1 comments about Fodor's In Focus Savannah & Charleston, 1st Edition (In Focus).

1. I recently went to both Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. I found the guide very useful with lots of valuable information to offer.

5 comments about Desperate Voyage.

1. Un relato extraordinario. Te quitará horas de sueño y alimentará tus sueños. (¡Y tus pesadillas!) Aunque no es una lectura recomendable para quien no tenga ya un buen nivel de inglés, la naturalidad y sencillez del relato te atrapa con su ritmo y su fiebre. Desde luego, peca de evidentes y numerosos excesos y fantasías completamente inverosímiles, como pescar y subir a bordo a un tiburón vivo de varios metros que termina destrozando el barco o comer cuero de zapato frito con aceite de motor, lo cual parece un poco excesivo incluso para el proverbial mal gusto culinario que atribuimos a ingleses y sajones. Pero la tensión y la viveza del relato es tal que eclipsa cualquier defecto. Gran viaje y gran libro. Apaga la tele y disfrútalo.



2. This was a very insightfull book of one man's sailing adventure to return to his true love. I was very moved by this book as I have visited both Costa Rica (from where he starts his adventure) and where he finally found his perfect island in the West Indies. Both sailers and non sailers will love his humour and love.



3. More than thirty years ago when my young family were avid deep water sailors, I read many survival and adventure stories written by those who had had narrow escapes. John Caldwell's vivid tale of his struggle to return to his Australian lady love following his release from the Navy at the end of WWII still stands out in my mind. This year, as I home school my grandson and encourage him to develop innovative thinking, determination and loyalty, "Desperate Voyage" once again comes to mind. One of your other reviewers remarked that Caldwell "had no literary pretentions," but his book is, nevertheless, well worth reading for Caldwell's own humor and durability in the face of disaster. I am happy once again to add it to my library on my grandson's behalf.



4. John Caldwell, a young American who served in the Australian air force and the US merchant marine during WWII, found himself at the end of hostilities stranded in Panama. He had no way to get back to Australia and his new wife Mary.
   
   With more pluck than brains Caldwell, who had not done any small boating, buys a small sailboat (about 29 feet) with the idea of sailing to far off Australia--more than 8500 miles of open Pacific. First he learns how to maneuver his boat in and around the islands off Panama, with many hilarious screw-ups. Finally he sets off across the ocean. He has a tiresome voyage to the Galapagos Islands, again with many screw-ups, some of which almost cost him his life and nearly wreck his sailboat and disable his auxiliary engine. After the Galapagos the sailing goes better as he has wind and current with him and only some 8000 miles left to go. Then about half way there, between the Marquesas Islands and Samoa, Caldwell is hit by a terrible hurricane that destroys his rig, nearly sinks his boat, and forces him to jettison all of his food, water, navigation equipment, and supplies. His prospects for survival, not to speak of getting to Australia, are remote. Fortunately he had an almost indestructible craft, and that was his greatest piece of luck.
   
   Under jury jig and near death from starvation, he eventually fetches up in the Fiji Islands. He is nursed back to health by the kindly natives and soon makes it the rest of the way to Australia by hitching rides on boats and planes, and is reunited with his beloved Mary. They apparently have lived happily ever after (or at least until the late 1990s), even founding and running a resort in the Caribbean.
   
   Desperate Voyage is a wonderful and wonderfully engaging story. Caldwell writes so well and so engagingly that this book is really hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You cannot help liking this plucky screw-up with a penchant for survival. Of course, I feel somewhat guilty enjoying this tale so much--after all it is mostly about screw-ups, disaster, pain, and close brushes with death most of which resulted from Caldwell's rashness and carelessness. Caldwell's voyage is not one to emulate. But as A.J. Mackinnon says in his masterful The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow (another boating story full of screw-ups) "No screw-ups, no story." Certainly if Caldwell had been an accomplished yachtsman and as careful as we boaters are supposed to be, there would have been nothing here to laugh and cry about. Also when reading Caldwell's tale I was reminded of Mackinnon's admission: "Of course, I exaggerate for effect." How much has Caldwell exaggerated to enhance his tale? No one knows, but I sincerely doubt that he really drank his engine oil in order to assuage his hunger when he was starving.



5. John Caldwell was in love. So in love he bought a less-than-adequate 29 foot sailboat to sail thousands of miles across the Pacific (from Panama to Sydney, Australia) to be with his new bride. On his way, adventure and obstacles ensue, and he really shows what he's made of throughout the story.
   
