2 comments about Streetwise Edinburgh Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Edinburgh, Scotland - Folding pocket size travel map (Streetwise (Streetwise Maps)).

1. A serious visitor to Edinburgh (Ed n bur a) would find this most helpful if one actually studies it beforehand, plans by research, instead of willy-nilly browsing. What a wealth of history to experience.



2. This map is durable and, most of the time, quite convenient and useful. However, it shows the Royal Infirmary (the only hospital in Edinburgh with an ER) in its old location, which is a considerable distance from its present location.
   
   Considering that the hospital moved to its present location in 2003, I think they've had ample time to update the map, which is dated as "revised 2007."
   
   Hopefully most travelers in need of emergency aid will call 999 or get a taxi, but woe to those who try to make it there themselves using this map!

5 comments about Golf in Scotland: A Travel-Planning Guide with Profiles of 68 Great Courses.

1. I have been to Scotland with tour operator, but this book is excellent if you want to save money and plan the trip yourself. Great review of golf courses and good ideas of lodging and traveling. Highly recommended. If you can find a better book, let me know.



2. You can scroll down to other reviews of this book, I would simply be repeating the praises that others have for this golf/travel guide.
   
   I devoured this book in almost one sittting. The advice is sincere, genuine and as helpful as travel advice gets.
   
   There is no mystery why everyone has rated this book five stars: it IS that good.
   
   I am planning a trip to Scotland in 2009 for our regular foursome. With this book I have a good idea what our group needs to decide on before we go.
   
   (E.g., Is playing at St. Andrews the major reason for our trip? Do we want to stay in a hotel/a B&B/a self-catering location? Do we want to stay in St. Andrews town itself or are we willing to pack up and re-locate to other locations? Do we want to spend $350 to play one fantastic course or 4 lesser-known links?)
   
   This book is practical and I recommend it WITHOUT any reservation!



3. Take some good advice from a guy (Ferguson) who has been there and done that. Very easy reading with some greats tips for planning your trip. You'll pay for the book just by following his car rental recommendation.



4. I used this book to plan my golf trip to Scotland for my brother and I, along with help directly from Mr. Ferguson himself. You really need to read this book over and over again to reap the full benfit of all the info in here. He covers so much important information. I planned my own unique trip, choosing golf courses and places to stay, plus rental car and when to go and what to bring. Our trip came off with no problems, all tee times, rooms, travel, directions, etc were all right on target. We even met other golfers who were using the book as well. I know we saved money using this book as apposed to going through a agancy. I will be using his service again on my next trip as well.



5. Have played Ireland and am looking forward to playing Scotland. This book seems an excellent guide to courses, how to approach all aspects of a trip. I especially like the amount of coverage given to the not so famous "gems"-that has altered my thinking somewhat in planning a course itinerary. Well written and very user friendly guide.

No comments about Love & War in the Apennines (Travel Literature).

5 comments about Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted.

1. Delightful voice, funny anecdotes, cleverly written. You will find yourself chuckling out loud more than once.



2. Annie Hawes has a wonderfully detailed and descriptive style of writing therefore this was not a story that could be breezed through but rather something to be read slowly and deliberately, savoring every word. She gave a realistic and honest view of life in the Italian countryside which this Italian-American found to be very enlighting!



3. I have read a number of Italy travelogues, from folks who are just traveling through to expats and those who choose to live there part time. The most enjoyable aspect of this book is that the author choses to focus on the people who live there. Most of the other books on this topic that I've read are rather ego-centric and reveal more on the topic of their authors than on the country or its people. But this book is centered on the stories of the Italians whose community she has joined and whose customs and conventions she is learning. Her delightfully dry wit and British sense of humor are a plus.



