5 comments about Walking in Italy (Walking).

1. Serious trekkers should add this invaluable guidebook to their travel shelves. In its rapidly growing walking guide series, Lonely Planet very effectively defines its audience and focus. Walking in Italy is aimed at travelers who want to include extensive hiking in their trips or those who plan long-distance trekking journeys. The authors have selected nine areas of walks and organized both regionally and thematically. Sections such as the "Volcanoes of Southern Italy" tempt readers to plan trips that will immerse them in the rich culture and natural history of the regions described.

   My wife and I field-tested this guide on a recent trip to Southern Italy and greatly valued its level of detail. We found the maps and trail directions highly accurate and easy to follow, and we particularly appreciated the many sidebars on local culture, history, and the environment. Walk descriptions also include public transportation to trailheads, campgrounds, budget lodgings and restaurants, even local sources for maps and trail guides. The first quarter of this compact book, moreover, is devoted to general travel information, which just could make this single guide all the walker needs to carry on a trip to Italy.




2. The emphasis of this useful little handbook is on walking in rural, even wild Italy. It describes walks in nine areas: the western Alps, the Lake District, the Dolomites, Maritime Alps, Liguria, the southern Italian volcanoes, the Amalfi Coast & Sorrento Peninsula, Tuscany and Sardenia. Also, it describes four long-distance walks which traverse the length or, pretty nearly, the width of Italy.

   Coverage of each geographic area is uneven, but it's always at least enough for a rapid overview. For example, Liguria gets just 13 pages. However, it has so many wonderful walks that it's worth a book of its own. The volcanoes of southern Italy get 40 pages. And that's just about right.

   There are useful chapters about the housekeeping details of taking a walk in Italy. These cover how to get to Italy, finding transport to the site of each walk, health, safety and first aid tips, facts needed for planning a walk and those background details of Italy which may be important to a walker.




3. Seeing Italy in all its grand beauty is simply not enough by plane, train or vespa. NO my friend, you must get out and WALK. There is no better way to see the hidden wonders of this wonderful country, and Lonely planet is the only walking partner you need. Tips on the best walking tracks, great food, hidden splendors...they are all in this easy to carry wealth of a paperback. When your trip is over, you will not want to part ways with such a book. I often look over this book to conjure up memories of my trip. If your heading to Italy, get this book, I dont think there are any others that fare better in comparison to Lonely Planet.



4. This book walked us through some great walks in northern Italy. It has all the details you may need. The track is described in a way you can't go wrong. They warn the reader about every possible obstacle, give exact transportaion schedule, recommend maps, seasons and walking gear.
   
   The tracks vary in length and difficulty. The book mentions the length, duration, and difficulty of every walk, so the reader can stay with what suits them.
   
   We even took their recommendation for a hotel, and it turned out to be a good recommendation. It was not fancy, but clean and pleasant, just as the book said.
   
   (I refer to the hotel they recommend in Malcesina, on lake Garda).
   
   All in all - I'm very glad to have bought this book. It brought our trip to a whole different level.
   
   There is a lot of general information about each area. I found it verey interesting, and I think you should read the descriptions carefully before you start your walks.
   
   Have fun!!



5. This book covers so much territory so quickly, i didn't find it useful for the amalfi coast. there it only covered a few main walks in main towns instead of getting very deep. the Sunflower Landscape series is much more thorough but doesn't have hotel recommendations.

5 comments about Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples.

1. 
   This is a series of travel essays on Naples. While some could be published as articles on their own, in this book they are uniquely tied together with the story of Hofstadter's romance. Or is it a romance? This is as unknowable as Naples itself, and DF lovingly shows us how mysterious it all can be. This is a gem of a book and I was sorry to leave DF and Naples when I finished it.
   
   As a post script, could some of the underground network Hof. describes be lava tubes? We have some tall ones on the "Big Island" here in Hawai'i.
   
   Post post script: I've come upon a "Smithsonian" article by Hofstadter from Nov. 2004 on the tunnels. The book presents them in an anecdotal way. The article is packed with info. and with one picture being worth 1000 words, there are 9 very good ones.



2. I loved this book. The author writes of Naples and its colorful characters with such affection and clarity. I could picture each of them and almost hear them talking and gesturing (especially the praying hands) in their unique Neapolitan manner. The author describes the streets and buildings so vividly that I felt like I was tagging along on his visits. I felt like I knew Benedetta and Nunzia, even Renzo, and I was truly sad when the book ended.
   
