Those of us who buy, sell and collect antiquarian books obviously value them for their literary content, but most of us are also enamored by the physical books. I’m especially thrilled to discover intact old bindings and volumes which incorporate marbled paper. I recently stumbled on the video below from the Gloucester Guild of Craftsmen in England, which profiles master bookbinder and paper marbler Chris Rowlatt. You don’t have to be a complete book geek to enjoy the short film.
A wise person once told me to begin a project how I wanted it to end. In that spirit, I would like to start this new year by expressing my gratitude to all of the regular followers of Travel Between The Pages. Thank you for your feedback, messages, emails, suggestions, guest posts, and comments. The absolute best part of this little project has been the opportunity to connect with amazing people around the world. Here’s hoping that 2017 will be a wonderful year for us all.
If you know anyone who lives or works in New York City, they’ve probably had something to say about the soon-to-be-opened , but long delayed, new Second Avenue subway line. What they probably haven’t mentioned is the exceptional artwork that adorns the walls and ceilings of the subway stops. You really can’t blame them, since they’ve been waiting nearly a century for this line to be finished.
When it opens at noon on January 1, 2017, the Second Avenue subway will be an underground museum featuring custom designed mosaic murals and portraits. Some of the artwork is based on photographs of actual subway riders. But there are also impressive portraits of famous New Yorkers, such as Chuck Closes’s Lou Reed, Kara Walker, Philip Glass, and himself, as well as large murals by Sarah Sze and Jean Shin.
So, after a 97 year wait the first phase of the Second Avenue subway seems to be a reality, at least between 63rd St. and 96th St.. It may not be a big deal for tourists, but for folks on the Upper East Side it’s more than a cool underground art show. If you’re in the city, start your visit to the virtual underground museum at the 63rd and Lexington Ave station and take the Q train uptown.
photos © MTA Arts and Design
Can your e-ticket be hacked ? Sadly, the answer is yes. Recently, a team of hackers working with a group of German media organizations demonstrated just how simple it is to hack the six digit code on most airline e-tickets. Once the code is known, hackers can arbitrarily alter your flight schedule, re-seat you, cancel your ticket, or even use your paid ticket to fly.Within the 26 nation Schengen Area, it’s even possible for citizens to board flights without showing ID, making it possible for anyone to use a hacked e-ticket.
It appears that the six character code on all e-tickets is child’s play for hackers. Using only six non-case sensitive letters and numbers ( excluding I and O), it only takes seconds for a simple program to hack tickets.
What can you do about protecting your e-tickets? Well, don’t share details about flights on social media for one. Don’t use publicly accessible computers to make flight reservations or purchase tickets. While traveling and at the airport, carefully guard your e-ticket printouts from prying eyes. Other that that there’s not much else you can do at the moment.
During recent years, I’ve used a number of apartment and hotel booking services, but I get more questions from folks about Airbnb than any other company. A frequent question is how far in advance is it best to book a property. There are lots of stories on travel sites and blogs about the ideal time to book a flight, but little focus on hotels and apartments. Now a property management and concierge service that specializes in Airbnb properties has done the research and released an analysis.
My Property Host examined the pricing details for 55,000 London properties to establish the best time for travelers to find rentals at optimum prices. The results indicated that Airbnb hosts were more likely to begin reducing their rental fees about 15 days out from the arrival date. They found that rates tended to drop 5% at 15 days out, 10% at 10 days out, and 18% at 6 days out.
When booking an Airbnb property, it’s essential to know that about 20% of all properties are booked at at least 2 months in advance, while 80% are rented by 10 days in advance. So, if you’re focused more on price than location and amenities, you may find slim pickings by waiting to book.
In my experience, it’s better to find your preferred property early and approach the host with an offer at a slightly reduced rate. If you are booking for three or more nights, it’s likely that you can get a 5% discount. And, if you’re booking a week stay, a 10% price cut is not unreasonable to expect when the host can be confident the property is rented for a longer period of time. This approach is more likely to be successful with single property hosts than with multiple site rentals.
Each year since 1998, the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train has brightened up rail lines in Canada and the U.S. with a rolling light show. Along with holiday cheer, the neon-lit train also brings music and other live entertainment to stops along the route. Visitors at each stop are encouraged to donate food and cash to local food banks and pantries. Each year, the Holiday Train raises more than $1 million and collects hundreds of thousands of pounds of food for nutrition programs in North America.
all photos ©Neil Zeller
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