I was recently killing time in an airport waiting for a flight and spent a fun time trading travel recommendations with another flyer. We had both seen lots of fabulous places, but neither one of us could compete with the late great Johnny Cash, who has been everywhere. Check it out on the Johnny Cash Has Been Everywhere website . Trust me, it’s fun.
You should check out Postcard Past: A site collecting contemporary photo recreations of scenes from old postcards, which neatly contrast the stylized presentation of the often-future-seeming architecture depicted in postcards of the past with the reality of today. To quote the project’s curator, “I’m interested in economic, social, and urban history, and what we learn about them when we compare these highly edited, aspirational bits of old ephemera and the built environment of today. Stories about the rise-and-fall of entire industries, institutional discrimination, and the destruction of public transit systems. Racism, as well as resiliency and creativity in the face of that racism. Immigration, real estate booms, and disinvestment. Too many parking lots, so many collapsed banks, tons of financial crime. Civil rights progress. Advances in engineering. Pandemics. Leaps forward in medical care. Privatization of public goods. Secularization. Adaptive reuse.” This is a genuinely interesting bit of social history and a fascinating archive to get lost in.
As an inveterate museum goer, I am in a continual state of denial about the origins of most museum collections. There’s No Such Thing as an Ethical Museum. “At its core, an art museum is essentially a narrative of empire. If, as Napoleon quipped, history is a set of lies agreed upon, a museum is their physical manifestation.”
Since the onset of the Pandemic, I’ve found myself reading more Science Fiction. This is probably a healthy way to deal with frightening reality of our times. Although as a young reader many decades ago, I was a voracious consumer of Sci-fi novels, short stories, and magazines, so falling back on old habits is not surprising. This is Tor.com’s list of SFF books you should be aware of for the second half of the year.
I count myself among the fortunate travelers who got to visit Venice before it became so overtouristed that it’s become necessary to make an appointment to see the city. However, this series of dream-like images by the extraordinary French photographer Franck Bohbot has me longing to return. See Venice and swoon right here.
I will never forget the night that I realized that I’d never really seen the night sky before. Sitting outside of my little tent on the side of a mountain in Switzerland, I saw a sky so new to me that it seemed like I was on another planet. For most people in the so-called developed world light pollution severely limits views of stars. Because the loss of dark skies is so acute, astronomers have coined a new term for it. ‘Noctalgia’ is a feature of the modern age.
Regular visitors to Travel Between The Pages are well aware of my coffee obsession. It all started with an old school stove top percolator when I was just five years old. My Mother taught me how to set-up the coffee for breakfast and allowed me an espresso-sized cup before school. Over the years, I’ve accumulated dozens of coffee makers from a custom moka pot to a handy AeroPress. And the apotheosis of my coffee mania came when I became a coffee roaster six years ago.
So, it will come as no surprise that I am dead chuffed to find that Rotterdam is set to open the world’s first coffee hotel. Paul Sharo, owner of Man Met Bril Koffie roastery and café in the Dutch city is poised to lauch the Hotel Blend this year after a crowdfunding campaign. The 20 hotel rooms are not just for tourists. Sharo: “I want to expand the international coffee community by bringing the best baristas and roasters to the coffee hotel where they temporarily live. We have a training room at the new location where we train people and we have a large terrace that enjoys the sun all day long. If it shines then.”
The coffee hotel residency program will offer both pay and a free place to stay at the hotel while you are working there. Personally, I’d be happy to stay at the hotel and hone my roasting skills.
To create some media buzz about the coffee hotel project, Sharo is embarking on a road trip to visit about 20 European cities and organize events in conjunction with local coffeeshops and roasters. he will be making the tour in style in a tricked- out and electrically converted Citroën Hy old-timer named Laura. The classic French truck from 1971 isequipped with a.o. a Kees van der Westen Spirit, nitro cold brew system, EK 45, Mythos grinder and 3TEMP batch brew.
“It’s a pretty out there idea, a stupid idea maybe”, explains Sharo. “Who drives an electrified old timer with a range of about 100 km through Europe just to invite some people you don’t know to come work and live with you? At the same time, it’s a trip of dreams, a trip of a lifetime. So why not?!” 
The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection is a brilliant initiative and an excellent resource for free audio books. “Project Gutenberg, Microsoft, and MIT have worked together to create thousands of free and open audiobooks using new neural text-to-speech technology and Project Gutenberg’s large open-access collection of e-books. This project aims to make literature more accessible to (audio)book-lovers everywhere and democratize access to high quality audiobooks. Whether you are learning to read, looking for inclusive reading technology, or about to head out on a long drive, we hope you enjoy this audiobook collection.” So click the ‘browse collection’ button and browse the extensive archive of old titles .
I am fortunate to have spent quite a bit of quality time visiting Scotland over the years and hope to return in the not too distant future. When I do, the new free app Scotland by-the-Book from Birlinn Publishers should be just the ticket for travel planning.
The smartphone and desktop application provides links to books on history, geology, mapping, food and drink, fiction, travel, poetry, culture, and politics. The app includes an interactive map of Scotland featuring the best books and writers, bookshops and literary events this country has to offer. It is designed for people exploring the country and looking for books connected to a specific area – for those exploring their genealogy perhaps, planning a trip, studying – or simply with an interest in writing on and from that area of the country.
While I was in Portugal earlier this month, I read a local news story about a tragic loss of thousands of liters of red wine due to a storage tank collapse. And in an odd coincidence, I just spotted a poem in the excellent online poetry magazine Light about the wine flood. Written by Julia Griffin, “Marooned”, offers a poetic take on the unexpect wine cascade in little São Lourenço.
by Julia Griffin
In quaint São Lourenço, no angels will tread:
The streets are all streaming with Portugal Red.
You’d think that the heart of the village had bled,
But no! It’s a river of Portugal Red.
The wine, like the story, has steadily spread;
Our reading is dripping with Portugal Red;
Levira’s the wellspring, the grand fountainhead
Of ruddy and rubicund Portugal Red.
Fly in and mop up what the vintners have shed!
Come soak yourself silly in Portugal Red!
Or if you want sherry, try Jerez instead,
And skip this importunate Portugal Red.
Starting today, visitors to London will be able to book free tickets for the new viewing gallery called Horizon 22, which gets its name from the unique view of the London horizon that you’ll get to see from the skycraper located at 22 Bishopsgate.
The site offers a 300 degree vista from London’s second tallest building. The viewing gallery — at 254 meters above street level — is the highest in Europe that’s free of charge.
The Horizon 22 will open to the public on Wednesday, September 27. Visitors are encouraged book tickets well in advance, with free tickets available from the Horizon 22 website as of today.
Florida is one of those places that you never really know unless you’ve lived there. Having spent the better part of my twenties in the Sunshine State, and having resided in both South and North Florida, I feel that my understanding of the place is equal to most. I can honestly say that I loved living in Florida, until I didn’t.
The new book Florida!, which is illustrated by Gabriel Alcala, takes a decidedly tongue in cheek look at America’s playground. The not quite travel guide book dives into local histories with essays and interviews, but also offers wacky Florida survival guides like a step-by-step diagram on “kicking a shark’s ass.” This is not a fanciful diversion. If you swim off of Florida’s beaches, you are guaranteed to be sharing the ocean with sharks.
Surprisingly, Florida! is published by A24 the film production company that uncoincidently produced movies like The Florida Project, set in a budget motel in Disney World’s shadow. Zola, Spring Breakers and Moonlight .
Along with the on point clever illustrations, you’ll also find a selection of terrific photos at work in Florida! – both contemporary and licensed vintage work.
Books That Shaped America is a new 10-part series – a joint original feature production from C-SPAN and the Library of Congress – will trace America’s history by examining masterpieces in literature that have had, and still have today, a major impact on society.
The series which C-SPAN will air LIVE on Mondays, starting September 18 at 9 p.m. ET for 10 weeks will feature:
The new series was inspired by a list of 100 ‘Books that Shaped America‘ and an exhibition curated at the Library of Congress 10 years ago based on the results of a public survey about books that provoked thought, controversy and change throughout American history. Viewers of the series this fall will be able to weigh in with their own thoughts about books that had an impact on the nation.
The audience will see first edition copies of famous works authored by Thomas Paine, Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston and others, plus rare photos, maps, correspondence, and other items that highlight these books and the times during which they were written.
“Over the course of 10 weeks this fall, ‘Books that Shaped America’ will shine a light on a diverse group of books and authors whose skill with the written word and powerful storytelling left a lasting impression on our nation,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “These 10 books are just a start. Throughout the series, we will invite Americans to join the conversation and share their perspectives about more books that shaped America.”