   As I got to know these brave and sad people in this city so often invaded or occupied, I understood so well why my beloved mom and her family were so proud of their Neapolitan roots. On a family trip to Italy some years ago, my mom quickly picked up the Italian language of her youth. Many people complimented her and said she sounded like she was "from the North." On the contrary, she would reply proudly, "Sono Napolitana." This book helped me to understand the origin of that pride.



3. My only impression of Naples was a sun-filled afternoon many years ago while on a tour of nearby Pompeii and Sorrento. This book conjured those memories for me and made me want to go back and stay longer.
   A delightful book, far more than a travelogue. Highly recommended!!!!



4. This book is absorbing and fascinating in content, in addition to being extremely well written. It's full of insights into problematical personal relationships, and also into perhaps the ultimate, complicated personal relationship: that between a foreigner and the city with which (and in which) he falls in love.
   
   Naples is my least favorite among Italian cities, and this author didn't convince me to go there, but he presents Naples and its inhabitants most vividly, in all their complexity and ambiguity. While many foreign memoirists, and even ex-pats like the insufferable Frances Mayes, remain on the surface of the societies where they take up residence, confining their contacts mainly to other foreigners and treating most Italians as servants, Hofstadter lives and loves among the ordinary people of Naples, sharing their discomforts as well as their pleasures. His title is understandable, too--the "falling palace" that appears in one of his dreams is a metaphor of Naples itself-- always falling apart and yet never destroyed.



5. There is no need to repeat the well deserved compliments offered by other reviewers. He truly is a skilled writer.
   But how far can I trust an author who demonstrates so little insight into his own behavior as he encountered the main love interest of the story. By his own telling he was apparently consistently unable to communicate emotionally and connect deeply with his romantic companion.

5 comments about City Secrets: London.

1. LONDON CITY SECRETS is a little book of good places to visit the next time you're in England. The authors describe their book as a "highly subjective" collection of recommendations, not an all-inclusive list of places to eat, sleep, visit in London. The folks making the recommendations are artists, writers, historians, and others who live and work in London. They share favorite spots to eat; favorite paintings, sculptures or museums; favorite walks, historical houses and other spots discovered over the years.

   LONDON CITY SECRETS is divided into 13 areas: 1/ Trafalgar Square, Soho and Covent Garden; 2/ St James, Westminster, & the Embankment; 3/ Hyde Park & Chelsea; 4/ Oxford Street and Mayfair; 5/ Regent's Park & Camden Town; 6/ Bloomsbury & King's Cross; 7/ Islington & Clerkenwell; 8/ The City (of London); 9/ The South Bank; 10/ Notting Hill & The West; 11/ Hampstead & The North; 12/ The East End & Beyond; and 13/ South of the River.

   Because the selections are subjective, the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum are mentioned, whereas the National Maritime Museum is not. Fortnum and Mason is included, Mark's & Spencer is not. Scrubb's prison is listed, the Tower of London is not. Plenty of good places to eat are listed, no good places to sleep are included. Never thought you'd visit Islington? You might find yourself eating at the Smithfield Market, Moro's, or the Quality Chop House. Think the East End is a dump? You might discover a science fiction ride on the nighttime tube.

   Symbols are placed next to sites with London Underground stops and places to eat. Plenty of bars, pubs, and other assorted oddball watering holes are included. The various authors, artists, etc. also recommend plenty of additional reading material about favorite spots. LONDON CITY SECRETS is eccentric, esoteric, and entertaining.




2. You will need time to make the purchase of this book worthwhile. London is gigantic. It's difficult enough to hit the very well documented high points. If you are making your first trip and/or have less than a week, stick to Eyewitness. If you are a repeat offender, disinterested in the main tourist attractions, or have a lot of time, you will not regret this purchase. This guide will get you off the beaten track and provide advice about how to avoid being trampled when you are on it.



3. This is the quintessential guide for anyone who wants to visit the rare and cool side of London. I found a lot of really wonderful ?off the beaten path? kind of places via this guide. It has great, quirky restaurant suggestions, and tips on getting into strange museums (like the type museum!). A must have for those of us who like to pretend we?re locals and know all the ?secrets? of the city.



4. The "City Secrets" series is based on contributions solicited from expats and locals living in the city of interest. This distinct approach has two very pleasant benefits to the reader: first, the recommendations are written with style and panache distinct to each contributor (the artists recommend arty stuff and describe how things look), and second, the recommendations are the sort you get from people who live and breathe in the city rather than just the rest of us, who just run-in-see-the-sights-turn-around-run-home.
   
   City Secrets: London is even better than other European entrants (say, the Rome book), because virtually everyone writing for the book seems to be a permanent resident, rather than a on-and-off-again visitor.
   
