Paris can be a glorious city, but sometimes the streets reek of urine from pippi savage (wild peeing). Now a team of entrepreneurs has developed a clever solution to this urban menace. The Uritrottoir (the name combines the words for urinal and pavement) is designed to look like a planter and it turns human urine and straw into compost for public parks. This seems like a great idea for many other cities with the same public urination problem, but where is the female version?
I was shocked to discover that the Bronx, a New York City Borough with a population of 1.4 million people, has no bookstores. Although the Bronx has undergone an amazing transformation during the past decade,its last remaining bookstore chose to shut down in December. But you can help local crusading bibliophile and entrepreneur Noele Santos bring books back to the Bronx by supporting her Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.
Back in September, Santos won a start-up competition sponsored by the New York Public Library and has been using the seed money to get “The Lit bar” off the ground. Every little bit helps.
London’s Borough of Lewisham is home to the city’s smallest public library. The Lewisham Micro Library was created by local resident Sebastian Handly, who purchased the old phone box from British Telecom and outfitted it with shelving, lighting, and a diverse collection of books. Three years on, the mini-free library is still going strong, with wide community support. You can find out more about the library and learn more about replicating this brilliant project on Facebook.
Last week, the city of Barcelona finally said enough to uncontrolled tourism. The municipal government voted to impose the most sweeping ban on tourist accommodations seen anywhere in Europe, along with added measures to regain control of the city from rampant tourism.
All new hotel construction is banned in central Barcelona. That includes popular districts of the Barri Gotic, Raval, Ribera, Eixample, Gracia, Poblenou, and as far as Montjuïc. The expectation is that over the next decade hotels beds in the city center, especially in the Ciutat Vella, will decrease and that the neighborhoods will regain some of their residential character.
Barcelona’s strategic plan for tourism also incorporates significant increase in taxes for vacation rental properties, big jumps in tour bus parking fees, bans on scooters and Segways, and crackdowns on nuisance bars in tourist areas.
If this seems draconian for a city that earns 12 to 15% of its revenue from tourism, please consider that the city population is just 1.6 million, while it gets 32 million visitors a year. With a majority of tourists coming between April and September. Of that number, only eight million stayed in hotels.
All of this makes me feel a bit guilty, although on my last trip to Barcelona I went during March and I stayed in a licensed rental apartment. I think that the city government needs to limit the number of cruise ships, which dump thousands of tourists in the heart of Barcelona each day. These day-trippers spend little and clog the streets of the Barri Gotic, Barcelonetta, Raval, etc.. The other big problem stems from bus tour passengers who also flood the center city making it impassable for residents. And in the area of accommodations, it might be better for the municipal government to work with Airbnb and other rental companies to limit units in the city center and to manage unlicensed rental properties. What’s your take on this?
About a year ago, we had a peek at some of Paris-based pastry chef Tal Spiegel’s tantalizing photos of dazzling baked delights. Since I acutely needed a break from the non-stop depressing news cycle, I decided to catch-up on Chef Spiegel’s culinary Instagram account. His Desserted in Paris project continues to showcase mouthwatering pastries from Parisian patisseries. I know that I had the chocolate piece of paradise below on my last visit to Paris, but I don’t remember where.
I couldn’t resist sharing these brilliant faux pulp magazine covers by the illustrator and comic book artist Stephen Andrade.
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all images ©Stephen Andrade
Since the election of the bloated, orange pustule, dystopian fiction has become so popular that George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984 has jumped to the top of bestseller lists around the world. Penguin publishing has announced that it is rushing another 75,000 copies of their mass market edition on the Signet Classics imprint to press. But the 1949 book is not the only dystopian political fiction to see renewed interest. Books such as Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America (see yesterday’s post on TBTP) and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale are experiencing booming sales.
I was happy to see that one of my favorite bookstores (and the depository for much of my literature spending) Labyrinth Books in Princeton, N.J. created a special display to promote classic from the genre. If you’re interested in dystopian fiction, these titles are a good place to start.
Since the depressing events of January 20th, I have been thinking of Philip Roth’s alternative history novel The Plot Against America. Our would be dictator’s references to “America First” reminded me of the anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, fascist movement championed by Nazi-loving Charles Lindbergh.
The famous American aviator Charles Lindbergh achieved notoriety with his record-setting 1927 transatlantic flight and became a staunch isolationist in the years prior to World War II. He was also a willing spokesman for ant-Semitic groups around the nation. He was the public face for the isolationist America First Committee, received an Order of the German Eagle award from Hermann Göring in 1938, and advocated a neutrality pact with Hitler as late as 1941.
In Philip Roth’s 2004 novel The Plot Against America, Lindbergh runs as a surprise Republican candidate in the 1940 presidential election. With strong support from Southern and Midwestern states, Lindbergh defeats FDR, then signs “understandings” with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan that promise nonintervention in Europe and Asia.
