I love each and every edition of “Reading Quirks” comics. You can catch-up on the series, with illustrations by Laura Pacheco and scripts from The Wild Detective bookstore guys right here.
This week, Taiwan-based photographer Stan Chang released the second in a captivating series of timelapse videos based on three years of travels around thirty European countries.
A publicity stunt by a village mayor in Switzerland this week revealed a personal travel secret that I’ve been keeping for more than three decades. You may have seen the clever PR campaign that was launched a few days ago by the town council of Bergün in the Graübunden region, which instituted a “photography ban” throughout the village. Violators were threatened with a 5 CHF fine. The so-called ban on selfies, Instagram, and tourist photos was lifted within two days (see video below), but the media stunt was immensely successful.
If like millions of other folks you were tempted to research Bergün to discover what the fuss was all about, you now know about this little gem of a town nestled in the Alps along the UNESCO recognized Rhätiche Bahn line. There’s not much to the town except for a handful of shops, a few small hotels, and dozens of ancient houses beautifully decorated with traditional sgraffito plaster work. It’s the kind of place that stirs up all of the stereotypical notions about Switzerland. In fact a version of the classic tale Heidi was even filmed there.
I first discovered Bergün during a hiking and camping trip one summer. Someone told me about an amazing campsite just outside of the village that was situated on a mountainside along a swiftly flowing alpine tributary. At the time, the semi-official campground cost about 2 francs per night for a tent spot, with access to the outhouse and a cold water shower pumped right from the river. I spent that entire summer camping in Scandinavia, Austria, and Switzerland. Many of the campsites were memorable, even spectacular, but that forest camp near Bergün became my go to happy place. It was so special that I selfishly never shared its location.
Now that the secret is out, I wholeheartedly recommend a visit any time of the year; it’s stunning in any season. The village is a popular spot for sledding and skiing during the winter. The fall foliage is gorgeous and the town is blissfully quiet. But my favorite time to visit is in the summer, especially around August 1st. The entire town turns out for a national day festival and at night there’s a torchlight trek up into the mountains. If you do visit, be sure to get up early and head to fabulous Bäckerei Preisig on the village square. Order a pastry and coffee, and grab a table on the little balcony to watch the town come to life.
British illustrators Emma Ehrling and Michael Driver created this amusing animation for Penguin Random House to promote the publisher’s imprint Vintage Minis. Cleverly summarizing twenty books in two minutes , the short film covers big subjects, with single word titles such as Desire by Haruki Murakami and Death by Julian Barnes.
Any trip to Barcelona would be incomplete without visiting the astonishing buildings designed by the renowned architect Antoni Gaudí. Soon, for the first time, it will be possible to tour the first private residential building that was created by the father of Catalan Modernisme. Casa Vicens, which was constructed between 1883 and 1885, is the last of Gaudí’s buildings to open to the public. Under extensive renovation since September 2016, the house will open this fall looking as it did in 1885. You can find out more on the project on the website.
I was recently speaking with a friend about the joys of traveling around Iceland and the incredible emptiness of the rugged landscape. These NASA satellite images of the island nation do a much better job illustrating my point than I could. As the images demonstrate from night time lighting, the human population of Iceland is gathered in the southwest corner of the country around Reykjavik. In fact, more than half of the residents live in the capital region. That other bright spot in the north is Akureyri. The nation’s second largest city with a population of less than 20,000 residents.
Although there is a long history of traveling regional bookmobiles, La Librairie Itinérante is a unique mobile bookstore and home. Stocked with 3,000 titles, this tiny house serves as both the owner’s home and business. The peripatetic bookshop visits small towns and villages throughout France that lack their own bookstores.
I recently had an email from a loyal TBTP reader who is planning an extensive trip around the U.S. and Canada. He was concerned about frequent media stories regarding the prevalence of dreaded bed bugs in hotels. While I assured him that I have never personally seen bed bugs while traveling in North America, the reality is that a growing problem does persist at all levels of accommodations. For what it’s worth, I was able to share the very helpful website The Bed Bug Registry, which has been tracking infestations for more than a decade. The crowd sourced database offers more than 20,000 reports on hotels and other rentals across the U.S. and Canada. There’s even a free iOS app you can download before you book your rentals.
If you are one of the millions of folks who will be visiting New York City this summer, be sure to take advantage of the recently relaunched and expanded passenger ferry service between the boroughs. As you can see from the map below, it’s possible to travel from Manhattan to multiple spots in Brooklyn, Queens, and even to the beach in Rockaway.
For only $2.75 you can avoid the crowded, sweaty, and frequently delayed MTA subway trains and also get a waterfront tour of the city. If you visit the NYC Ferry website, you can download the app and purchase digital tickets in advance.
Travel Between The Pages 