   So, rather than hotels and a greatest-hits list of museums, you get favorite places to walk, nice places to have a cuppa on the way, museums you would discover only on the third walk down the street. Not all of them are "secrets" in the sense you wouldn't otherwise have known about them, but all of them are worth knowing.
   
   There is a slight tendency toward redundancy, when multiple contributors mention the same destination. But this is a very minor complaint. This little gem of a book should be slipped into your pocket for the plane ride over; it will add more to your vacation than any number of more traditional guides.



5. Of course few places inspire such passion as Italy, but I've read the NYC version as well and found it much more intruguing than this one. It seems as if most of the entries concern Georgian architecture and stodgy gardens. Did Thatcher kill lively London?

5 comments about Rick Steves' Mona Winks: Self-Guided Tours of Europe's Top Museums (5th Edition).

1. I travel for art and frankly, this book was a big disappointment. I expected practical tips and got only a few. What I also got, much to my surprise was a dumbed down sister wendy approach to art-now class, look at this part of the statue and think this. This is not insider information, and to suggest that we should look at art with these descriptions in hand is extremely offensive. If you want to enjoy these museums, get the practical details in hand-a section, by the way, which I found amateur hour, and leave this puppy at home.

   I have toured just about all these museums, and these guys miss some outstanding parts of, for example, the British Museum. I grant you that the Louvre is impossible-and if this book helps some people at least get in the door perhaps it has a function. I will say the city walking tours are quite wonderful, but personally, I would never follow this guys tour of the Orsay, except perhaps for directions to the food. This book is an excellent example of fools going where angels fear to tread. You do not need this level of detail to tour the Rodin-it is easily accessible. Use this book if you must have detail to enjoy art (in other words you care who Rodin's last mistress was) but please form your own relationship with the works you see. Most children can do this without a guidebook-for goodness sake give yourself some credit, take a deep breath, and walk in the door, sans guidebook. You do not need a party planner, particularly a second rate party planner, now do you?!




2. Quick, easy, painless guide to museums in Europe. Forget the drawn out and expensive audio guides. Great book.



3. I just used this book in Paris and Rome and do not recommend it. Maybe it is already outdated, I don't know, but it was nearly impossible to follow through the museums. And then if and when I did find the thing he was talking about I didn't care for the flip comments about the artwork. (I know he's trying to be funny, but I would have appreciated some more basic information on things. I found myself trying to read museum cards just to find out how old some of the works were!) Also, it really gave no additional information over what was in the regular Rick Steves travel books but added just one more not particularly helpful book to the luggage.



4. This book is a great resource for anyone traveling to Europe who plans to visit any museums.



5. I have found all of Rick Steves' books to be worth their weight in gold. You will save so much time and money by using them. However, as loaded with good information as this one is, I found it rather useless once in the museums because I couldn't peel my eyes off the art to look at a book!! The thought of pouring through a book spoiled the mood, so I never used it while in the museums. However, if you wanted to, this is the book for you.

No comments about LUXE London (LUXE City Guides).

3 comments about Knopf MapGuide: Venice (Knopf Mapguides).

1. I am a big fan of the Knopf MapGuides and usually get one for each place I visit, but this was one of the more disappointing in the series. Venice is difficult to navigate and it would be nearly impossible to create a completely accurate map of the city. That said, many streets on these maps are not labeled. There are also a large number of streets, bridges, and landmarks in Venice that do not appear on the maps. I spent a lot of time trying to match the maps against what I saw in person, and found the smaller maps in my guidebook were much more accurate.
   
   There are also several areas of Venice that simply are not covered on the maps, including all of the islands. We found some delightful streets in the western part of Santa Croce that do not appear on any of the maps, and no coverage of the area near the train station or the Piazzale Roma, which are important points of entry into the city. Overall, the maps were just average for what they do cover, and the coverage of Venice needs to be improved.



2. Unlike many maps, the street IDs in this guide are big enough for a user to actually read. That said, I still got lost walking from the Accademia bridge to San Marco. (Following crowds and stopping in to ask store clerks helped me out here.) I found myself flipping back and forth on the two San Marco maps freqently, when it would have been more convenient to have all the info on a single map.



3. Best travel guide bar none. Fits your pocket or small purse.. Visually great looking.There are actual pictures .... All high recommended hotels different prices..Great maps.. hard to get lost even in Venice. Great recommends for food I am a shopper.. Absolutely great & unusual shops ..None of the bad tourist gear only the styling gear.. .I had three guides to Venice this is the one we used every day...Do not go anywhere without this guide if there is one available for the destination Im will be traveling to....

1 comments about Food Wine Budapest (The Terroir Guides).

1. I bought this book for an upcoming trip to Budapest, because I am a foodie and I want to know where to go!
   
   This book has two major drawbacks, which are easily addressed in subsequent editions.
   
   First, there are no maps of any kind anywhere in the book. So unless you know Budapest very very well, you will be lost and have no idea where these yummy restaurants are. I had to map them on Tripadvisor (which also has plentiful restaurant reviews by the way...) just to see what neighborhoods they are in, and how far away they are from our hotel, important sights etc. This is kind of a pain!
   
   Second, the book is quite heavy! It is a beautiful book- thick, glossy paper, nice fonts and typesets etc, but it weighs a ton! NOT ideal for carting around Budapest- its a veritable Hungarian food encyclopedia!!!
   
   I recommend buying this book if you are a diehard foodie and want to know where the good meals are in Budapest. It would be especially good for someone staying in Budapest for an extended period of time (expats, for example). She has great descriptions and photos of the restaurants, and I believe she does a thorough job of combing the entire city for the best of the best.
   If however, you are only going to be in Budapest for a few days, I do not recommend this book. Get a smaller Budapest book, and do a bit of restaurant research online (Tripadvisor or chew.hu are both good Budapest food resources) and bring a notebook with the names and addresses of the restaurants you really want to try. Or better yet, buy a map and mark the restaurants on it!
   
   I'm glad I bought this book, but I wish it had maps. I also wish it wasn't such a tome! Lighter paper and narrower page margins would have made for a more portable book. Maybe the author will alter it for the next edition.

No comments about Good Bread Is Back: A Contemporary History of French Bread, the Way It Is Made, and the People Who Make It.

5 comments about D. H. Lawrence and Italy: Sketches from Etruscan Places, Sea and Sardinia, Twilight in Italy (Penguin Classics).

1. D.H. LAWRENCE AND ITALY is composed of three stories: 'Twilight in Italy', 'Sea and Sardinia' and 'Etruscan Places'. The first two "books" seem to be based on journals he wrote while traveling with his German born lover then wife Frieda, whom he refers to as q-b for queen bee, through various villages on the mainland of Italy and the island of Sardinia. Lawrence does not record his experience of "famous" sights in these two books, in fact he says he is not interested in historical places, museums etc. but rather he wishes to see the people and the places in the out-of-the way areas of Italy. He and Frieda travel by bus, train, and boat--close to the ground.

   Those who have read Lawrence's fiction will recognize his writing. He describes what he encounters with a visceral language--people, clothing, food, establishments. Some of the places are stunning and some so filthy you wonder how he could have stayed overnight. He visits lemon and olive groves and various high places along the coast and in the interior valleys. His writing is graphic--the reader will be as appalled and enchanted. He reflects Italy just before and after WWI.

   In the third book, 'Etruscan Places', Lawrence describes his visits to various Etruscan sites, including the painted tombs of Tarquinia. His writing is less descriptive than that of the first two books. He is concerned with nothing less than the meaing of life, and the conflict between religion and truth (he died a few short years later at age 44 so his reflections seem almost prescient). He muses that societies are organized around death or life. He speaks of the use of fertility symbols such as fish and lambs for Christians and dolphins and eggs for Etruscans; the significance of the color vermillion -- male body painting by warrior classes where red paint connotes power contrasted with the the red skin coloring of the Etruscan tomb portraits which seems to have connoted the blood of life. He says the Etuscans loved life and the Romans who subdued them loved power.

   Lawrence's book provides good background for those who would know more about Italy. Many of the places he describes have changed since the 1920s--some for the better. The people have changed--their clothing, homes, etc. are less unique and colorful, but they are better fed, warmer in winter, and cleaner. Hopefully their lives are better, but I don't think Lawrence would agree.




2. If i were to read only two travel books then this would be the second one, although both my wife and an English friend read it in German translation and reported that it was terrible. Maybe it doesn't translate well. Lawrence, as young man, describes a thread running through his life as he starts the journey by heading south toward Italy on foot from Bavaria with Frida, a way of travel that many Germans still understand very well. Descriptions of people are attractive, like the one-legged Italian who tried to seduce the cold, northern women at a dance. I liked best his description of his own Alpüberquerung, his description therein of the hurried English hiker, the way that Italins have ruined the alpine valleys with industrialization. And I felt loss at his growing distance from Frida. The book made me want to see the lemon and olive trees above Lago di Garda and the villages high above the lake, but we haven't done that in spite of our nearness to the region. Gardasee is completely overrun by German tourists now, not just by those wearing heavy hiking boots.