Roth uses his autobiographical setting of Newark, N.J., where his Jewish family is threatened by this nightmarish turn in U.S. politics. Anti-Semitism sweeps the country, with Jewish children forcibly removed to the Midwest to “Americanize” them, leading Jewish citizens arrested and violence spreading in the U.S. cities. Roth’s actual experiences with American anti-Semitism in the 30s and 40s give The Plot Against America a frightening basis in reality. The novel also serves as a portrait of the calamitous possibilities lurking in election surprises.
Hermann Göring with Charles Lindbergh. Library of Congress photo
If you haven’t read the book yet, it’s a chilling and foreboding glimpse of the alternative reality that is enveloping the U.S. and threatening the world.
During the summer of 1911, Franz Kafka and his friend Max Brod took a railway journey through Switzerland and France. While they were hanging out in Lugano, Switzerland, Kafka hit on a novel notion for “reforming” the traditional staid travel guidebook. His proposed series would be called Billig or On The Cheap and would compete with old school guides such as Baedeker and Murray’s. Kafka and Brod drafted notes for the budget guidebook series proposal. Unfortunately, the project never got off the ground, but we have the notes thanks to Kafka biographer Reiner Stach.
On the Cheap through Italy, On the Cheap through Switzerland, On the Cheap in Paris—On the Cheap in the Bohemian Spas and in Prague
Can be translated into every language.
Motto: Just Dare.
Our democratic age has already provided all of the conditions for easy, universal travel, but this has gone practically unnoticed. Our task is to collect this information and make it known in a systematic fashion.—Until now, practical inquiries and practical advice (Berliner Tageblatt [Berlin Daily]) from friends: stray comments, off-hand, quickly forgotten—a few very useful things, as we can all attest. Very little about this in the guides. A weak effort in this regard is the * in Bädeker and the rating “praised”—often disappointing.
What does “on the cheap” mean.—Many nuances. We distinguish ourselves from the palatial hotels and the gaudy, gauche middle class.— Also from below.—We address ourselves to those who consider travel too expensive, either mistakenly or because they have received poor advice, and who remain in the regions near their own cities (which are pretty in and of themselves, but already familiar). We want to provide information about other destinations that are just as affordable as these summer resorts—possibly even including transportation costs.
And to those who dare to travel, but whose travels are spoiled by the math and calculations—and (pardon!) to those who are ripped off.—Until now, the risk of accidentally falling for a scam has always had to be taken into account, and that has often been blamed on the country. Italy, Paris. So we will also improve the reputations of the countries.—Better relations between nations.
The educational aspect—energizing the whole person.
Only poorly oriented travelers are ripped off.
The same pleasure for less money. Consommation in Monico.
II
Precision, limitations. Travelers should be spared the choice.—A route for 400, 500 francs, etc.
Principle of group travel, but solo. Compare to “Teach Yourself” pamphlets.
No comprehensive geography, only routes.
We only name one hotel, and others in descending order in case this one is full.
If tramway is available, we do not include the carriage. We recommend a precise time for the trip.
Equally simple: Doctors …
[The following in Kafka’s hand] Not quick or slow travelers, but a certain middle group. Detours are easier, since additions can always be made to a precise plan.
Exact tipping amounts.
[In Brod’s hand again] Not pedantic: e.g. we recommend tipping the lifeguard—telescope on the Rigi—
About the routes: nothing is repeated. Only one cable car ride, but the best one!
Excerpt from the Railway Courier. What to take on the trip?
III
We offer more. The brief “General Section” in other guides.
Clothing.
Bordellos. Warnings against con men. (N.B. The candor of our guide.)
Souvenirs.
Shopping on the cheap e.g. silk in Italy; pineapples, madeleines, oysters in Paris.
No fear of the wrong currency.
Free concerts.
Cheaper days (e.g. art galleries) figured in after expensive voyages. Where to get free tickets like a local.
Steamers, second class.
No fear of the 3rd class in Italy. Local color.
Reform of country and city maps?
Explanation of casinos, losses.
Free maps in travel bureaus, criticism of them in our guides, the rest can be believed.
III. cont.
What to do on rainy days. Or possibly on the last day.
Art gallery, on the cheap day. Only a few important pictures.
But in thorough detail (like Kunstwart magazine), educational.
Good theater seats on the cheap, otherwise only known to habitués. Disembarking from the steamer.
IV
Recommended hotels checked by an organization.
We take care of training the authors, reviewing their texts, doing spot checks.
N.B. How is Baedeker organized?
Brochures with updates for 10 pfennig, ever other year or so, 5 vouchers in the books.
Caution against postcards, limited to the 12 enclosed (?)
V
Language guide, because knowing the language saves a lot of money.
Editions with and without language guide, for people who know the language.
Our principle: It is impossible to completely learn a language. One should be content to learn a sufficient amount with a minimum of effort. More sufficient than speaking the language poorly after studying it in depth and having to think about rules.—Infinitives paired together.—200 words.—A sort of Esperanto.—Hand gestures in Italian.—Pronunciation in depth.—No barriers to further learning.—French by us.—The most important things about Swiss dialect.
Buy one On the Cheap.
VI
Layout.
Travel Between The Pages 