1 comments about Belize in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture (In Focus Guides).

1. It's good to read these details of the People, Politics and Culture, as the author subtitles it.
   
   The "Adapter Kit Belize" was read more thoroughly and had more useful details before we made our first trip to the country.

2 comments about Let's Go 2008 Spain & Portugal (Let's Go Spain and Portugal).

1. This book is packed full of information. It's also large. However, the maps it provides are both truncated and not in color. The layout of the articles on each city are not as well formatted and readable as other guide books. The "Rough Guide to Spain" is by far a better buy.



2. Very disappointing. Let's go team has been sitting on their laurels. They don't even bother to check if the information they publish is still valid year after year. I was in Seville in 2008 and the book mentions a campsite near the airport, well according to the gypsies who took over the site, the campsite has been closed for more than three years. How come the information hasn't been revised. Let's go team is asleep at the switch. There are many many errors and inaccuracies, don't buy !!!

No comments about Retiring in Spain: A Survival Handbook.

No comments about Wallpaper City Guide: Frankfurt ("Wallpaper*" City Guides) (Wallpaper City Guides (Phaidon Press)).

No comments about The Rough Guide to Tuscany Region Map (Rough Guide Country/Region Map).

5 comments about The Rough Guide to Barcelona 7 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. The maps in this book are completely inadequate. Barcelona is a big complicated city and needs more than Powerpoint-style graphics that pass for maps. Reading a flimsy Spanish map from the tourist office was better. Pictures... virtually non-existent. Construction of book absolutely pales in comparison to a Lonely Planet book. Poor layout. I do not work for Lonely Planet!



2. Like most other Rough Guides, I found this very reliable. It is not too heavy to carry round ,even on a night looking for good Tapa Bars! The recommendations in eating out proved invaluable and accurate. They are much easier to follow than the LP guide as the different city areas are conveniently headed up.This enables you to wander around an area and stop off at your leisure sampling tapas. A very agreeable night out. Our favourite bar was El Xampanayet (A Cava Bar). The accomodation recommendation we chose proved good and prices were also as quoted. Time spent browsing the net for accomodation was far less productive than a quick read. The colour maps are an improvementon earlier additions, but you are better with a tourist centre map, not because that in the book is inadequate, but it is easy to have a map which slips into your pocket. The tourist info in the guide is good, the style is easy to read and all the city is covered, including days out from barcelona if you feel so inclined. The section on getting around is useful and includes weekly transport tickets etc. Overall excellent value. If you like pictures your better with Eyewitness, but its much heavier to carry, and in Barcelona you'll be doing lots of walking!



3. I just got back from a two week trip to Barcelona and I found
   the Rough Guide very useful.
   
   I read a number of books on Barcelona before I went, including
   Robert Hughes' "Barcelona: the great enchantress" and Tobin's
   "Homage to Barcelona" (the title is a play on Orwell's "Homage
   to Catalonya"). I also had the TimeOut Guides, both to
   Barcelona and the TimeOut Guide to Barcelona Food and Drink.
   
   What I particularly appreciated about the Rough Guide was its
   accuracy and its completeness. For example, it includes
   accurate information about the metro stops to various places
   of interest. Each district in Barcelona has a brief guide to
   points of interest. The Rough Guide even provides accurate
   directions to Calonia Guell, where Gaudi's chapel, referred to
   as "The Crypt", is located. Since getting around and knowing
   when points of interest are open is a big part of visiting
   Barcelona, the Rough Guide was invaluable and I carried it
   everywhere.
   
   Along with the Rough Guide to Barcelona there is the
   Rough Guide Map for Barcelona which I also highly recommend.
   This map survided two weeks of constant use in very good
   shape.



4. This is an excellent guide.. although I must admit I did not expect anything less from Rough guides. It is full of helpful details which make you go around the city on your own with no fear of getting lost, from the airport till your own destination. It includes sightseeing and absolutely everything about the city.. I always buy rough guides, although there is more text than photos, because the information given inside are excellent.



5. My friend and I spent a week in Barcelona- me with the Rough Guide, and she brought the Lonely Planet guide. My book was great for facts, history, and excellent in providing detailed directions on how to find a place. It was very reliable, especially in guiding us to attractions using the Metro, buses, or walking. All prices given were either exact or slightly more than the book stated, which can be forgiven, as the book was published in 2006 and I used it in July 2008.
   
