Category Archives: Europe

Best Tourism Villages

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The United Nations has gotten some well deserved bad press lately for egregious behavior by some UN agencies, but there remain many UN organizations doing good work. Best Tourism Villages from UN Tourism is an agency that promotes villages around … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Asia, Europe, South America, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Paris with Eugène Atget

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

While searching for early Paris photographs for a project, I ran across the marvelous video below. The short film pairs the images by the pioneering street photographer Eugène Atget with the music of Wim Mertens. NB: If the video fails … Continue reading →

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The Disappointed Tourist

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Disappointed Tourist is a brilliant, on-going project in which artist Ellen Harvey is making paintings of places suggested by members of the public in response to the question: “Is there some place that you would like to visit or … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, History, Middle East, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

From-To

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The new website From-To promises to ‘make new places familiar’. It does this by comparing districts in the city you wish to travel to with a city you know well. For example if you are traveling to New York from … Continue reading →

Posted in apps, Europe, Maps, Public Transport, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Winston Smith Library of Victory & Truth

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Edinburgh-based artist Hans K Clausen is creating an innovative project titled “The Winston Smith Library of Victory and Truth.”  This visual art installation/ sculpture/ library will be centered solely on George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984 and be built from  1,984 … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Film, Freedom of Speech, History, Libraries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Paris Syndrome

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

This weekend my wife and I watched a very disappointing film which was primary set in Paris at Christmas time. The only thing that it had going for it was the romance of Paris all aglow with holiday lights. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, Asia, Europe, Film, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Venice fights back and I say bravo

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I count myself lucky to have visited Venice for the first time nearly half a century ago. In that distant halcyon era of European travel, Venice was gloriously free of massive cruise ships and mobs of day-tripping bus groups. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, Europe, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Judging a Book by Its Cover

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

One of New York City’s best tourist attractions for book lovers The Grolier Club starts 2024 off with an impressive exhibition detailing the history and aesthetics of fine bookbindings. Judging a Book by Its Cover: Bookbindings from the Collections of The Grolier Club, 1470s-2020 which … Continue reading →

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Think you know your cities ?

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

With 4.4 billion people living in cities, it’s more important than ever to stay informed about what is happening in the homes of 56% of the world’s population. Bloomberg news recently published a fascinating quiz that examines “… how are … Continue reading →

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Saved for the very end

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Reading Rhythms is not a book club. It’s a reading party. Read with friends to curated music. “It’s my party and I’ll read if I want to. What a super concept; I hope that it spreads. Ernest Hemingway only used 59 … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Canada, Europe, Film, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments