Category Archives: Europe

It’s No Mystery

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Marple is a pleasant English town located a short distance from Southport and Manchester. For decades now, the community has been claiming that it was the inspiration for the name of Agatha Christie’s iconic sleuth Miss Marple. The town has … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

August Antidote

Posted on August 7, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Just when the dog days of summer were settling in I stumbled upon the refreshing little tilt-shift video below. Filmed by Jorg Daiber for his marvelous Little Big World series, this slice of alpine heaven focuses on the very popular Austrian tourist … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Film, Tourism | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Songs of Experience

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The animated film (below ) by Alex Robinson transposes William Blake’s 1794 poem London over images of an imagined contemporary London. The Blake poem references the effects of an oppressive society on people and nature. The piece is taken from … Continue reading →

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Pack up let’s fly away

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I have always been enamored with classic travel poster art. And there’s nothing better than the old school posters that were created for TWA in the 1950s and 1960s by David Klein.  

Posted in Art, Asia, Europe, Public Transport, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

London’s Folly

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve spent a lot of time in London over the last two centuries and I’ve visited hundreds of local tourist attractions. I even wrote a guidebook for budget travelers to the city. But I’ve never seen anything like the latest … Continue reading →

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Serpentine Saturday

Posted on July 31, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The wavy patterns on the edges, covers, and endpapers on this tooled and blind-stamped, half-bound book are from Carew’s Survey of Cornwall . This edition was printed in London by Thomas Bensley for J. Faulder and Rees and Curtis in 1811, although Carew’s … Continue reading →

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War of the Worlds

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I have been intrigued by the H.G. Wells iconic science fiction novel  War of the Worlds since I first read the book as a 10 year-old. The terrifying tale was first serialized in nine issues of Pearson’s Magazine (1897/98) with … Continue reading →

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If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

TIL that Mary Shelley actually wrote her groundbreaking novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus while she was living in Bath, England. I also discovered that the new Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein, opened in Bath last week. The multimedia museum … Continue reading →

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where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people

Posted on July 23, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

While recently helping a friend plan a trip to Berlin, I encouraged him to visit the brilliant memorial at Bebelplatz in the Mitte District. On May 10, 1933, in the Bebelplatz in central Berlin, members of the Nazi Student Union … Continue reading →

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Books That Fill You With Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

An excerpt from If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino Translated by William Weaver So, then, you noticed in a newspaper that If on a winter’s night a traveler had appeared, the new book by Italo Calvino, who hadn’t published … Continue reading →

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