2 comments about The Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland.

1. This is a fantastic coffee table book. The photographer has captured so much color in each photograph, you almost expect some sort of visual explosion -- how can such a dynamically variegated palette be contained in a single picture?! The whitewashed cottages, the blue-green sea, the dun colored old castle walls... even the street signs are beautiful. I myself am half of Irish descent, and half of Italian descent. Although I must confess that in culinary terms, my Italian forebears had considerably more "on the ball" than my Irish ancestors, this book makes me appreciate some of the beauties that Ireland itself has to offer. It makes me determined to visit it at some point.

   The book is divided into four parts. Each traditional ancient Irish kingdom has its own section -- Ulster, Leinster, Connacht, and Munster. Each section is also followed by a brief photographic essay, dealing with such topics as "Ancient Ireland," "Bar and Shop Fronts," and "Painted Villages." At the end, there is a useful map, a travellers guide complete with phone numbers and addresses of Inns and hostels, and a very handy little bibliography.

   I would just like to also recommend, for anyone with an interest in Irish history, "The Atlas of Irish History" by Sean Duffy. It is out of print, but you should ask your local librarian if he or she can find it, using OCLC or inter-library loan. If, like me, you have Irish blood in you, you will be familiar with the feeling of being quite alienated from the broader sweep of European history prior to the settlement of America. I once looked in the index of an encyclopedia, and actually found more entries on Native Americans, who of course are considered to be a marginalized people, than I could find on the Irish. This book, and the atlas I recommended, can help remedy that situation, and "The Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland" can beautify any home. Two thunbs up -- check this one out.




2. Perfect! Just what I had in mind and the person I gave it to liked it a lot! Great pictures!

4 comments about Let's Go 2008 Western Europe (Let's Go Western Europe).

1. I am using it for my backpacking trip, it has been very usefull until now



2. Excellent resource with lots of information that you should have like embassy, restaurants, attractions, and accommodations. Fast shipping, good condition



3. This is a good book, keeping in line with the generally excellent "Let's Go" series.
   
   It offers a nice overview of the western european countries, but we found that it lacks in detail for specific countries. We could have seen it coming, of course, but we made it to some fairly major destinations in Germany and Switzerland that weren't in the guide at all.
   
   I'm also a detail buff, and even some of the major attractions which were included lacked detail: as a result, we had to pick up quite a good deal of supplementary materials (maps, historical, etc.) along the way.
   
   So, for my next multi-country trip, I'll be hitting the individual country guides.



4. This was, by far, the most useful thing I took with me on my two-month trip to Europe. I honestly don't know what I would have done without it. If you plan to backpack or work your way through Estern Europe on a shoestring budget, this is the perfect start. It's very easy to use, with sections divided by country, city, and if necessary, sections of the larger cities. It has great information on the best (and cheapest, if that's your goal) hostels, places to eat, and activites. I book almost all of my hostels using the up-to-date information. Each chapter on a country has a small section about the language, with hints on how to pronounce useful phrases like "I'm fine, thank you", or "where is the bathroom?". It also includes directions and maps to hostels and other landmarks that were detailed and, for the most part, easy to follow. Sometimes it was a little off on the pricing, but that's to be expected when prices change seasonally in touristy places. I liked this book much better than the Lonely Planet book I bought, and much, much better than the Frommer's book I had. It's a must-have for any savvy traveler.

No comments about Fodor's Greece, 8th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

5 comments about German in 10 Minutes a Day® (10 Minutes a Day Series).

1. The author seems to have her heart in the right place and the book is well organized, but I really doubt anyone will learn more than number, colors, or other such items.
   
   I've been working through a number of German books in my middle(ish) aged quest to be bilingual so I'm not a total beginner. I wanted an exercise book to do over lunch and I found this book on sale (<$5). I would say I got about that amount of knowledge out of it.
   
