Category Archives: Europe

Don’t Bend

 

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Goodbye King of the Book Towns

British bookseller and self-appointed “King of Hay” Richard Booth, who transformed the sleepy Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye “into a second-hand bookshop capital,” died August 20, BBC News reported. Booth, who opened his first bookshop in the town’s former fire station … Continue reading

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Art Floats

Europe’s first floating art museum has finally launched on the River Seine in the heart of Paris. The much anticipated attraction is  conveniently situated near the Pont des Invalides. Focusing on contemporary urban art, Fluctuart offers three levels with a permanent collection, … Continue reading

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Vintage Italy

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Dog Days of Summer

July 12th to August 20th are the official “Dog Days of Summer,” the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius, which in astrology is connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck.Here … Continue reading

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Peepshow

Icelanders have learned to cope with the scourge of overtourism with humor and aplomb. In the far northwestern town of Ísafjörður resident and museum curator Björg Elínar Sveinbjörnsdóttir recently capitalized on the nosiness of tourists who constantly peeked into the … Continue reading

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Bookstore Tourism: The Wandering Bookshop

Jean-Jacques Megel-Nuber wanted to open a bookshop, but he also wanted to be free to travel around France. Fortunately he discovered a way to accomplish both goals. Now he visits rural towns and villages in his itinerant bookshop that also … Continue reading

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Surrealist Sunday

From French Surrealist writer and artist Gisèsle Prassinos’s early collection La Sauterelle arthritique (The Arthritic Grasshopper).  

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Arrivederci e grazie per le buone letture

Sicilian author Andrea Camilleri, who died last week at age 93, is probably best known as the author of 27 novels and multiple short story collections starring police officer Inspector Salvo Montalbano, many of which take place in the fictional … Continue reading

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Rules for Writing

Thirteen simple rules for writing from the tragic genius Walter Benjamin. I. Anyone intending to embark on a major work should be lenient with themselves and, having completed a stint, deny themselves nothing that will not prejudice the next. II. Talk about … Continue reading

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