Travel Between The Pages

A Change is Going To Come

Posted on March 2, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

For decades, U.S. citizens traveling to most European countries have been exempt from visa requirements. Sadly, this ends on January 1, 20121, when all Americans traveling to any Schengen Zone nations will need an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) Visa. This dramatic change is the result of recent EU regulatory changes meant to improve security and address migration issues.

U.S. citizens 18 and older will need to secure the required visa for European travel by completing an online ETIAS registration form. Applicants will have to provide proof of a valid U.S. passport—valid for at least 3 months beyond their European visit—a credit card and an email account. There will be a €7 fee and they will need to answer questions on the following topics:

Drug use
Terrorism
Human trafficking
Travel to conflict areas
Criminal history
Employment history
Past European travel information
Security information

The Schengen Zone nations covered by the visa scheme include:

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Spain
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland

Posted in Europe, Tourism, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged EU, Passports and Visas, Schengen Area | 3 Comments

Fun With Maps

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Those of you who regularly visit TBTP know how fond I am of maps—both real and fictional. New York City-based artist Jake Berman does deep dives into archives and library collections to discover historic plans and engineering documents from municipal and regional transit agencies to discover source materials for brilliantly re-imagined maps. Utilizing these historic documents Berman has designed a series of colorful, clever maps that he sells on his website. If you love maps as much as this humble blogkeeper, take a look at the entire collection.

Posted in Art, History, Libraries, Maps, Public Transport, USA | Tagged Brooklyn, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C | Leave a comment

Libros Para el Viaje (Books for the Journey)

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Libros Para el Viaje is the brainchild of Denise Chávez owner of Casa Camino Real Bookstore in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Since the summer of 2018, she has been collecting books and distributing them to refugees at the southern U.S. border with the assistance of the Border Service Corps and the American Booksellers Association. The goal of the project is to simply get books into the hands of both child and adult refugees from Central America and Mexico.

Chávez has been collecting books from publishers, booksellers, writers, and the general public. She has also held pop-up book events in Las Cruces to raise money for the project. You can help too by donating new and gently used books in all genres, but especially Spanish-English dictionaries, English grammar, children’s titles, self-help, fiction, and Spanish language books. Books for the Journey can be reach through Facebook.

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, South America, USA | Tagged ABA, Central America, Immigration, New Mexico, refugees | Leave a comment

Wise Men Fished Here

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

In 2005, the legendary Gotham Book Mart in New York City closed its bricks and mortar store. By 2007, the iconic Manhattan bookseller was out of business for good. Fortunately, the University of Pennsylvania was gifted much of the contents of the Gotham Book Mart, which was founded by Frances Steloff in 1920. To mark the 100th anniversary of the store’s founding, the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University in Philadelphia is hosting an exhibition in honor of Frances Steloff and her famous bookshop.

For decades the Gotham Book Mart was, as Steloff prosaically put it, “the headquarters of the avant-garde.” The exhibition explores the shop’s role in assembling, publishing, and promoting groundbreaking experimental writers, as well as its later years under the ownership of Steloff’s hand-chosen successor, Andreas Brown, focusing on Brown’s passion for postcards and collaborations with graphic artist Edward Gorey.

Like most book lovers growing up in and around New York City, I was drawn to the Gotham. It was a truly legendary bookstore. Where else could you discover small press books, underground zines, banned books,hard to find out of print publications, and more, in a bookshop where Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg and Amiri Baraka had stocked shelves.

If you’re in the Philly area between February and May 20, 2019, the exhibition is well worth a visit at UPenn’s Van Pelt-Dietrich Library at 3420 Walnut Street.