   What a great book! A real page-turner. You will have a hard time putting this one down. I know I did!

5 comments about Fodor's Walt Disney World® with Kids 2008: with Universal Orlando and SeaWorld (Special-Interest Titles).

1. There was nothing particularly unique about this book - no real noteworthy tips on where to go with little ones - what rides to avoid - height restrictions would have been great. I was looking for a book that was really geared toward taking a toddler or young child to disney and this book was just a little too generic.



2. This is a great book to read before you get to Disney. I especially appreciated the "scare factor" for the rides/attractions. We just got back from our vacation and we had a great time because I had lots of information to make it a wonderful experience for all of us.



3. This book was a great help in planning our trip to Disney in September. This book has great information on the resorts, parks, and restaurants. It also has some great secrets that everyone should know. It made our planning very easy.



4. This book made all the difference in our family of 6's successful visit to Disneyworld. The format is easy to follow and recommendations were excellent. Even visiting Disney in busy July we did everything we wanted to do by following the advice of this excellent book!



5. We recently returned form WDW and had a great time! The tips in the book were valuable. It helped our family enjoy most of the rides and attractions with minimal wait. 15 minutes was the max wait time - even in peak season, mid-August on a Monday afternoon. The tips on how to use the Fastpass system helped us to walk on to most rides. Other attractions were a brief wait. Tips for parade watching gave us choice seats and views. The book needs to be updated for 2008 - some attractions don't have fastpass anymore. Other than that, great buy! A must read before heading to WDW with the family. The book also provides tips for Universal and SeaWorld which is a bonus.

5 comments about Stairway Walks in San Francisco.

1. Great book to have for anyone who enjoys an adventure. Lots of walking options within the city



2. San Francisco has over 50 hills with scenic vistas and small neighborhoods - so these nearly 30 urban walks are top picks for any who want to walk the city's byways. The revised expanded edition has been updated with new maps and color photos and adds three new walks, while an appendix lists the City's 600-plus public stairways. It's a 'must' for any San Francisco travel collection going beyond the general-interest city guide.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. Adah's book is a great collection of walks all over the city. As the name implies, all the walks focus on the stairways for which San Francisco is so well known. This has two implications: one is that these walks will wear you out; the second is that, on sunny days, you get incredible views from the tops of all the stairways Adah has you climb.
   
   For locals, the 27 walks cover the entire town from Glen Canyon to Lands End to Potrero Hill. No matter how long you've lived in San Francisco, I guarantee you'll see great spots you've never been to before.
   
   Most of the walks are well off the beaten path for visitors, but a couple cover the classic tourist areas of North Beach, China Town, and Telegraph Hill. The Russian Hill North walk, done on a sunny day, will have anyone believing San Francisco is the most beautiful city on earth.
   
   Adah provides maps, directions, and a great deal of color commentary for each walk. She tends to focus on eccentric details of the local architecture and flora for each walk, lending a whimsical quality to the whole experience.
   
   Two last things to keep in mind. First, because the views are such a big part of these walks, Adah's trips are much better in good weather than in bad. Second, Adah is sometimes a little loose with her directions; I recommend cross checking the directions and the map often.



4. I love this book!! We live an hour north of S.F. and when ever we go to the city we start with one of these great walks. We have gone and explored neighborhoods we never would have without this book. San Francisco is such a beautiful city and getting to the top of some obscure staircase always gives you a unique and beautiful view. It is a must for anyone who lives in or near S.F.



5. I found this book (rather thick - 251 pages) on the shelves of my local Santa Cruz library shelves. At first I thought it was rather boring - the cover is dizzying to look at. Then as I opened and perused thru more pages, I realized that this was a work of love - Adah Bakalinsky's love (a San Francisco local, and an emigrant to the US).
   
   Adah Bakalinsky has expended previous editions and the January 2007 is the 6th edition.
   
   What I liked about this book:
   * informs the reader on some cool areas to walk in San Francisco, with cool architecture, and routes that will have your blood pumping.
   * the 27 walks are all detailed with a map layout, interesting points of interest, photographs, and many factoids.
   * Appendix 1 contains "An Informal Bibliography" (one pager with more info on the San Francisco)
   * Appendix 2 lists all the staircases (across 36 pages) for each neighborhood in San Francisco and rates each one according to a 1 to 5 scale of combined: steepness, length, location, elevation, and beauty.
   * and ... it was FREE.
   
   Whether you are from out of town visiting San Francisco, a local denizen, or a Bay Area suburbian, you are sure to enjoy this book, even if not completing a walk from start to finish. The details are worth reading before each walk, as one is sure to add more mental details and moments of enjoyment as one walks across the beautiful city of San Francisco.

5 comments about Madrid (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. I like these Eyewittness Travel Gides and byu them when I plan to travel. However this time the delivery was delayed.



2. Not as good as some of the other guides I used. The page numbers mentioned next to sights in the intro sections are often incorrect. Lots of pretty pictures though.



3. This was a nice guide for a 2 day trip to madrid -- the monument descriptions & photos were enjoyable & the walking tours were fun. It was very nice to have pictures of each key sight next to it's description so we could be sure were were looking at the right place.
   However, we also used this book to navigate to our hotel. Big, big mistake. In this guide, hotels are not marked on the map, they are located by quadrant (e.g. Map5 D-3). But our hotel was very far from where the book said it was; it was 3-4 map-quadrants away, which we found only by using the address & after a 30 minute walk with our luggage. FYI: unlike in the US, addresses do not go up by 100 per block. Going from 85 Gran Via in the old quarter to 15 Gran Via is about a 2 mile walk.



4. I enjoy Rick Steves' guides, but often I want to know more, both in-depth and in-breadth about a destination. This is a typical Eyewitness Travel Guide, almost a small encyclopedia about one place, its history, and its many attractions. I enjoy buying such books months in advance of a trip, reading & re-reading it, hoping that when I arrive at the destination it will seem familiar. I would heartily recommend any Eyewitness Guide to anyone who similarly want to know more. This little volume on Madrid packs a lot of information into one book.



5. I use this guide for a 4 days Madrid visit. Ive found it most useful in preparation of what to visit and what to eat once I get there. It also give me a lot of background in terms of what to expect for the dining hour, culture, and how to spend my evening.
   
   What I really like about this guide is the map (both the city map and street by street map) attached. I also like how the guide divided Madrid into 4 major areas and how it pinpointed major attraction which ease your pressure if you have little time in your hand (2-2 days). The guide also covers the most basic historical background and interesting fact that you need to know as a tourist.
   
   The guide is without its flaws however. First disturbing flaw is that - it happen that the a restaurant I want to pay a visit has been renamed and that the Metro network map isnt updated so It puzzles me a little bit.
   
   More disturbing part is that -- the guide for out of town place like El Escorial, Segovia and Toledo is very lacking. By lacking, I mean, if you do not do your research in advance I can assure you 100% that you will get lost. The map is so much incomplete that if regardless if you travel by train or bus -- you will not see yourself anywhere within the Map (lesson learned, research where the station is located and research by what mean of transport you can get there).
   
   The restaurant listing is also subpar at best. It failed to mention even the existence of Botin restaurant which is the oldest restaurant recognized in the world by Guinness world record. In the end I was being generous and tried two of the restaurants recommended. I was dissapointed by one of them. My hotel which I think was an awesome find isnt also listed there. Lesson learned, do your own research for restaurant and hotel
   
   Overall, would I recommend this guide? of course but a forewarning that you need to do your homework too. :) These days its so easy for you to do more an indepth research online as a supplement to your guide. I saved many pages I found online in my cellphone

1 comments about Streetwise Madrid Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Madrid, Spain - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro map including lines & stations (Streetwise).

1. I got this for a recent trip to Madrid. It's an excellent map if you are interested in central Madrid, showing plenty of detail, and the laminated format makes it easy to carry around and fold/unfold. But if you are looking for something outside of the central area (e.g. the University of Madrid, which I as visiting, and which was tantalizingly just off this map.), it would be better to get a map of the entire city.

5 comments about More Readings From One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1980.

1. This book is a superb sequel to "One Man's Wilderness" and is excellent reading in its own right. John Branson thoughtfully answers many questions about Mr. Proenneke and provides numerous helpful footnotes tying together people, places, and events.
   
   Mr. Proenneke takes the reader to an amazing, but, as I know from having hiked and camped there, also a harsh wilderness. Through his day-to-day accounts of a life lived simply and optimistically, and in tune with his environment, he presents a compelling model for how to appreciate the world around us, whether a wilderness or a city.
   
   I enjoyed reading a few entries at a time. I look forward to the hopeful release of the remainder of the Proenneke journals.



2. 
   