4. On a wet, cold, typically gloomy day in England in 1983, Annie Hawes (broke and out of work) and her sister Lucy (bored and lusting for adventure) decide that enough is enough. Clutching a job description offering ten weeks work grafting roses on the Italian Riviera, room and board included, Lucy assures Annie that they can lie their way into the job and fake their way through it. Off they go to San Pietro, Liguria, quaint, sun-kissed village on the Mediterranean to live among the hankie-heads (men's knotted at the corners, women's tied at the nape of the neck). Although the sky and sea are blue and beautiful, the hoped-for handsome, tanned young men and wild night life of the Riviera are non-existent. It seems that their village is undiscovered by tourists, and the inhabitants have very strict ideas about proper behavior for young women and the correct way to do just about everything--"Never drink cappuccino after twelve noon. Italian is only spoken by policemen and tax collectors. Women do not speak to men in a bar, even if they are close friends. Swimming in the ocean before July will make you ill--no matter how hot it is."
   
   Unexpectedly, Annie and Lucy fall in love with the little town and all its peculiar, lovable inhabitants. They even find a delerict old farmhouse on a lovely hillside overlooking the ocean--a real fixer-upper with no toilet or running water. They could buy it for a couple of thousand dollars, but they have no permanent job or savings. How they manage to make a home for themselves in San Pietro is a delightful tale, full of laughter, local color, and amazing information about olive trees. And in case you are so enchanted that you think perhaps you will just move there yourself, the last chapter is a helpful recent update on San Pietro.
   
   A wonderful book written by a woman who turned her fantasy into reality with humor, determination, and a few bald-faced lies.
   
   by Carolyn Blankenship
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



5. This is a delightful tale of time spent in place and time near but far away from the stilish and popular Cotta Azura. I know this area well from time spent rebuilding the Italian Steel Industry in Cornigliano under the Marshall Plan. The author has a keen eye and ear for detail.

2 comments about Frommer's London with Kids (Frommers With Your Family Series).

1. I found quite a few helpful bits of information for navigating London with my child. I haven't yet been, so this may be hasty, however, we are planning our stay in London relying in large part on this book.



2. I love this book very much which contains almost everything you need to know if you want to bring your kids to London. Cannot miss it if you want to bring your kids to London.

1 comments about Frommer's Lisbon Day by Day (Frommer's Day By Day Series).

1. This book is absolutely fantastic! It's small and concise while still being detailed enough for a short trip to Lisbon & its surrounding areas (Cascais, Sintra, etc). It offers several suggestons for how to spend 1, 2 or 3 days, or even a week.
   
   The book is detailed without being too big (or too small) and includes a great fold-out map. Buying a whole book on Portugal would be more information and bulk than I need.
   
   I highly recommend any book in this series. Nice color without being too much fluff.

5 comments about The Journals of Captain Cook (Penguin Classics).

1. This re-issue of the Beaglehole edition of the Cook journals attests to the enduring importance of Cook as the exemplar navigator and Beaglehole as his nautical Boswell.

   The writing is elegant and subtle and the fascination of the recital enduring.

   Best there is no other!




2. This well prepared abridged edition of Captain James Cook's journals is a specialized book of interest to people studying the exploration of the Pacific and/or the British Navy of that time period. Other people might find sections of it dry reading. The book is recommended for oceanography students as the 17th century voyages of exploration formed the basis for later oceanographic cruises.

   Cook's voyages carried scientific personnel of that time period, many of whom died from the harsh conditions along with members of the crews. In addition to bad weather, there were diseases and hostile natives (including cannibals). Extensive charting was carried out and, on the second voyage, the Board of Longitude supplied Cook with Larcum Kendall's copy of John Harrison's H4 watch for determining longitude. Observations were made of prevailing winds, currents, temperature, and other things of scientific interest.

   Natives throughout the Pacific would go to great lengths to obtain iron, expecially axes, even prostituting their wives and daughters (willing or not). Natives would attempt to steal items, if they could, leading to numerous confrontations including one in which a boat crew of the Adventure (the consort ship of the second voyage) were killed and eaten by the Maori natives of New Zealand.

   Cook's journal ended several weeks before his death. The editor fills in details from journals of other people who were on the voyage, and speculates on the reason he was killed by the natives in Hawaii.

   The book includes maps of Cook's routes on his voyages. It also has an index listing the names of the various individuals mentioned, with an indication of their positions on the voyages or their other positions if they were not active participants.




3. This is a spectacularly interesting journal. Cook was an odd sort, that's for sure. But a genius? I'd certainly say so after reading his often-daily account of his activities. Really neat book.