   The matching, fill in the blanks, and crossword puzzles were good, but so much is left out that you can't really understand any of what you are doing, you are just memorizing. For example, the author has you conjugate the verb 'sprechen' but never mentions it is an irregular verb that changes to 'du sprichst'. Later, the sentence structure where a second verb is unconjugated and moved to the end of the sentence is used by the author, but is never mentioned to the reader.
   
   It was a good way to keep my head in German, but I can't say I got very much from the book.



2. I'm using this book to teach a group of senior citicens to speak and understand basic level German. The pictures are great and the exercises are very helpful. The book focuses on learning words and phrases in an organized manner and does not frighten learners with grammar and sentence structure. I think an audio CD would go well with this, just so the audience would have a way to practice at home, or while traveling. Don't let the title mislead you...it takes more than 10 minutes to learn...practicing 10 minutes several times a day will do the trick. With language it's all about repetition.



3. After purchasing this book I took a college course - guess what, this book was the curriculum. Excellent book with lots of pictures and many engaging exercises.



4. I found myself somewhat overwhelmed at my local bookstore by the number of books they had for learning German, so I decided to go with the easiest, most user friendly book they had, and picked up this one. I am very happy I did. I have really learned quite a bit from this book and have enjoyed doing it. This book has taught me enough, to know that I can in fact learn German, and has encouraged me to contiue onto more in depth books. Even though I agree, a CD would have made this so much better, the pronuciation guides are really excellent. The sticky labels are really a great way to not only learn a word, but remember it. If you're not sure you want to learn a language (or if you have to learn one and quickly) this is a really great book to start off with. Granted I spent more than 10 minutes a day on it, but only because I enjoyed learning from this book.



5. I was traveling to Germany with my husband and a friend, and wanted to know enough of the language to get around, and I achieved it with this book. I was working long hours right before the trip, and had only studied for a couple of weeks, and really for about 10 minutes a day. On the plane ride over, I put in a few hours of intense studying.
   
   We had heard that "everyone will speak German" - which was not the case. I was able to negotiate hotel rooms, food in restaurants, and even tickets to a concert in Cologne, which was tricky because the ticket sales booth wanted to send me to the concert hall to buy the tickets, and vice-versa.
   I was able to say in broken German, "Woman says no. Woman says we must buy tickets here." And the man sold us the tickets, and the concert was lovely. If I hadn't been able to resolve that issue, we would have just given up, I'm sure.
   
   My German was far from perfect, but I could make myself understood. My husband teased me about how intense I was when I was speaking, because I was concentrating so hard. Once, we arrived in a small town - we had rented a car - way past the lunch hour and we were starving. I laugh to think about it. We walked into a restaurant that was empty except for two women chatting. I intoned in German, "We are hungry. We must eat." They looked startled, perhaps even frightened - the intensity, again - but jumped up and got us menus. The menus would have been indecipherable except for the book's menu with translations, which you can pull out to take with you. We had a wonderful lunch, and I was able to thank the ladies.
   
   These 10 minute a day books are well organized. First, they teach you pronunciation, so that you can properly say any word you encounter. Then, you learn phrases that you'll really USE while traveling. (None of this "Edith is at the pool" nonsense, sentences you'll never use that are so prevalent in traditional language books. That one was actually in a French textbook. However, it pales to the Polish textbook that taught me how to say, "Why does your new cow look so sad?" Oh, yeah, I'm really going to be using that sentence soon.)
   
   I really love the stickers that you place around the room on objects so that you can learn the name for things, making the visual connection.
   
   I love the "free words" - words that are the same in English - that are at the bottom of each page.
   
   The flash cards are helpful too.
   
   This isn't a grammar book. You can learn enough of the language to travel, and if you really want to know the nuts and bolts, then when you return, you can take a hard-core class, and learn how to say "We're watching television, but we don't know why." - (another gem from my Polish book.)
   