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, History, Libraries, USA, Writing | Tagged Allen Ginsberg, indie bookstores, New York City, Patti Smith, William S. Burroughs | 1 Comment

The Brits are so over Jane Austen too

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

I was somewhat surprised to recently read that a letter writing campaign and a steady barrage of public criticism ended plans for a statue of formerly beloved author Jane Austen. It seems that Winchester Cathedral commissioned sculptor Martin Jennings to create a monument for the 19th century English writer to be placed in its inner close. Despite governmental support from the Winchester City Council and the Hampshire County Council, an extensive letter writing campaign put the kibosh on the project. Personally, I never much liked her maudlin, overly sentimental novels much anyway, but I’ve always thought that Winchester Cathedral was impressive.

Posted in Architecture, Art, Books, Europe, Tourism, Writing | Tagged England, Hampshire, Jane Austen, novelists, Winchester | Leave a comment

Blue Mondays

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Death Croons the Blues. James Ronald. New York: Phoenix Press. (1940). First edition. Original dust jacket.

Mystery in which a blues singer is murdered and the murder is solved by a crime reporter.

Posted in Books, Music | Tagged book cover art, First Editions, mysteries | Leave a comment

Faroe Islands Closed For Maintenance

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

During the past year, it’s been impossible to read a travel magazine or blog without being told that the Faroe Islands is the next in place to visit for travelers who want to get off of the tourist trail. Of course, this has resulted in a rush to visit and the beginnings of the annoying over-tourism that we’ve seen—and experienced—elsewhere in Europe. In order to avoid some of the issues that places like Iceland have been coping with in recent years, the Faroe Islands will be having a temporary moratorium on tourists this April. The little video explains the plan and gives a peek at the beautiful country, which will paradoxically encourage more of us to visit.

h/t to Alda Sigmundsdóttir for the link to the story. If you’re considering a trip to Iceland, be sure to check out her blog and buy her fascinating books on Iceland. I highly recommend “The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland” and not because I’m mentioned in the dedications.

Posted in Books, ebooks, Europe, Tourism, Travel Writing | Tagged Faroe Islands, Iceland | 2 Comments

Take A Stand

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Today is the birthday anniversary of African American sociologist, historian, writer, educator, poet, scholar, and civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois. Born February 23, 1868, Du Bois was the first black man to earn a doctorate degree from Harvard University and one of the co-founders of the NAACP, whose history page offers a nice summary of his work: “Du Bois’s life and work were an inseparable mixture of scholarship, protest activity, and polemics. All of his efforts were geared toward gaining equal treatment for black people in a world dominated by whites and toward marshaling and presenting evidence to refute the myths of racial inferiority.”

Du Bois’s essay “I Take My Stand for Peace” was first published in the progressive monthly Masses & Mainstream and then as a pamphlet in 1951 after Du Bois was indicted when he and the other leaders of the Peace Information Center (PIC) refused to register as foreign agents after being accused of being agents for the Soviet Union. Du Bois had been under observation by the FBI since 1942 for his socialist leanings and activism.

The purpose of the pamphlet was not only to spread Du Bois’s argument against war, nuclear weapons, imperialism, and capitalism in America, but also to raise money and support for his defense and the defense of those indicted with him for involvement with the PIC.

Happy birthday anniversary, W.E.B. Du Bois. And happy Black History Month!

Posted in Freedom of Speech, History, USA, Writing | Tagged American History, Black History Month, Peace, W.E.B. Du Bois | 2 Comments

But What Happens To The Books

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

When I read about the death of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld the other day, my first thought was “what happens to his books?”. To be honest, I don’t know much about the German tycoon other than the reports from a few years ago that claimed he was a bibliophile and serious book collector. There were numerous web stories that featured the same set of photographs of Lagerfeld in one of his homes with an impressive library. What caught my attention at the time was not the number of books that he owned, but how they were shelved. If you examine the images, you will note that all of the books are shelved horizontally. According to the reports, Lagerfeld did so not for aesthetic reasons, but so that he would not need to tilt his head to read the titles. It must be annoying to try and remove a book at the bottom of a stack, especially on a high shelf. Well, it’s not Karl’s problem anymore.