   The downside is the maps. They're not well done, and we ended up using my friend's LP book for any map needs. Some streets were missing, the maps don't point north (!), but instead on a diagonal, and were broken into useless pieces of neighborhoods.

2 comments about The Rough Guide to Mallorca Map (Rough Guide Country/Region Map).

1. My constant companion for our tour of the interior of Mallorca. Invaluable detail for choosing which backroads, short cuts and walks to take. Durable and with a decent amount of overlap of the content on opposite sides of the map, it's easy to use.



2. Considering that the scale of this map is something like 1.3 inches to the mile, and it shows individual buildings outside of "urban" areas, it's very unlikely that you'll feel lost for even a second.
   The surprising thing is how quickly you get to places. It's also durable.
   Fabulous, it was a real help in making our 6 days on Mallorca a blast.

5 comments about Cork Boat: A True Story of the Unlikeliest Boat Ever Built.

1. This is a fun read that I will recommend to friends and family. The writing is excellent with humor and tongue-in-cheek wit. I tired of Pollack's whining and blaming everyone around him, particularly Garth, for schedule failures. Pollack prides himself on being well-organized but a well-organized project manager would not have his team working day and night up to the last minute. He appeared to be more of a procrastinator than organizer but a motivator and gatherer of people nonetheless. Two different things. When someone devotes the time and energy that Garth did to someone else's dream, working a demanding job the whole time, I would recommend a little more gratitude and less grousing. I also had a hard time understanding how JP could actually support himself entirely on savings and temporary work in an expensive city like DC. That part I never quite bought. I did well up every time he mentioned his sister. What a sad memory. Maybe some of the book proceeds could go toward an appropriate memorial of some sort for her.
   
   For JP's next project, I would recommend less procrastinating and vision failure moments and more effort in the early stages so as to get ahead of schedule. But then, where would there be a book? Loved it, nonethless, and will read whatever he writes next. Also, look up corkboat.com for photos and more.



2. This is one of those stories you wouldn't think was true if you didn't see the pictures. That someone would take the time and energy to build a boat from wine corks is incredible, but to read what happens once the boat has been built is even more unbelievable. Although I'm usually too practical to support wackiness just for the sake of it, I couldn't help but be swept up in this adventure, if only because so few people take a childhood dream and run with it. The begining of the book, dealing with time spent in Washington DC, didn't interest me much, but once the boat began being built, I was on board.



3. As a child the author John Pollack had an idea for a boat made entirely of wine corks; an idea that stuck with him as sort of a nostalgic reminder of his past for 25 years. The book humerously details the history of the dream, his annoyance with being a grown-up that ultimately sparked the dream into reality, and how it is was all accomplished.
   
   It's written with refreshing wit and eagerness for adventure into the unknown, kind of a West Wing (TV series) meets Kon Tiki.
   
   As someone who constantly daydreams about adventures that I'm not having, I completely understood the boat and wished I could have been a part of it. For other readers who are complacent with their lives and wouldn't understand how someone could partake in such a frivoulous endeavor, you wouldn't get it, and probably wouldn't enjoy it.
   And if you're unsure, it's a short read, give it a try.
   
   I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a little humerous adventure or anyone who just enjoys off the wall travel ideas.



4. This is a fantastic book for any anyone who wants to be inspired to pursue their dreams! Cork Boat is a quick read and is well written. Anyone is sure to love it - perfect for a gift. I've bought this book for several friends, and everyone has raved about it. It's a sure thing!



5. I found this an entertaining book, read while traveling and on vacation. I will admit to being a kook about things like this, but it was an enjoyable read about someone excercising their passion and it becoming an adventure.

1 comments about The Rough Guides' Barcelona Directions 2 (Rough Guide Directions).

1. I travel alot and typically buy another brand of travel books. My boyfriend actually bought this book, and thank goodness he did since it is the greatest book I have ever used for recommendations on places to shop and eat. Every single place we ate in from this book (and we tried alot), was as described and very very good. I am looking forward to going to travel again using this brand of books!!!

No comments about Andalucia, 8th (Cadogan Guides).