Tag: Belgium

New Travel books for 2024!

- Michelle Leave a comment

This fall brings an abundance of new and updated travel guides for nearly anywhere you would like to venture.  If you are planning your first trip abroad, thinking about a road trip to a few national parks or you are a seasoned traveler ready for a new adventure, there is something for everyone.  Even if you are not planning a trip in the near future, consider one of these guidebooks for armchair traveling!

DK National Parks of the USA – A comprehensive account of our 63 parks, DK National Parks of the USA covers the best sites and itineraries for each park.  With some of the most gorgeous photography in any travel guide, this guide outlines the best choices whether you are visiting a park for one hour or one week.  This guide also has detailed and easy to read maps for a hassle-free experience.  Also, included are the best places to eat, sleep and dine in close proximity to each park.

Rick Steves Best of Europe – One of the best travel guides for new or seasoned travelers to Europe, this nearly 1,000 page book covers the top European destinations for any experience or budget.  Steves includes detailed information on taking trains, trams and buses with ease and ideas for walking tours to capture the top sights.  Destinations include England, France, Spain and Italy.

Rick Steves France – Similar to the previous title and other Rick Steves travel guides, his series highlight the life changing aspects of travel, including meeting locals and visiting top sites along with itineraries that includes stops less well known.  This guide to France is the 21st edition with near yearly updates on hotels and other accommodations for all budgets.   Also included are walking tours and ample coverage of museums, local restaurants and cultural and historic information.  Not only is Paris included, Steves devotes ample pages to Normandy, Burgundy, Provence, the French Riviera and the Brittany region.

DK Top 10 New England – DK Top 10 guides are perfect for a short break and DK Top 10 New England is no exception.  Covering the top local cuisine, outdoor activities, quaint towns and historic gems, the authors of this guide have streamlined the best of the best in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  Sample itineraries are included for a weekend or a few days accompanied by a laminated pull out map.

Fodor’s Essential Japan – Written by Fodor’s local experts who have an intimate knowledge of Japan, Fodor’s Essential Japan, is an updated volume that has been redesigned in an easier to read format, newly updated photos and multiple itineraries for each destination.  Included are Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Mt. Fuji and more.  Along with the historical and cultural background of Japan, this guide has practical transportation information and language tips with essential phrases.

Lonely Planet Offbeat North America – For travelers looking for more remote or off the beaten track travels, try Lonely Planet Offbeat North America.  With over 100 lesser known destinations in The United States, Canada and Mexico, this guide also includes 25 extra hidden gems along with expertly curated advice on how to beat the crowds and the best times to travel to these locales.  Unique to this title are alternatives to popular sites that are equally as memorable but not so touristy.

 

 

In addition to the titles listed above check out these other brand new travel guides!

Rick Steves Spain

Rick Steves Scandinavia

DK Top 10 Brussels (includes Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp)

DK Top 10 Seattle

DK Top 10 Las Vegas 

Rick Steves Barcelona

Rick Steves Paris

Fodor’s Tokyo

 

The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott

- Ann Leave a comment

Edie believes her husband Francis died in 1918 in a horrific battle near the end of World War I when he is declared “missing, presumed killed”. But in 1921 she receives a photo of Francis in the mail with no letter or return address and she begins to wonder if he made it out alive and is waiting for her. She contacts Francis’s brother Harry, and asks him to help her, to either find Francis or find his grave.

Harry, who was with Francis when he was wounded, does not believe Francis is still alive, but he is in love with Edie and will do what he can to help. Harry has been working as a photographer, taking pictures of graves and battle-sites for grieving families back in England and he understands just how chaotic and devastated the French and Belgium countryside is – entire villages have completely disappeared, while others struggle to rebuild, fields are littered with shells and mortar and bones and whole forests are nothing but burned and broken stumps.

Returning to the places that Harry and Francis (and Will, their younger brother who was killed early in the war) fought is difficult for Harry as he is flooded with memories of what they had been, what they went through and what happened to them. It is obvious that Harry is suffering from what we now call PTSD but that he is coping and that Francis also suffered and was broken by the war. In addition, Harry is burdened with the fact that he has been in love with Edie for years and, while nothing happened between Harry and Edie, Francis cannot forgive him.

Edie and Harry, traveling both together and separately, meet a wide range of people suffering in the aftermath of the war – widows and families searching for lost soldiers (many that died were never identified or found) trying to find closure with a grave or memorial, veterans haunted by what they had witnessed, ordinary people struggling to survive.

The Poppy Wife paints an unapologetic portrait of “the Great War” and it’s devastating and long-reaching affects. The chapters move between the three brothers during the war and Harry and Edie’s search for Francis in 1921. Scott’s writing is calm and collected, almost poetic, but the horror and senselessness of what happened on those foreign fields is never far from the surface. And it is nearly impossible to put down as the tension and mystery builds. Highly recommended.

If you are interested in learning more about this time period, I highly recommend Vera Brittan’s Testament of Youth (which is not fiction but actually happened to her) which has been made into a mini-series, to watch A Very Long Engagement starring Audrey Tautou, and Peter Jackson’s brilliant documentary They Shall Not Grow Old in which footage from the war has been remastered, bringing the time vividly to life.