No comments about Through the Italian Alps: Grande Traversata Delle Alpi (GTA) (Cicerone Guide).

No comments about The Unofficial Guide to Central Italy, 1E.

1 comments about Carrara: The Marble Quarries of Tusany.

1. This gorgeous book is about the centuries-long process of destroying a body of rock. Every picture shows a landscape or an interior white with the dust of Carrara's exceptionally pure marble; stonecutters white with the dust; even some pictures where you can't tell whether it's fog or dust in the air, or whether it's snow or dust on the rooftops. Carrara is the source of marble for some of the most revered works of sculpture in the Western canon: Michelangelo's David and the Pieta; Bernini's busts, St. Teresa, and hundreds more. To see it all as essentially an industrial process, and to see the people who have given their lives to quarrying this rock, is beautiful, bitter, and moving. There's also a great essay at the back by an Australian anthropologist, which is well worth the read.

5 comments about A Tramp Abroad.

1. A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain's tongue-in-cheek, semi-fictionalized account of his second European trek, is, despite it's 600+ pages, a lightning quick read. Twain's singular wit is on full display engaging the reader to such an extent that pages swiftly fly by. Though not his best piece of travel writing (see Innocents Abroad), I devoured this book in large chunks eager to see where Twain wandered next. When he arrives in the Alps, A Tramp Abroad vaults from an amusing piece of travel writing to a supremely satisfying form of entertainment.
   
   If there was any disappointment it occured with Twain's unexpected exit from the stage. A Tramp Abroad covers Twain's travels in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, but concludes quite suddenly with mere mention that the Netherlands are next on the docket. Yet, wishing a book to continue confers no blackmark on an author. It is further confirmation that A Tramp Abroad easily merits 5 stars.



2. A Tramp Abroad is the third and least successful of the travel books written by the pen of Mark Twain.
   In this book we follow Twain as he tours Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. I found the early chapters chronicling his visit to Heidelburg University; hilarious visits to opera houses and tale tales such as the Blue Jay yarn to be well done.
   The longest section of the book deals with Twain's alpine climbing adventures in Switzerland. This material is interesting but goes on a bit too long for the modern reader.
   This is a fine book and deserves to be read and enjoyed by a wider readership that better known but lesser Twain novels and
   travel writing,
   I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys listening to a great author recount his peregrinations through Europe in a leisurely and informative manner.



3. It's fascinating to compare my own experiences, having lived now 3 years in Germany, to those of an American from 125 years earlier. I've been learning to speak German, and his Appendix on the "awful" German language was hilarious. In poking fun at German grammar (e.g., long sentences), he purposely commits the same errors in his own writing. The scene "riding" the glacier down the Alps was so funny I had tears running down my face. It's amazing to think that it was written in 1879, when America was barely a century old, and the insights and perceptions then can be incredibly, eerily similar to either my or "typical" American's attitudes today.
   
   I'd recommend it to anyone, but particularly to anyone visiting or living in Europe. It's way funnier than his "Innocents Abroad", which is also a good read on travel in Europe.



4. This is a single book, not the whole set and the book is in less then usable quality. The seller was to send return address materials and has not as of 12/19.



5. I listened to the audio version of both books, and will admit up front that the narrator for this one is not one of my favorites, but I got past that after a while.
   Twain seemed to be "padding" the narrative with an awful lot of folktales and legend, rather than his own experience. There's a lengthy (and highly annoying) "fantasy" sequence - I suppose he was trying for parody - as well. I found myself fast-forwarding through almost a full cassette of a gory description of two deuls (near the beginning); he delights in recounting grisly mountaineering stories later on during the novel. The storyline ended abruptly at the end of cassette 11 of 13; the last two were the appendix, which I skipped.
   I really liked "Innocents" and am planning on purchasing "Following the Equator" (I looked through it at a bookstore and it seemed pretty interesting), but I wish I'd skipped this one. Three stars for the humor when he actually describes his own experiences.

No comments about MOT Atlas Italy (Michelin Tourist & Motoring Atlases).

3 comments about Fodor's Italy 2006 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1. My wife and I travel often, and recently we started taking our kids along with us. I personally love to have many guides while planning the trip. For my North Italy trip I had: (1) The Rough Guide to Italy (2006); (2) The Green Guide - Italy - by Michelin (2006); (3) Let's Go Italy 2006; (4) A 2002 edition of an AA (British) guide to Tuscany; (5) Fodor's Italy 2006; (6) A set of more localized books; (7) The internet.
   
   Buying Fodor's was almost an afterthought, as I was sure it would not contribute to our trip - we love to get off the beaten trek in our sightseeing, and then also spend part time tracking typical local customs such as agricultural, religious, culinary and artistic activities, which usually are not mentioned in guidebooks. I was really surprised to find quite a few such activities listed in Fodor's. For example, it showed us that we could join a tour demonstrating the preparation of the famous Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, and it was this book that convinced us to spend 2 full days for visiting 5 ancient villages hanging on the cliffs above the sea - the Cinque Terre. It also highlights activities that are of higher interest for children. The guide's layout is easy to navigate and inviting, and the writing never tedious. I found myself turning more and more to this book as my first source of information, and only afterwards complementing my knowledge from the others.
   
   The downsides of the book are obvious - the hotels and restaurants mentioned are good, but the choice is rather limited, and not intended for those on a budget, or for those looking for that local neighborhood restaurant. For this, the internet (starting with sites like tripadvisor.com and virtualtourist.com) is the best source, complemented by some of the other guides mentioned above. But Fodor's is my preferred a source for the initial planning of the trip.



2. 
   Great book. Thought the word of mouth section throughout the book was very useful given that it was filled with recommendations from everyday people. Interactive Maps also easy to use.



3. The book starts from venice and works its way down to sicily. It has much information and it is all easy with maps of the sub regions to help out. It also has a good general words of travel wisdom in the front.

No comments about Walk and Eat Nice (Walk & Eat) (Walk and Eat).

No comments about The Best of Florence, 2nd (Globetrotter Best of Series).

No comments about Orvieto: Urbs vetus (Cities series).

No comments about Naples and the Amalfi Coast (Eyewitness Travel Guides).