   I'm such a fan of these 10 minute a day books. I'm using the Italian one now, anticipating a trip, and my husband, who has always wanted to learn French, is trying that one. I have a knack for languages, he doesn't - but he's really improving his French!
   
   And may I just say that everyone we encountered in Germany was terrifically polite and friendly. Once, we were sitting in our car in a rainstorm reading a map, and a man came over and rapped on our window. Turned out he wanted to know if we were lost and needed help finding something!!

5 comments about Acquired Tastes.

1. all of peter mayles books are great - and this is no exception!



2. I used to think as a big disadvantage to live in a small and poor country as Chile. However, Mr. Mayle's book demonstrated me that living in a "third world country" has some advantages. First of all, if you can afford some of the pleasures described on this book, meaning you're lucky enough to be within the 5 or 3 per cent of chilean population, maybe you're not a tycoon, but al least you're quite wealthy. That takes us to the second point... few riches enjoying pleasures means everyone else want to be like you, have the things you have, admire you and that makes you exclusive. In Chile if you earn 1.000 US$ a month you're middle class... imagine what happens when you make that 5.000 or 10.000 US$!!! Third point is vernacular. You can buy vineyards for a decent price (in many cases you have acquired it by inheritance), have 5 or 6 servants for 1.200 US$ a month, buy a very nice vacation home for 150.000 US$ and have a drink on a limo for 100 US$ the whole day. Caviar, cigars and truffles have the same high price worldwide, althought they are scarce and difficult to find in every corner grocery shop.



3. Leaving his haunts in the South of France, Peter explores the tastes of the rich and famous. Custom shoes, shirts, suits, second homes, stretch limos and all. A good read but not his best!



4. In his undying wit, Mayle shares with us some of his field research on the finer things in life. Although really geared toward the gentleman reader, it is enjoyable for women to read as well. You'll learn some interesting facts on caviar, truffles, cashmere, and cigars as well as pick up on the potential pitfalls of overindulgence and gluttony. A quick and enjoyable read for anyone who is curious about the life of luxury!



5. I love all things "Peter Mayle!" He's just so fun to read! Aquired Tastes is witty and even a little wild!

No comments about Michelin Green Guide Provence (Michelin Green Guide: Provence English Edition).

2 comments about Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria's Best-Loved Driving Tours (Best Loved Driving Tours).

1. I didn't give this book enough respect when I first got it. I was more into the "deep" guidebooks I'd ordered, with depth of history and cultural context, food recommendations, architecture tips, etc.
   
   But when I got to Italy for a week-long stay in Tuscany with a rental car, this slim volume of car tours took pride of place by my bedside at night and on my dashboard by day. When I was on the ground on vacation, and plans changed day by day, it was great to have a simple reference that just showed where to go.
   
   The itineraries are clear, well-illustrated, and with good capsule descriptions both of road directions and of the way points along the route. I didn't complete any of the "tours" shown in the book, but used portions of the tours in each area of Tuscany that we went to (from Sienna to hill towns to Pisa/Lucca) to guide us to points of interest near every major destination that we aimed for. That's the point of renting a car, isn't it? This book gave us -- simply and clearly -- the valuable ability to wander into wonderful smaller sights every day.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. Great book with good ideas. I wished it had been a little more detailed, especially as it relates to places to stay and eat along the way. More detailed road directions, with numbers, would also be helpful. A distance chart from city to city would give us a better idea of time to allow. But, it did give us ideas of places to visit that we hadn't originally thought about when we first started planning our trip. We look forward to driving several of the various trips the book describes. You definitely need to have an Italy road map to follow the trips.

5 comments about Frommer's France 2008 (Frommer's Complete).

1. This book is very readable with extensive coverage of all areas of France. It is typical of Frommers ... excellent, comprehensive, good for both budget and luxury travelers.