4. I wish I had read the reviews before paying for this. The key word for this edition is ABRIDGED. According to the editor Philip Edward's introduction, only about a third of Cook's/Beaglehole's text is included.



5. I wanted to like this book. I really did. When I saw it online, I thought that it looked interesting. The few reviews were favorable. I enjoy maritime tales, stories and life. I thought that pirates and life aboard ships were interesting decades ago.
   
   This was a slow, monotonous account. At least all that I could read for three days. Then I lost interest. I have read period pieces before. However the abbreviations and some of the words I just could not decipher.
   
   If you want to attempt to figure out this book, I wish you luck. If you do, maybe you could explain it to me. :)

5 comments about Switzerland (Country Guide).

1. Lonely Planet's guide to Switzerland was extremely helpful while travelling to the country. Great detail and updated information on items such as hours of operations and costs were extremely helpful. Additionally, information on excursions such as to Vaduz, Liechtenstein was very up-to-date and an easy read.



2. I recently found myself contemplating a trip to Basel and, never having been there before and, knowing I would be alone without even a gendarme to ask questions of, nor another human being, I thought I should find a Basel guidebook. Amazingly enough it seems there is no such thing available on Amazon so I went with this larger book, which deals with all of Switzerland--in fact, nearly all of Western culture in one fell swoop.
   
   The authors of LONELY PLANET SWITZERLAND have convinced me for the present at any rate that Switzerland (Helvetia) is the most important country on planet earth, not that they suggest we rank countries by importance or anything. It is a handy guide in the sense that physically, the book is constructed so that you could rip out, as I did, the section on Basel and Aargau, and throw the rest of the book away, and the pages you need form a complete little fascicle, due to an amazing new wonder glue that holds different little chapbooksized sections together until you don't need them together any more. Thus armed with my guide, I went to Basel. The authors share not only hotels, restaurants, and train stations, they go all out to make you feel like you can do it too. I learned how to use the phone, where to shop for lampshades, how to buy a single stamp, where the best (and worst) Swiss-Indian cafes are, and what famous medieval scholar is buried in the tombs inside Munster cathedral. Why Erasmus of course!
   
   They have cute sidebars like Basel's most famous guy, Albert Hoffman, still alive at age 102 or something like that--the man who invented LSD.
   
   Later, I met a pair of Basellienne poets, one American born, one educated in the USA, who showed me their Basel, a charming tour of tombs, elevators, shops and bridges, culminating in a magical ferry boat ride across the Rhine from Big Basel to small. The afternoon was clear, like a glass of vodka, and I felt positively drunk with knowledge as I looked across the water and seemed to see my own back, walking away, mever to return.



3. I had used Lonely Planet for other locations trips, the guide to Switzerland is not detailed at all, least helpful, not so "guiding"...and seems to want to cover the many parts of the country leaving out the important details of any/each city or countryside attraction



4. This book was the first item to land in my backpack whenever I left my apartment during the year I spent living in Bern, Switzerland. Like most Lonely Planet guides, this one is well-written, entertaining, and generally accurate and up-to-date.
   Things I found helpful:
   - The suggested walking tours of cities are great for a quick orientation of the place.
   - Brief context and history about locations gives you about the same information as your average tourist brochure, but more concise and convenient.
   - Hiking routes are briefly mentioned with sufficient detail, but for any extended hiking, I would highly recommend Lonely Planet Walking in Switzerland.
   - Information on the best value in train passes and train routes makes eco-friendly travel easy.
   - The section on Liechtenstein is a nice addition since many treat it as a day trip from Switzerland.
   Considering that Lonely Planet typically caters to budget travelers, I was surprised to see how many upscale hotels it includes for some locations. Overall, the book provides something for everyone and is useful for both short trips and extended exploration of the country.
   Mary Ann Miller, author of CH is for Chocolate: Individually Wrapped Tastes of Switzerland



5. This book and the map was all we needed for our trip to Switzerland. The book has all sources of information - places to see, restaurants, transportation tips, etc. In Geneva and Bern, we followed the walking tours suggested in the book, and we were able to see all major attractions in 2 hrs. For some interesting places to see, the book just provides a brief description, but also gives a website link (when available) for more information, which is very helpful. I would definitely buy another book from Lonely Planet for my future trips.

