Parisian Sites, Parisian Pastries

by Neil Woodburn on

We’ve all been there before. You’re in some foreign city admiring a famous tourist site when suddenly you get hungry. The problem is that tourist dives, by their very nature, flock to where the tourists are. That is why I almost never eat within spitting distance of a major tourist attraction.

But now there is a book which aims to steer hungry travelers in the right direction.

Paris by Pastry: Stalking the Sweet Life lists the city’s best patisseries in conjunction with nearby tourist sites. If you happen to be visiting the Louvre, for example, the book reveals the tastiest pastry shops within walking distance of the famous museum. This way you can gorge on culture and then stuff your face silly afterwards.

Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W

by Adrienne Wilson on

Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W isn’t your typical travel guide, but it is a highly unique concept. The author of the guide, Ami Sioux (a Paris-based photographer) asked 50 people in Reykjavik to hand draw maps of a significant or important place of their choosing. She later takes to the roads and Icelandic wilderness or where ever the maps may lead her and photographs the area. With her photos and the nifty hand-drawn maps combined she pieces together an awesome book for the coffee table. In addition to Iceland, Ami had the opportunity to mingle with Berlin natives, Paris, London, and New York natives as well to create media for each city using their interpretive maps and her travel treasure hunt shots. As of the moment Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W is not available in the U.S., but those burning to find their way to an Icelandic thermal pool or somebody’s back yard through the book can click here for more purchase info.

I must say I wish I had come up with the idea myself.

via Cool Hunting

Guidebooks in Action

by Erik Olsen on

A nice little Flickr contributions from one of our friends, Joshua Berman, guidebook writer and all around good guy. Joshua set this one up to help you show off not just your travels, but the role of your favorite guidebooks in them. Joshua asks you to post your photos “of your most thumbed, soiled, and dog-eared guidebooks, on the job and actually in their respective destinations”. A cool concept, I think. One the guidebooks companies surely will love.

New Ski Book: The Story of Modern Skiing

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a book I’ve always wanted to write. It would also make a fine documentary film a la Dog Town and Z Boys and Riding Giants (two epic and wonderful films by Stacy Peralta). The book takes on a sprawling concept: the history of skiing. The Story of Modern Skiing by John Fry is being billed as the definitive history of the sport, and I for one, am interested in getting my hands on it.

From wooden skis and leather boots to the metal and Fiberglas skis and plastic boots we know so well today (what’s next?) as well as the story of the first chairlifts, and the rise and fall of various resorts, the book examines how skiing has evolved. It also looks at how resorts, once backwoodsy cozy cabins, have exploded into mega-billion dollar enterprises run by monster corporations…for better for worse…well, for worse.

A Year of Adventures

by Dave Luna on

Happy New Year! “So what? Broken resolutions and more taxes?” No, you cynic. That’s just disturbing.

A whole new calendar means 365 more days for adventure! If you arm yourself with Lonely Planet’s A Year of Adventures: A Guide to What, Where, and When to Do It, you’ll be prepared to hike, bungee jump, and cycle until the the first tick of 2008.

The book features over 100 adventure travel experiences in 130 countries. Also, A Year of Adventures assigns each activity to the month that is the usually the best time of year to try it out. For example, the book notes that the slopes of Mt. Yasur are at their best for volcano boarding during the first week of July.

Don’t worry, though. The activities aren’t all extreme sports adventures and challenging jungle hikes. There are less strenuous recommendations like cruising the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea and ballooning in Serengeti National Park.

I made my New Year’s Resolution after navigating through this book: “To figure out a way to get more vacation days at work.”