2. I have always dreamed of going to France and I plan to next Fall or Spring. My only issue with Frommer's is the bulk and weight. Not something to carry around while you are walking all over Paris. I will be doing research and maping out where I want to go. I travel very light-no check in so I will take the map, numerous notes in a small pad and leave the guide back home. Otherwise, it is a very good guide and I recommend it.



3. I used this book to help plan our accomodations for our trip. It was more reliable than Tripadvisor or other websites with reviews that are quite conflicting. I was able to find a great deal in Paris thanks to a recomendation in the book.



4. The restaurant and hotel selections were 100% on target. However, Fodors has more interesting detail and is more user friendly.



5. Not a bad travel book, fairly complete, decent detail on many of the cities within the country, but the book does lack pictures, has a few in the front of the book. That would have made the book more complete and enjoyable. As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

4 comments about Cultural Atlas of Spain and Portugal (Cultural Atlas of).

1. This book offers an interesting, non-textbook style cultural and socio-political history of Spain and Portugal, well illustrated by plenty of excellent photographs. The special sections on cultural, architectural features and the great artists of the countries, like "paella", "The Great Mosque of Cordoba" and "Dali" are excellent. Another good thing about this book is that you can start reading from anywhere because the sections are self-contained. Unfortunately, not enough is mentioned about Portugal, at least not to the proportion it deserves. It is good book for those planning to visit the countries as well as those who have been there and just want to sppreciate more the history and culture of the Iberia.



2. Unfortunately the authors have no idea what the word ATLAS means (this seems to be the case with most recent so-called atlases that I have seen). Although there are a few maps, anyone who was hoping for an extensive series of interesting and detailed maps will be sorely disappointed.



3. This book is excellent. It is exactly what it says it is, a cultural atlas (map of culture). The book gives an refreshing survey of Iberian history. The book covers the Phonicians, Greeks thru the death of Franco. The book abounds with topographic and cultural maps. A must buy!!!!



4. It is an alright book, I needed it for a class and was a little disappointed with the contents. As a brief overview it was fine but I think there is a reason it is no longer in print.

5 comments about Lisbon (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. Eyewitness Travel Guides are really great value and this is a very nice guide book. Take an Eyewitness Guide and a Cadogan Guide (if available) and you will have all the information you might possibly need. Forget the competition. This is the kind of intelligent tour guide you have been waiting for.

   The introduction is a beautifully illustrated time line of Portuguese history since the 1200s. The city and surrounding area is then broken up into sections and each is introduced by use of picture-driven accounts and easy to read descriptions of what you will encounter. There are nice maps and each area is described in such illuminating detail that you cannot help but get up early and get down to it. Each place of interest is preceded by a list of opening times, map locations and details of how to get there by using public transport.

   It's all highly readable and also gives useful tips on where to eat, what to do, where to stay and how to get about. The nice thing about the hotels and eating guides is the way this book breaks down its recommendations by price - allowing travellers of varying budgets to enjoy their time in this fascinating of cities.

   This is a very good book indeed.




2. I found this travel guide really useful.It gives you a lot of information about places to see, things to go, how to use the public transport, accommodation, etc... Apart from that, this book also gives you a brief historical explanation of the city, its origins and development which I quite liked.



3. DK always seems to be the forerunner with beautiful photo's to help you figure out what you don't want to miss on your trip. A little light in some of the history, so I didn't give 5 stars. A VERY useful guide!!



4. Lisbon is one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the world and this is a great guide to this great city: it gives you a lot of information about places to see, things to do, how to use the public transport, accommodation, etc.
   
   Also the book itself is rather beautiful, has lots of pictures, great illustrations and maps. This edition is a must have for anyone exploring the capital of Portugal.
   
   I also strongly recommend the «Lisbon Top 10» from DK and «Eyewitness Travel Guide to Portugal».



5. We bought this book for a recent trip to Lisbon. We found it to be out of date. Descriptions were not always accurate, addresses were wrong, opening hours were often not correct. If it were updated, it would be a useful guide.