No comments about Brazil & Portugal - A Menu Guide for Travelers: An indispensable gastronomic dictionary, phrasebook, and guide (How to Eat Out).

No comments about The Malvern Hills: Travels Through Elgar Country (Classic Country Companions).

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

No comments about How to Buy a Home in Spain.

2 comments about Andalusia (Art & Architecture).

1. When I visited my son for two weeks in Seville, Spain, this November (2000), I relied heavily on a popular guide for locating hostals, and for a quick historical background. But, I felt a little empty. While Rick Steves' guide book is essential for quick references to transportation information for each city, hotels, hostals, the four or five must-see attractions, and limited historical info, I always wanted more of the history of the places I was seeing. Toward the end of my visit, a Spanish tour guide, a friend of my son, who knew everything about the country, loaned me a book by this author. I am looking for it at Amazon.com this morning. I think this is it. After having already toured large parts of Andalucia, I was still amazed at not only the photographs but the history that was contained within its pages. It is small for a 500 page book and can be carried in your hand without a problem. As an example, the book gives a brief history of Colombus' remains and beautiful sepulcre in the great Cathedral of Seville - not mentioned in some other guidebooks - and which you could miss by just by visiting the church. The book contains a page and a half on the Inquisition, which had its beginnings in Seville, and even shows drawings and explanations of the main methods of torture and "legal" procedures. I found information about the point of departure by Colombus for the new world (Palos de la Frontera, across the bay from Huelga) and the location of the tombs of the Reyes Catolicos (Ferdinand and Isabela) that I could not get in a regular tour book. After reading only sections of the book, I found that I had a knew found respect for los Reyes Catolicos and particularly Isabela and her effort to found a uniform grammar for the country. In addition, it has a more complete listing of sites of each city. If you want to feel that you know Al Andaluz when you leave, get this. Though this book does not have as much hotel and transportation info as Steves, it is a great supplement if you like history.



2. I don't think I will ever get to visit these places. I bought this book for the drawings of maps and building plans. The photos in this book are good for a budget armchair tour. These two aspects together satisfied my curiosity about the architecture better than most individual history or travel books. Of course many other arts are represented along with short narrative articles on people and places.

   Others in the series (Rome and Florence for example) fulfill these expectations as well. Consider them small regional encyclopedias, possibly very suitable for a home schooling shelf.

No comments about Phaidon Spain (A Phaidon Cultural Guide).

No comments about Andalucia Travel Guide.

3 comments about Michael Brein's Guide to Madrid by the Metro (Michael Brein's Guides to Sightseeing By Public Transportation) (Michael Brein's Guides to Sightseeing By ... to Sightseeing By Public Transportation).

1. Madrid by the Metro was so easy to use and detailed with points of interest that made it easy to plan for and decide what to do for the next day. Without it I am sure we would have seen only what most of the tourists see.



2. I ordered both Barcelona & Madrid before my May trip to Spain- saw them in the Magellan travel catalogue a couple weeks before I left town, and thought these might be helpful. As it was my first time in Spain and I speak only a little Spanish, they proved really helpful, much better than carrying around a guidebook.



3. There are good maps of the subway system in all Metro stations, this map is so big unfolded that it's very inconvenient. You might use it at home to get familiar with what's what, but it's not useful when you're actually on the subway system. better to buy a Good Guide book like Dorling Kindersley Travel Guides: Madrid, it has a metro map in it, and lists subway stops for major tourist sites. Subway maps are available online. Download a nice 8x11 map that will fit in your pocket. Free. Or ask for one at the first Metro station you get on.

No comments about The Do It Yourself Expatriate Guide to Living and Working in Europe.

1 comments about Mountain Biking, 3rd (Basic Essentials Series).

1. This deceptively small book has taken me from how to choose a mountain bike, to developing riding skills, and even to bike repair.

   If you are a beginner and need to know HOW to choose and HOW to ride, this book is for you.

   It has answered all my questions and I'm ready for my first mountain bike.