5 comments about Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Spain.

1. I opened this book with great anticipation because of my previous happy trips to Provence with Peter Mayle and Tuscany with Frances Mayes. Though Stewart's reporting of his experience as an ex-pat living on a rustic farm in Spain is serviceable and may be useful to someone planning a comparable adventure, the book never achieves the transporting quality of the best of this genre. When I closed it (half-way through), I missed enjoying that delicious sense of having made a trip to a new place without leaving my own armchair.



2. What a pleasure it was to read this book. I just came out of National Poetry Month here on the NH Seacoast -- six weeks (it's expanding in both directions from April) of poetry readings with a festival of jazz and poetry as its centerpiece. I attended, hosted, read at, and otherwise participated in nearly 30 events during this period. When it was over, I needed a break; my brain hurt. At that point, I ran into a bus-driver friend who is also a reader. I asked him what he was reading and he recommended Driving Over Lemons. I usually plan my reading months ahead of time; but this time I bought it on impulse. What a treat. Totally laid back. Exciting but not sensationalist. Interesting but not preachy. A cast of genuinely quirky characters -- thankfully, not a "normal" one among them. And sheep, dogs, herbs, heat, flies. All bisected by a willful river. If you approach this book desiring anything more than something that is a simple pleasure to read, you're doing it a disservice. It certainly got my mind out of poetry long enough for me to regain my balance so I can now go back in fighting.



3. Read every one of Chris Stewart books and will continue to read as long as he keeps on writing.



4. I found this to be a rather odd book, reading like a series of snapshots of the author's life in rural Andalusia. Stewart spends many pages at the beginning of the book recounting a lot of disagreeable time spent with the man who sold him his Spanish homestead in the province of Granada. It isn't until he has cleared this particular barrier that the story got more interesting for me.
   
   There is some good writing in this journal about living off the land in a country not your own, but the same story has been told countless times by others. (What is it about the English that sends them off to the Continent to live rough so often?) Not sure that there are many revelations here that would drive you to buy this book. Still, it is pleasant reading in many of its parts and if you are interested in things Spanish, this might be a good read for you.



5. This story provided a wonderful escape as I read it and pictured the valley and the mountains, the river and the sheep...it does a great job of making me want to take on a similar adventure!

No comments about Fodor's Spain 2008 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

2 comments about Azores, 3rd: The Bradt Travel Guide.

1. This book was very helpful for my week long trip to the Azores. There are useful appendices in the back detailing flora and fish native to the islands (this helped alot ordering fish in the restaurants!) There is also a good section on photography which I did not expect. Although, I am more accustomed to the format of lonely planet guides this one proved to be organized ok. Nice sections on walks and hiking trails. A bit lacking in the transport department but don't worry, the islands are small and cabs are affordable and easy to find.



2. My wife and inlaws are natives of Pico, Azores and I purchased this book as reference material for a upcoming family trip to Pico. We all found valuable information in the book and my inlaws even learned a few things they didn't know about their homeland. Well worth the money. Strongly recommend buying the Azores road map too.

2 comments about Michelin the Green Guide Spain (Michelin Green Guides).

1. As expected from the Michelin Green Guides series, this one too is a wonderful travel companion. Accurate and up to date, covers all important milestones and goes past the shallow surface barely scratched by other travel guides.
   This Michelin Green Guides is the best available, if you're going to travel to Spain don't leave home without it.



2. I used this book in 2005 to visit Madrid/Toledo/Segovia/Seville/Granada and Cordoba and then again in 2007 on a 10 day trip through Galicia. The book's main advantage is that towns/cities are in alphabetical order, so info is easy to find.
   
   However, I find the text lacking in sparkle--a bit too dull.........It was my #3 choice for information. (I also had the DK guide and the Rough Guide)
   
   The size and shape of this book make it easy to carry during the day, but most of the time, I carried the DK guide!!

3 comments about Streetwise Lisbon Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Lisbon, Portugal - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated surface tram & metro stations (Streetwise).

1. Excellent map, provided one does not travel too far from the center of town. The clarity is very high. I visited friends in Lisbon who said that there was no possibility that I would find their tiny traverso, yet it was clearly shown on the map. It would have been nice to stretch the map as far as the airport, but to do so would either sacrifice scale where it was needed, or make the map larger than the perfect size in which it is produced.



2. This "map" is actually made up of six (6) maps: One of Portugal; one of the "Lisbon Region"; one of the "Lisbon Area"; one of "Central Lisbon"; one of "Central Lisbon North"; and one of the Belem section of the city. The maps of the city are very detailed with, from what I can see, only the names of some small streets in the Alfama section being left out.
   
   Folded up, the map is 8.5" X 4". It folds out like an accordion to 8.5" X 32" with maps on both sides.
   
   The Index lists hotels, museums, parks/plazas, "places of interest", and shopping, but the "Street Index" lists "only" about 110 streets. Instead of the map of Portugal, they might have made better use of the space to have a more extensive street index, or maybe a more detailed map of Alfama. Also, although subway stops are identified on the Lisbon maps, they might have included a small subway map.



3. There are no better travel maps to the great world cities than these laminated City Maps. Last forever, fit in the coat pocket and easy to read. Worth every penny.

5 comments about Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino.

1. As she approached her 60th birthday, spiritual writer and retreat leader Joyce Rupp abandoned her plan to hole up for a six-month sabbatical by the ocean to bask in solitude. Instead, she embarked on a 37-day walking trek across Spain with her friend Tom Pfeffer. The two prepared and trained for a year before making the historical pilgrimage from Roncesvilles on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees to the Cathedral of St. James in the city of Santiago, a journey commonly referred to as "the Camino."
   
   Walking in the "relaxed manner" in the title was one of the first lessons these two self-described productive-oriented people learned. At first, Rupp explains, they believed their goal was to reach Santiago, but they eventually discovered that the walk itself imparted spiritual empowerment. Rupp goes into some detail about her competitive nature as their self-prescribed 12 miles was surpassed regularly by other "pilgrims." For the first few days, the two succumbed to their natural tendency to rush, rush, rush, and push, push, push. In the end, they agreed to take the advice of a friend who had walked the Camino earlier: "drink more water and walk in a relaxed manner."
   
   Rupp laces the story with such insights, always connecting the events and experiences with "routine" life and sharing the positive effects the journey had on her. Her chapter on realizing "a tiny bit" what it is like to be homeless is especially thought-provoking. Following a transaction at a bank, Rupp was convinced the clerk thought, "This smelly pilgrim with her dirty hiking boots dug into this pack of weird things and, whew, the odor that came from that bag, it was enough to gag me..." The homelessness image also came up when she found herself in settings for which she was not "appropriately dressed" and other situations where she was "pierced" by disdainful looks and rejection.
   
   Like Rupp's other books, Walk in a Relaxed Manner is filled with down-to-earth stories and deeply spiritual reflections.



2. Back in the summer of 2003, I visited a former seminary roommate in Leon, Spain. I showed up a couple of days before his wedding after backpacking through Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Madrid. While strolling together through Leon, my Spanish friend remarked that people thought I was a "Pilgrim" because of my clothing and backpack. I asked him to clarify, and he replied that Leon was on the path of the Camino Pilgrimage. Thus began my interest in the topic.
   
   "Walk in a Relaxed Manner" was the first book I read about the Camino. It's newly published, written by a 60-year-old nun who walked the Pilgrimage around the time I was in Leon. She hit the trail with a retired priest, and this book was born from that experience. The subtitle and theme is "Life Lessons From the Camino," and each chapter is based on a way she grew due to the Pilgrimage. For example, the book's title is shared with a chapter where Sr. Rupp describes how she learned to walk slowly and thoughtfully instead of quickly and competitively. Other chapter titles include "Savor Solitude," "Deal with Disappointments," and "Live in the Now." Such topics may strike some as trite. But I found it impressive that more often than not, it was the walk's difficulties that enabled her to internalize these truths.
   
   The author writes in a clear and readable manner. She rejoices in the high points of the Pilgrimage, and is honest about the lows as well. Each lesson is presented in a thoughtful manner, and all are applicable to everyday life. However, like many spiritual insights perhaps some sort of defining experience is required to truly own them. But reading about these truths may be a way to prepare the heart for their eventual actualization. Although a Catholic nun in the Servite Community, Sr. Rupp keeps things fairly ecumenical throughout her tale. In addition, practical advice about the Pilgrimage is sprinkled throughout the book, and a list of helpful Camino resources is included at the end. There's even an authorized website based on Joyce Rupp's name if you want more info about her.
   
   Someday I'd like to do the El Camino Pilgrimage. I hope I don't have to wait until my sixties, but sometimes you have to let things happen in their time. If I do walk it, I'll be glad if I learn and grow half as much as Sr. Rupp did. Recommended for all travelers and pilgrims.
   
   UPDATE 9/7/07: Well, I only had to wait until I was forty to do the Camino. On 7/14/07 I stepped off in St. Jean Pied-de-Port (France), and on 8/24/07 I walked into Santiago, Spain. After returning home to the US, I went through this book again. It was nice reading about familiar places on the Way, and also to identify with the lessons Ms. Rupp writes about. Recommended even more now that I've actually done the trek.



3. This is an amazing book about an amazing experience--walking across Spain--and well after midlife. We share the hardships and blessings of this journey and are able to walk, talk and think in a relaxed manner while reading it. There are lessons subtly given that everyone can shsare.



4. this book was great, talked me out of going, realize that all that heat and dirt was not for me, will go trekking in nepal instead, much cooler temps, author did this to add to her spiritual credentials,alll about herself and her inner thoughts, suspect she had not been out of the USA before.
   
   cheers



5. Reflections of this Catholic sister, as she walks the Camino with the semi retired priest of her parish.
   
   This journey of two people of faith met with all the challenges the Camino can offer. Joyce started out as what I call an overachiever, and Tom as a steadying influence.
   
   A couple concepts stuck in my brain from chapters of this book. Enjoy existential friendships. Return a positive for a negative. Negative things do happen, but Joyce would make a determined effort to see the positive - a concept I accept, but sometimes have difficulty applying.
   
   I enjoyed this thoughtful book.

5 comments about The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook.

1. I bought this book in 2003 before embarking upon the Camino Frances. It turned out to be a marvelous multi-faceted reference. Due to weight considerations, I left it at home, instead of schlepping it 800 KM across Spain. Then, outside of Burgo de Ranero, I see THIS BOOK, waiting for me on a roadside bench. "That's my book!", I exclaim. Needless to say, it traveled with me the rest of the way to Santiago. Regardless of weight. If there's only one book you get about the culture, history and architecture of the Camino, this should be it. Buy this book!



2. I did the Camino in 2003 using this book as a guide. In fact it was the only one I brought with me.
   
   It's strengths are not in the trail directions it gives. There are much better guides for that. I suggest you consult one of the Camino web sites to find out the most current and recommended version of those. the operative word is current. The Camino does change from year to year, new alberges open, others disappear, the trail moves, street names change (Franco related ones are definitely on the outs), etc.
   
   That said, this is a wonderful book for the historical background and descriptions of the countryside it provides. I read this book and I became fixated on doing the Camino. If you are going to do the Camino or are just interested in the Camino, read this book. If you know someone who is going to do the Camino, get them this book. It is the best book I've ever read in terms of Camino cultural information.



3. For anyone planning to walk The Way of St James pilgrimage across Norther Spain, this book provides fascinating local history. I read it after I walked, and wish I had done it the other way around.



4. I walked the Camino in the Fall of 2004 and took this book along with a much thinner more practical guide book. I loved, loved, loved having this book! My thin, practical guidebook told me of the trail, and places to stay and eat. This guidebook brought the experience alive for me. Everynight before I went to sleep, I would read the passage about the day I had just walked, and then would read the passage about the next day's walk. I saw and experienced things I would have totally missed if I did not have this book. I would walk along and think of the millions of pilgrams that had walked this path for over 1000 years. In this books there are excerpts from journals of medieval pilgrams, which really made me feel the history of this pilgramage. I too worried about the weight of the book, but found that in the long run it was really worth the added pound in my backpack. I do recommend taking a more practical guidebook as well. I found the guidebook put out by the Confraternity of St. James to be great! If you are not one bit interested in the History and Folklore of the Camino, then skip this book. But if you are, this book is invaluable. I found that I was sharing it with other pilgrams all the time, who wanted more info on what we were experiencing.



5. My wife and walked part a portion of the Camino Frances (Leon to Santiago de Compostela) in May of 2004. In walking the Camino, I think one must consider several sources. One of these should be topographical and describe the lay of the land, one logistical and describe where you may find comfort, and one cultural. This book is the best that I know of in fulfilling that last category.
   
   While some may find this a useful guide to carry, I agree with some of reviewers who suggest not taking this book on the road. [Hopefully the authors will never read this review... ] I did carry this book, but I ripped out the irrelevant portions of the journey before I began, and every night I ripped out the pages covering the day's journey so as to lighten the load. [ I should point out that I bought another copy when I got home, so as to make amends for the destruction of the book. ]
   
   Even had I never walked I still think what I learned about Spain, the history and cultural of the regions covered by the Camino, and aspects of the architecture and other features covered in this book to be fascinating.

