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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  • Just finished Sir John Mandeville's The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, published in 1365. It is entertaining and informative (I now have stored in my memory both the Anglicised and Greek names for the Three Wise Men, for instance), but one critic suggested that the longest journey Sir John Mandeville made might have been to the nearest library. Mandeville does state that the world is round, though, and this was many years before Galileo proved it, which was a heretical belief in both of their times. Some state that the author was from Belgium, although he has an English name. Worth reading for some juicy details and for his mostly nonjudgmental views.

    http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/103800000/103809044.JPG

  • Tempting recommendations, Terry. In addition, I always tip my hat to people who manage to read two books at one time. 

  • I am currently reading two books that cover travel and two of my big interests or pet delights: birding and amateur English travellers, which includes my own good self, albeit most likely on a less scale.
    The first tome is American Peter Matthiessen's ode to the crane, Birds from Heaven, which took Matthiessen to such places as Bhutan, Florida, South Africa, Japan, China and Russia.
    I personally spend a lot of time birding, and I heartily recommend it as a way of getting majestically away from the usual tourism haunts, although in some spots birding is the main tourism draw.

    The second book, which I am reading right now, is from an old favourite, Eric Newby. It is A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, which is the wonderful tale of two unprepared travellers off on a whim and armed with only curiosity to climb a 20,000-foot-plus peak in the Himalayas. There is a long tradition of the innocent Englishman abroad, and perhaps we can be accused of arrogance, not an aggressive arrogance, but an arrogance nonetheless born of the probably misguided notion that we are welcome everywhere. It's a fantastic read.

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  • Thanks for the recommendation, Cara. Kauai is among the most beautiful places I have ever been, if not the most beautiful. I am off to France and Italy at the end of next week and have been saving Eric Newby's A Small Place in Italy. He is among my favourite travel writers. I am sure you realise that the English under Captain James Cook named the Hawaiian Islands the Sandwich Islands, after the voyage's patron, the Earl of Sandwich, one of whom also gave his name for a popular snack of something placed between two slices of bread.

    9012324886?profile=original

  • I love books that tell a great story but I want to learn something at the same time. I knew that since Tripatini member Linda Ballou was a travel writer that I would learn about Hawaii but what I didn't realize is that she is a beautiful writer. This story takes place at the time in history where the Hawaiians are introduced to the Europeans as seen from the Hawaiian viewpoint. It is a story about a strong woman living in a country warlike country. Just get that picture of peaceful Hawaiians out of your head. She weaves a tale that keeps you intrigued all the way to the end. This is a great read about a fierce heroine. In fact, I liked the story so much I asked Linda to do an interview for my blog.  Follow this link to read her interview. http://thebesttravelnovels.blogspot.com/2011/10/travel-to-hawaii-wi...

     

    TRAVEL TO HAWAII WITH WAI-NANI HIGH CHIEFESS OF HAWAII: HER EPIC JOURNEY
    I love books that tell a great story but I want to learn something at the same time. I knew that since Linda Ballou was a travel writer that...
  • Golly. I just finished reading Rebecca West's massive opus Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia, which comes in at an arm-breaking 1,150 pages. It is worth it, though. The scenery is lovingly and richly described, and the simmering tensions (often to explode) in the region, from Macedonia to the east to Slovenia in the west, are picked apart and related. These troubles as you know are millenia in the making, the region the pawn of empires such as the Ottoman, Roman and Austro-Hungarian and at times the strategic interest of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Venetian Republic. Written in the late 30s, just before European war broke out again, the writing in this book was on the wall, so to speak. And of course we all remember the breakup of Yugoslavia and the many years of civil and regional warfare. Fantastic book, but brace yourself for the long haul.9012325488?profile=original
  • Here is the link to tge Kindle version of my book at Daily Cheap Reads, it was featured on Sep. 20th. 
     
    A fun read Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships featured today at Daily Cheap Reads http://dailycheapreads.com/2011/09/20/cruise-quarters-a-novel-about... 
    This is also a great site to find out about new books of all types.
    Thanks Cara Bertoia
     
    Thanks Cara Bertoia
     
  • Dear Travel Book members,
    I am starting a new blog, The Best Travel Novels. If you have a novel set in a far away land and would like to be featured please let me know.
    http://thebesttravelnovels.blogspot.com/  This is the link to the blog.
    Georgina Young-Ellis a fellow Tripatini member is my first interview, please check out her post about writing The Time Baroness.
    Thanks
    Cara B
    THE BEST TRAVEL NOVELS, MOVIES OR BOOKS
    Hi, my name is Cara Bertoia and I am the author of Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships. It is a story of the crew who work for…
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