   Superb Book !!! I agree this book is one of the best books on Richard L. Proenneke life - A+



3. I stumbled across this amazing man (Dick Preonneke) by seeing 'One Man's Wilderness' on PBS. I immediately purchased the DVD (and The Frozen North and Alaska Silence and Solitude by Bob Swerer Productions). After a stressful day there is just something so relaxing about dreaming of simpler times. Yeah, it is hard work but you actually 'see' the results of your labor. That is much different than most jobs today. The only thing better than watching the DVD was reading Dick's personal journals. Wow, to be able to read how Dick overcame living at Twin Lakes is just a powerful story. My only disappointment is not knowing if the NPS will release his final journals. Do yourself a favor and read One Man's Wilderness and More Readings from One Man's Wilderness.



4. We are thrilled with this product! The service has also been wonderful. Thank you!!!!



5. I have not yet finished this book/journal but find myself trying to read a few pages daily. RLP (Richard L. Proenneke) took time from his daily chores to write thousands of pages, documenting his life in the Alaskan wilderness.I escape the daily grind of my 9 to 5 by living out in the wilderness with RLP. So far I have climbed mountains,made friends with various animals,hiked in sub zero temps,sewn buttons on and patched worn clothing,cleaned campsite liter left by hunters, and on and on I could go all done thanks to RLP sharing his life with me through his writings. I highly recommend this book to anyone who ever dreams of escaping into a less hectic life. Thanks RLP !!!

5 comments about Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places: 5th Edition (Robert Young Pelton the World's Most Dangerous Places).

1. The expanse and effort they took to writing this book is awesome, especially if one is dumb enough to actually wanna go to these places.



2. You just do not know how lucky you have it until you read this book. I call it the places most likely not to be in my passport.
   
   Great read. A must for the adventurer (armchair or real).



3. This really consists of three books. The first, and the most obvious part, t is an actual, honest-to-goodness travel guide to dangerous places. I can easily imagine reporters, security consultants, and others pulling this book off their shelf before going to an unfamiliar place.
   
   Inevitably, there are places left out. Pelton includes the United States here, half-seriously and half tongue-in-cheek. This is all to the good, and gives readers a sense of perspective. Still, its inclusion raises all sorts of questions. What makes the US dangerous is gun crime in some areas, which rates it one star (consistently with other countries such as India). But . . . the rates of gun crime are higher in most of Latin America, and kidnaping is much more common. In other words, if you're going to include the US, then Brazil and especially Mexico should have been in the book, along with many of their neighbors. Clearly his rating of the US reflects a pose more than a serious rating.
   
   The second "book" here is a quick-and-dirty summary of the politics and society of these dangerous places. These summaries have information but tend to have rather more attitude. Pelton tries to be cool, tries to assign blame for conflicts in a non-standard way, and likes to review who-did-what-to-whom facts more than underlying causes.
   
   The third "book" is a summary of issues that make places dangerous, such as the drug trade. This is more informative than the country summaries, but also displays a lot of attitude.
   
   Much of the attitude in this book makes it quite funny. The book looks like an almanac or encyclopedia, but you can actually read in through straight. Over a long period.
   
   It's a great read despite its length. Bring it to a dangerous place and throw it at your enemies.
   
   Disclaimer: the US aside, the only "dangerous place" I've been is the Balkans, and I wasn't in the dangerous parts, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information on the ground.



4. though now slightly dated, this is still a very useful book in terms of information about the less stable parts of the world. The political coverage is smart and honest. Nothing is dumbed down or put through the filters that newspapers/magazines apply. The analysis is also short and to the point. And its often better than the professional or governmental analysis. If your entering a "bad" country on short notice, there is nothing better than this book to give an overview of the situation, the players and the basics of whats going on. But it is getting rather dated from the lack of a new edition.
   
   The tone of the writing makes the book interesting as a "read' as well.
   
   However, as a "travel book" to dangerous places its not all that great. The advice he gives is usually generally applicable to any travel to any place. Anywhere can be dangerous and its possible to get into trouble in what seems like safe places.



5. On one level, this book is a crackup. It mercilessly skewers the worst places on earth, places that combine poverty, fear, and oppression. I dare you to read a single page without laughing.
   
   On another level, this make really makes you think about the huge percentage of the world's population that doesn't have electricity, considers pain to be a second language, and considers a good day one in which you eat. It's incredible.
   
   On the day I wrote this review, this edition is being offered for sale for one cent. An amazing bargain, in terms of entertainment per penny.

No comments about A Road Trip Journal.

No comments about Michelin Red Guide 2008 Main Cities of Europe: 3000 Hotels & Restaurants (Michelin Red Guide: Europe, Main Cities).