No comments about Fodor's Germany, 24th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

5 comments about The Italian Way.

1. This is NOT a must read for the traveler to Italy. If you have disposable income and are planning a trip to Italy and have a few concerns about culture, buy it. My experience was that it didn't make a difference to my experience of Rome and Florence, but it certainly helped me feel more comfortable that I wouldn't offend anyone.
   The book is easy to read and pleasantly laid out. I was more impressed with "Passport Italy: Your Pocket Guide to Italian Business, Customs & Etiquette", but even that I would say is not critical to a visit to Italy.
   If you are going to Italy, have fun and eat well! Any sensibly minded person will not offend an Italian...just smile and offer your apologies for not totally understanding.



2. In the introduction the authors tell us that the purpose of the book is to provide snapshots of daily life. If you have ever been to Italy you know that they have a different notion of what it means to live. Every visit that I have every made to Italy there has been a general strike that has taken place. The first time I visited Italy this fact mystified me. Now, I just know that this is what happens and I don't let it bother me.
   
   This book is a collection of short discussion on a variety of topics. The topics covered are as follows:
   
   1. April Fool's Day
   2. At the table
   3. Attracting Attention
   4. Bad Luck Day
   5. Il Bar
   6. Le barzellette (joke)
   7. Basic Expressions in Italian
   8. La Befana
   9. Business
   10. Calcio (Soccer)
   11. Calendar
   12. Calling Cards
   13. Il campanilismo
   14. Il carnevale
   15. Celebrations and holidays
   16. Compliments, appreciation, and criticism
   17. Dating and Marriage
   18. Driving in Italy
   19. Education
   20. Expressions such as Dio mio!
   21. Eye contact in conversation
   22. Family and friends
   23. Il Ferragosto
   24. Form of government and politics
   25. Gallantry
   26. Gestures
   27. Houses and housing
   28. Introductions
   29. Italian films
   30. Italy on wheels
   31. The kitchen
   32. The language
   33. Letters
   34. Made in Italy
   35. Ma lei non sa chi sono io! (You don't know who I am)
   36. Il malocchio (evil eye)
   37. M'arrangio
   38. Meals and mealtimes
   39. Monetary unit - the lira (this is now out of date)
   40. Navigating a building
   41. Number usage in different situations
   42. On stage in Italy
   43. Opera
   44. Il Palio
   45. People's names and name days
   46. Physical distance and contact
   47. La Piazza: the center of daily life
   48. Politicians
   49. Professional and civil titles
   50. Pro loco
   51. Punctuality
   52. La raccomandazione
   53. Religion
   54. Restaurants
   55. Lo sciopero (strikes)
   56. Shopping
   57. Signs
   58. Lo sport
   59. Telephones
   60. The term American
   61. Tests
   62. Time of day
   63. Transportation
   64. The two faces of Italy
   65. Tu, Lei, and voi
   66. La vendemmia
   67. Visiting
   68. Waiting in line
   69. Ways of conveying information
   70. We make love, not war
   71. The wines of Italy
   72. Women
   73. Work
   74. The world of youth
   
   The sections that speak of male and female interaction are very valuable for women traveling to Italy alone. Italians are very expressive people. They are much more demonstrative than Americans. This book covers that fact in great detail, and does a nice job of getting the point across. Physical beauty is greatly prized in Italy, and this will result in more than a few pinches when you are a woman in Italy unaccompanied.
   
   Overall, I think this is useful little book to read before leaving for your first trip to Italy. It won't make a lot of sense before you arrive in Italy. However, once you are there much of it will become clear.



3. Secured Packaging. Prompt. I would do business with them again.



4. Semi-interesting but don't bother. If you have a good guidebook you'll get just as much (and as interesting) information from it. Plus, this book is very small/thin. Not worth it.



5. This book is so basic it can only be a benifit to readers who know nothing at all about Italy or Italian people. It is a quick read but not worth your time. Read Italian Neighbors by Tim Parks if you want to meet some real Italians.