Category Archives: Europe

Through Thick and Thin

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I don’t think that I’ve read Chaucer since high school, but I was still fascinated when I ran across an article on the many commonly used English phrases that he  coined (or popularized) a lot of phrases that we still … Continue reading →

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The Mark on the Wall

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

  “The Mark On The Wall” is based on Virginia Woolf’s short story of the same name, which opens with the mysterious line—”Perhaps it was the middle of January in the present year that I first looked up and saw the mark … Continue reading →

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Walk This Way

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The ancient Roman Appian Way road network has become Italy’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site. The  Via Appia Antica, or Appian Way,  the oldest and most significant road built by the ancient Romans, has been named a Unesco world heritage … Continue reading →

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Literary London

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

As a great international capital, once at the hub of an enormous colonial Empire, London has long attracted visits by writers, artists and intellectuals from around the world. University College London is curating how London has been seen through the … Continue reading →

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in Vienna

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Now in Vienna there’s ten pretty women There’s a shoulder where death comes to cry There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows There’s a tree where the doves go to die There’s a piece that was torn from the morning … Continue reading →

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Oldest Map in the World

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

If you stop by TBTP on a regular basis, you are likely aware that I am a bit of a map geek. It all began with a small globe on my childhood nightstand. I don’t discriminate when it comes to … Continue reading →

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Beautiful Bruges

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I count my self lucky to have seen the beautiful Belgian town of Bruges nearly five decades ago before it became overtouristed and Disneyfied. Still, when I have return over the years, I still am enchanted. This charming tilt-shift video … Continue reading →

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Omnimappus Europeus

Posted on August 3, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I’m always tickled when the wonderfully cheeky cartoon pops up on the net. The comic website about travel and language by filmmaker Malachi Rempen is still offering witty takes on modern life.  

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“other peoples’ joy can be annoying”

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I stumbled upon the moody short film below and can’t quite articulate why it resonated so much with me. So, as usual I thought that I’d share it here to see if it hit home with any of you. Daniel … Continue reading →

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Rare Book Discovery

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I have a hazy recollection of a brief visit to Canterbury’s  The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge many decades ago on one of my first trips to England, but I was intrigued by a story about its current special … Continue reading →

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