Category Archives: Europe

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Franz Kafka, born on this day in 1883. “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Banishing Evil

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

This short New Yorker documentary about a Bulgarian tradition of dancing evil spirits away reminds us of the traditional rituals that are slowly disappearing, of the ways people develop coping mechanisms and lasting community. It’s a moving portrayal and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, Film | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Is It Even A City

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The simple creativity in the new video below for VisitOslo is rare in tourism ads these days, most of which blend into each other. This is different, a typical understated Norse dry sense of humor.   

Posted in Europe, Film, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Bookstore Tourism: Il mio tipo di posto

Posted on June 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

It’s been more than a decade since I’ve visited Florence, so you will have to forgive that I missed the grand opening to the amazing Libreria Giunti Odeon. This fabulous mash-up of a cinema, bookstore and cafe premiered in November … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books, Bookstore Tourism, Europe, Film, History, movies, Restaurants, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

London For Free

Posted on June 22, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Some of the vintage oldtimers who have been following Travel Between The Pages for many eons may recall that during the last century I made a dubious living writing travel guidebooks and newsletters. One of my better selling books was … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Tourism, Travel Writing, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

An Alternate Alice Versery

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I am continually amazed by the seemingly endless variations and spinoffs of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland.  But even I was surprised to discover that beginning in the 1930s, Guinness beer began using Alice in Wonderland and the cast … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“To walk alone in London is the greatest rest.”

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

It’s surprising to learn that London wasn’t well mapped until the 1500s, but the cartographers, topographers, and historians of the Historical Towns Trust have the decided to remedy the problem by looking back in time to create period maps.. Their … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Europe, History, Maps, Tourism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lucifer’s Big Book

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Codex Gigas (or Devil’s Bible) is a large 13th-century manuscript from Bohemia, one of the historical Czech lands. Renowned for its size and its striking full-page rendition of the devil (found on page 577), it contains a number of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Museums | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Life is stranger than fiction

Posted on June 10, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Forgive the pun, but in this case life is truly stranger than the fictional book above. A fascinating handwritten manuscript of the French novel  L’Étranger translated as The Outsider/The Stranger by Albert Camus has sold for €500,000 ($544,000) at auction in Paris. There is little … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

It’s always nineteen eighty-four somewhere

Posted on June 9, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

George Orwell’s seminal novel turns seventy-five this week. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell posed a frightening question: could people be conditioned to actually believe (rather than just pretend to believe) the lies they are told ? Here we are 75 years later … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Freedom of Speech, History, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment