly enough, I found him to be dead-on in some countries/cities, and WAY off the mark in others. One of his most memorable anecdotes comes out of backwoods Austria. I happened to find the same people to be the kindest, most hospitable of my whole 14-country trip. But the laughs I had over that chapter, and the inspiration to camp out under the Tyrolean night sky, paid dividends. So what if his descriptions aren't cookie-cutter and unfailing? No two travel experiences are the same, and God forbid they ever will be.

Read this book. You'll shoot (insert beverage here) through your nose laughing and develop an ache to see Europe. Prost, Bill.

Bill Bryson has written so many hilarious books that it's hard to say which is the funniest, but when I meet someone who is new to Bryson's work, again and again I find myself recommending this one.

The one-liners ("Italians park as if they've just spilled a beaker of hydrocloric acid in their laps") are funny no matter how well-travelled (or non-travelled) you are, and the prose is so descriptive and wonderful that you learn as you go along.

As far as I'm concerned Bill Bryson is the finest non-fiction writer of our time.

Reading Neither Here Nor There made me think that I won't die happy if I don't get to see Capri, and I determined that there were several other cities I don't ever wish to visit. I also learned that a certain brand of travelers' checks is terrible, and I won't be using them in this lifetime.

It is interesting to read this book in it's Communist-era, pre-Euro context. Empty shops in Bulgaria and discussion of purchasing things with dinars and schillings was very interesting. Unfortunately, reading the book even as I did, spreading the chapters out over several days, I still got that "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium" feeling. I began to lose track of where Bill saw the beautiful sunset, or where his pocket was picked.

I was also disappointed by Bryson's alarming views towards animals and cavalier comments about hating them and wanting them killed. Dogs hate him, and this fact has provided much humor in his writing over the years, but the tangents he went on regarding his loathing of companion animals were over the top and distinctly unfunny. So was his anti-Arabic rant during one of his many visits to queues for financial situations. I may be more sensitive to such things in light of recent world events, as comments about the guttural nature of German language or the expense of traveling in Switzerland didn't bother me, but this did.

The funniest anecdotes were the ones Bryson shared about his previous travels through Europe with his friend Katz. Katz provided a hugely politically-incorrect thread of humor in the book, and at times I thought he would have made a more interesting traveling companion. Heresy, I know.

All in all, I'm very glad I read the book, and I got many laughs out of it, but it was no Walk in the Woods.

I really enjoy Bill's relaxed style in his travels. He doesn't edit out the less complimentary aspects of his travels or of his own personality. Europe has such a rich history and varied cultures as well as climates are a treat as background for his dialogue. This is my 3rd Bryson read and thus far my favorite.

Bryson brings his characteristic humor to his explorations of Europe. While his observations can sometimes be a bit mean-spirited, he also pokes fun at himself, and many of his observations are quite funny, if clearly exaggerated. Starting in the artic north of Norway, and continuing in a zigzag pattern across the continent, Bryson explores many of the most famous of Europe's cities, as well as some more obscure locals. While he notes the changes in Sofia that occurred after his visit, his descriptions of Yugoslavia are even more dated (starting with the fact that Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore!). Fans of Bryson's humor won't be disappointed, but if you're looking for a guide to traveling in Europe, this probably won't be your best resource.