1 comments about Frommer's Barcelona Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day).

1. This was a great guide - if I was to do it again for the first trip to barcelona I would recommend this book. For your second trip there invest in one a little larger so it can go into more detail on everything you see, but that's all. This book is great.

5 comments about Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past.

1. A British journalist who has lived 20 years in Spain, married and raising his 2 children in Madrid, the author investigates, reveals and muses upon Spanish culture, history and the forces of the "two Spains" as they come together, or rub against each other, in forming the modern Spanish world. A fascinating look at Spain, its subcultures from the Basques to the Catalans to flamenco to the Galicians, to drug culture to tourism and the very difficult and delicate process of choosing to forget the differences of the Spanish Civil War and Franco's regime in order to move forward in a country that was once the most powerful on earth.
   I like Spain and its history. This is one of the very best insights into modern Spain. Highly recommended.



2. If you have time to read only one book about Spain, Ghosts of Spain, would be my pick for you. I have been to Spain several times: to Valderama for the Ryder Cup; to the Pyrenees to hike; to Barcelona to see Gaudi's works; to Bilbao to see "Puppy" and the Gehry Guggenheim; and to Guernica because of Picasso's painting of the same name. There is little in Spain that hasn't captured my interest. Ghosts of Spain has pulled together my varied experiences and has made sense of them. Ghosts is rich with history, pre- and post Franco, and with a devoted admirer's unravelling of modern Spain's political, economic, artistic, and social sensibilities. Read Ghosts and you will arrive in Spain to find that Giles Tremlett has given you an amazing gift, a "Rosetta Stone" for Spain. Whether you speak Spanish or not, Tremlett's Ghosts will make the new and the strange feel familiar. If you already know Spain, I suspect that Ghosts is even more of a "must read."



3. I wanted to learn more about Spain and the format of this book seemed ideal but the writer has a dull style that makes it hard to get through the book. It's repetitive; he uses the most hackneyed phrases and it sounds like a "What I did last summer" composition from a pretentious high schooler. It's neither a detailed history nor a good journalistic read.



4. Nice follow up after reading the classic Iberia by James Michener. Brings the reader up to date on life in modern Spain which is still haunted by ghosts of its civil war and the battle between tradition and modernism. La Transicion, or Spain's transition to democracy is something that is occuring both historically, politically, and personally as Spain enters a more globalized, connected world. Tremlett describes this "transicion" from all perspectives, but it is his personal perspective, as an ex-pat Brit raising his family in Spain, which I found particularly enjoyable. His descriptions of day to day life juxtaposed into chapters dealing with deeper historical and political events, such as the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the legacy of Franco, the Basque separatist movement, the pride of Catalans, and the 2004 Islamic bombings, makes this book very readable and pertitent to truly understanding not only the country but its people, and their remarkable history.



5. As a regular visitor to Spain who unfortunately hasn't had much luck mastering the language, I've scoured bookstores and websites in order to learn everything I can about the the history and culture of this amazing country. Many of the books available are not very comprehensive, or dry to the point of being boring. Most books in English you buy in Spain (translations) are almost unreadable, and clearly not edited by native English speakers. Ghosts of Spain has got a ton of information...and insight, and it's very readable. I highly recommend it for anyone with casual interest, or for "Span-o-files" like myself.

2 comments about Camino de Santiago Maps / Mapas / Cartes: St. Jean Pied de Port/Roncesvalles - Finisterre via Santiago de Compostela (Camino Guides).

1. This is a very handy and useful little booklet. For my three-week Camino experience I kept the booklet readily accessible in my outside pants pocket. I repeatedly referenced the booklet throughout the day. It's narrow size and the ability to bookmark the page with the flaps on the front and back covers made it easy to retrieve and reference using only one hand. The day-at-a-glance layout, with distance intervals and albergue locations clearly marked plus a profile illustration displaying the changes in altitude along the route make this a very useful reference source. As titled this is a book of maps, there is very little narrative dedicated to recommended sights to see along the way.



2. 
   We just traveled from Roncesvillas to Santiago by bicycle. This was an excellent set of maps that we consulted each day to plan and during the day to be sure that we were on the correct route. I only regret that I did not get the guide books that accompany the maps.