3. These essays are classics. Etruscan Places almost single-handedly revived "modern" interest in the Etruscans and was essential to the preservation and study of their tombs and paintings. Throughout, Lawrence is sensitive and insightful. An added patina to these works is the fact that they were written in the 1930s during the build-up toward WWII. There is an immediacy mixed with nostalgia here that is compelling.



4. I could only read about 20 pages of this book, it was
   not clear to me that Lawrence needed to leave England to
   write this . The new Landscapes, villages, and people only
   seem an excuse to get a never ending internal dialogue involving
   his views and prejudices. I want a travel book to be like
   good reporting, with the author only visible by the style of writing.
   Joseph Mitchell is without peer in this method.
   
   It might be more enjoyable if his views were not uniformly obvious or
   boring.



5. The book was not quite what I expected. It did not add much to my store of knowledge, and did not sharpen my perceptions. It is one of those "must" books, which is generally thought to be of importance, and nobody dares argue with the decree. I did not mind reading it, but I lacked the necessary enthusiasm for it.

4 comments about Georgia: Sovereign Country of the Caucasus (Odyssey Illustrated Guide).

1. The best travel guide available for The Republic of Georgia. I had the Second Edition, so when the Third Edition came out I had to have it. I am a Georgian American who enjoys all things Georgian, especially sharing my heritage with others. This guide makes for a great coffee table book and a quick way to briefly share a little about Sakartvelo.
   
   Visiting Georgia is not like visiting Europe, but if you are a traveler that doesn't mind things being a little unpredictable or a little rustic, or likes out of the ordinary trips like the Middle East, South America, etc. you'll have no problem. The warm-hearted hospitality of the Georgian people, their culture, food and wine, more than makes up for the problems of a country still pulling itself together after the ravages of communism.
   
   The book covers a little of everthing - history, culture, information, maps, and of course beautiful photos of Georgia and its people. If there is a better guide to Georgia here in the U.S. I haven't come across it.



2. This book is quite comprehensive as it tries to describe many aspects of Georgian geography, history, culture and economics as well as being a tourist guide. Unfortunately, it is quite boring to read.



3. The best thing one can say about this book is that the author's love for the people and culture of Georgia shines brightly; rather than the cynicism that peppers many guidebooks to the former Soviet Union, this one is written with genuine warmth and affection.
   
   Regrettably, however, this very affection soon becomes one of the book's many, many flaws. Rosen's style is florid to the point of being laugh-out-loud funny: open any page at random and you're sure to find a sentence gushing with the moonstruck hyperbolic excesses of a hopeless sentimentalist. (Wish I could now provide examples, but I abandoned my copy of the book in Georgia.) Much worse, though, is the book's utter, utter uselessness as a travel guide. Rosen provides no practical information whatsoever for the independent traveler: where to stay, where to eat, how to get from point A to point B. Some phones and addresses for hotels and a very few for restaurants--the vast majority of them in Tbilisi--are appended without comment at the very end of the book, but no descriptions are provided, and no value judgments about the quality of the places are made. This is a "guide" wholly without "guidance"! Nor does the author get off the well-beaten tourist-track: nearly a third of the book is devoted just to Tbilisi, while entire regions (Guria, Racha, Kvemo Kartli and Samegrelo) are glossed over in a paragraph or two. Fabulous places like Bakhmaro don't merit so much as a mention.
   
   How then does the author fill his 300-odd pages? With long-winded disquisitions on the art, architecture and history of the country. Some of this is interesting, some not, but none of it is useful once you're actually in Georgia. Fine to go on for pages and pages about the history of Gelati Monastery, for example, but the only thing you need to know once you're on the road is how to get there easily from Kutaisi...the one piece of information this book doesn't provide.
   
   So, as PRE-DEPARTURE background reading, the book isn't completely without merit, especially for those who know little or nothing about the history of the Caucasus. (Some "background" areas where you'd expect to Rosen to be good, however, he comes up inexplicably short. I'm thinking particularly of the perfunctory sections on Georgian language and Georgian cuisine.) To actually help you get around Georgia, though, you're better off with any other travel guide. Tellingly, I lived in Georgia for nearly two years, and the entire time I was there this book sat gathering dust on my shelf, while whenever I needed some practical information I referred to the older Lonely Planet or Bradt guides--both flawed themselves, but far superior to this effort.



4. My friend's daughter and her husband recently were sent to Georgia as missionery's. Naturally she wanted to know everything she could find out about the place where her daughter is. She says it has been invaluable. When her daughter visits diffent parts of the country she can picture what it is like there. She also plans to visit her and feels she knows the place already before embarking on her trip.