So much of our travels can be enjoyed through the prism of literature. Some writers are intrinsically connected to a destination--e.g., Gabriel García Márquez with northern Colombia; Thomas Hardy with Dorset; R.K. Narayan with Madras; James Joyce with Dublin. The literary travel possibilities are nearly endless - have a read!

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The writing of 'In the Footsteps of Dracula: A Personal Journey and Travel Guide'

Old Parish Church Cemetery in Whitby, England My obsession to travel to every site related to either the fictional Count Dracula or his real historical counterpart, Prince Vlad Dracula the Impaler, grew out of a visit to Whitby, England, where part of the novel Dracula takes place.  I stood on the cemetery hill (top) where, in Bram Stoker's Dracula Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray spent hour after hour sitting on their "favourite seat" (a bench placed over a suicide's grave near the edge of the…

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Literary cruises in 'Whatever Your Pastime or Interest, There May Be A Cruise For You!'

Valtours/Dreamstime.com Whatever hobby, pursuit or pastime you enjoy, it’s possible there’s a voyage that will let you combine it with the pleasures of cruising. From food to fashion, music to mystery, the offerings are as varied as the destinations which are included on ship itineraries. An Internet search for cruises that interest you may turn up one or more alternatives. While cruise lines are gradually beginning to return to normal services, it’s necessary to check what sailings are being…

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Joan Margarit, latest laureate of Spain's top literary prize

  Each year since 1976, Spain's Ministry of Culture has awarded the country's equivalent of the Booker or the Nobel Prize for Literature to one of the world's most distinguished living Spanish-language writers. Past laureates have included not just Spain's poet Rafael Alberti as well as novelists Camilo José Cela, Miguel Delibes, Juan Goytisolo, and Ana María Matute, but also legendary Latin American luminaries such as Argentine Jorge Luis Borges; Cuban Alejo Carpentier; Mexicans Carlos…

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Reading (and eating) your way through Puerto Rico

  Many are the guidebooks that have been written about this tropical Latin Caribbean island, but few by Puerto Ricans themselves, and even fewer which focus on its delicious and sometimes exotic cuisine, fed by fresh local ingredients. Three years ago, now 40-year-old writer (and U.S. Marine reservist!) Jessica van Dop DeJesús (the "van Dop" courtesy of her Dutch husband) set out to remedy that by spending a month touring her native island with skilled photographer friend Ítalo Morales to…

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  • Terry, I'm in Maine, arguably the antithesis of the Grand Canyon, but I'm amazed by your story. I'm also flummoxed by the challenge of finding a really good book about the Grand Canyon. You probably already saw the following link. Moreover, I'm not sure it'll fill the need. But just in case...http://www.grandcanyonassociation.org/grand_canyon_bookstore_featur...
  • My friend Alex and I just did a pretty mad thing. On May 21 (the day the world was supposed to have ended, remember?), we completed in 15 hours a run from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim...and back. It involved 42.2 miles and a net elevation of 10,360 feet. One of the most wonderful things I've done, but in parts the most hellish, too. The five miles from Roaring Springs back to the North Rim was a gruelling hike that I thought would never end, but with hindsight (as I believe is the case with most travel), the endeavour becomes even more wonderful.

    Which leads me to my question. I have just finished reading Travelers' Tales: Grand Canyon--Tales From Below the Rim, but it is inconsistent, mainly as there are many contributors and a little too much flowery language..."I left the canyon, but the canyon never leaves you...", that kind of awfulness.

    So, does anyone have a recommendation of a book on the Grand Canyon that really passes the test of time and good literature?

  • Quite a recommendation, Terence. I'll have to get ahold of this.
  • Currently reading Norman Lewis' collection of travel essays, A View of the World. Lewis, who passed away at the age of 95 in 2003, is one of the finest, if not the finest, travel writers ever to come out of the United Kingdom, and there is some competition there. Try and pick up a copy of this for writing on banditti in Sardinia; Cuba in the age of Hemingway, Fleming and Castro; Naples; Ibiza; taking Cossacks back to Central Asia to a very grim future during World War II...and after all his adventures he went back to a small farmhouse in rural Essex.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1436803/Norman-Lewis.html

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  • Recently got back from a trip to Valencia.

    The most famous writer from there--at least one I have heard of--is Vicente Blasco Ibanez, who many people would be forgiven for not having heard of, Most have heard of his most famous novel, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (Los Cuatros Jinetes de Apocalipsis).

    He has a fairly wide road named after him in Valencia, and it is this road that the Valencia authorites want to lengthen so that impatient people can get to the Mediterranean Sea one minute quicker than they would have done otherwise, but the problem is to many that in order for this to be done it will have to wade through and destroy an area of the Roma/fishing village of Cabanyal, which I walked through for a wonderful two hours. Yes, it's crumbling, but money better spent than spent on needless roads could make the area amazing.
    Have a look at this site for more details:
    http://vidalondon.net/2010/10/10/valencians-fight-to-save-cabanyal
    Ibanez is perhaps a little wordy and dense for modern tastes (not yours of course, you read everything), along the lines of my favourite Spanish writer from that generation, Pio Baroja y Nessi, but worthwhile nonetheless.
    Valencia is always worthwhile, especially is areas of Cabanyal, El Carmen and Russafa, which is the wonderful Slaughterhouse bar/bookstore, quite the place to be.
    http://slaughterhouse.es
    Lastly, I wrote something a little more comprehensive on Valencia at
    http://allhallovians.blogspot.com
    As always, happy reading, happy travelling

  • New York Travel Writers Association's new prez, Denise Mattia, pulled an interesting quote out of her hat at last night's meeting:  
    “In times of change, learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” 
                -Eric Hoffer
  • And yes, Sam, I will...or did. The article is below.

  • Hi David,

    Yes, I did, and it seems I did not just follow in the footsteps of Gabo but also the equally celebrated David Appell. I will read your article on Barranquilla, a city I liked. I must be unique in that I have now travelled twice from the USA to Colombia and still have not been to Cartagena.

  • Here is my latest humble effort, on Colombia, with Spain, my favourite place in the world.colombia.article.pdf

    https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9012270856?profile=original
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