Prepping for a trip to the Middle East

Given that I will probably be traveling to Dubai on business in the coming months, I thought I would pick up a copy of Customs & Etiquette of Arabia and Gulf States from my local Barnes & Noble. Fascinating little book. I really found it interesting to read about the protocols and etiquette when visiting someone's home, insight on hospitality, Bedouin culture, etc. Since Saudi Arabia may be on the itinerary, as well, I want to make sure I've brushed up on the proper way to behave and interact with my business colleagues. Oh, and speaking of Dubai, rumor has it that a new hotel, Palazzo Versace, will soon open... the hotel, owned by that Versace, will likely have, get this, an air conditioned beach. Is this any surprise in the resort town that brought us the world's first seven star hotel or the world's largest indoor ski resort?

Drowning in a Sea of Travel Guides for Rome

Finding a good travel guide can be a daunting task, particularly when you're planning on visiting a popular destination like London, Paris or Rome. Frommers, Fodor's, Rick Steve's, Insight Guides, AAA, Knopf, Michelin, Eyewitness Guides, Moon, Let's Go, Lonely Planet, Time Out, Baedeker... the list goes on and on. It's hard to make heads or tails from one guide to another.

Well, when it comes to Rome, I've gone through a few... having visited Rome close to ten times in the past 12-13 years, it's good to stay on top of what's new in town, new museums, etc. With so many to choose from, how do you know where to start? To begin with, I'm not a fan of Frommer's or Fodor's. Yes, they serve their purpose but, for me, I like to see some pictures. Show me what I'll be looking at - give me some visual perspective. Both guides typically fall short although I like their online presence. For my money, there are two that I have found particularly useful for Rome.

If you can find one - and you can find used ones on Amazon.com - one of the best guides out there is published by the Touring Club Italiano. Now, there may be current ones but the one I have is this older version. Well-written, good information, concise and it often lists places that most guides overlook. I really like this one. Of course, if you read Italian, you can pick up an Italian version but I know that only so many people have this luxury. If you're in Rome, check out the local Feltrinelli or Arnoldo Mondadori and you might find some Italian guides translated in English that will be worth your while. You never know...

Ever since buying my first Time Out guide for a trip to Buenos Aires, I've been nothing but impressed by Time Out's informative guides. Good insight on neighborhoods, hotels in all classes, restaurants and much more. They just work well and the one for Rome is no different. Recently published version also include Time Out Rome: Eating & Drinking Guide (wish I had a copy of this handy) and the Time Out Shortlist Rome. If the Eating & Drinking Guide is anything like the Cheap Eats in London guide, I would imagine it is priceless.

What are some of your favorites? Are you partial to funky little guides like the Wallpaper City Guide to Rome, big standards like the Eyewitness Guide to Rome or specialized guides like The Civilized Shopper's Guide to Rome? (my wife has this one... it's a great little pocket guide)

Book Review: Hitching Rides with Buddha

If you travel enough, you start to find that some hotels maintain book exchanges where hotel guests can "borrow" a book in exchange for leaving a book. While in Costa Rica, our hotel, The Tamarindo Diria, had a small book exchange located near the staircase on the way to our room. I dropped off a copy of Ciao, America! by Beppe Severgnini and picked up a copy of Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson. Despite any Buddhist undertones, the book provides a witty and fascinating portrait of life in Japan.

The premise of the book is simple - the author sets upon a journey from Capa Sata in the south to Cape Soya in the north to follow the sakura or the blooming of the cherry blossom. As you read the book, you soon find out that tracking the cherry blossoms seems to be a national obsession in Japan.

I find that reading about Japan and the Japanese people is simply eye-opening. The more I read, the more I want to visit. Until then, I have to live vicariously through these types of travelogues. The book is filled with countless little vignettes of interactions with Japanese people as well as what it's like being a gaijin in Japan:

I wended my way through and the crowds parted like the sea before Moses. Women eyed me with intent indifference. Schoolchildren openly gawked, jaws gaping. Men watched my every move as though I might pull out a handgun and start shooting at any moment. Old women bowed with perfect precision, not a degree too low, not a degree too high. You could use the bows of Japanese grandmothers to chart the entire Japanese social hierarchy, from outcast to outsider, from doctor to lawyer to Emperor.

"A foreigner, look!" A flock of high-school girls burst past in a flury of nervous laughter, and boys, brave after the fact, whispered "Harro!" to the back of my head. "Ah, we have an international guest from America here today," said the disembodied voice of the PA system, the voice of a decidedly tinny god. "Maybe he will sing a song for us later."

That I, so average and unexceptional, should cause a stir among these bright crowds of costumes gives a new perspective on the idea of exotic. I remember a trip to a Japanese zoo, and how the children turned their backs on the caged wildebeest and watched me instead. More interesting than a wildebeest, became my personal motto after that. It was oppressive at times. When your face doesn't fit the national dimensions you find yourself in an observer-affected universe; your presence alters actions, and the very act of observing changes that which is observed. You cannot slip by unnoticed. You cannot forget the pigment you present to the world. If nothing else, Japan has taught me what it is like to be a visible minority."

The book is quite funny although Ferguson's synicism can sometimes grate on you. Despite being a hefty 410 pages, the book is a relatively quick read. Yes, the dimensions are a bit large for a briefcase when traveling but the entertainment factor makes it worthwhile.

A bit of Canadian and Texan History.

In visiting Canada, I started realizing that I either had a complete lack of knowledge about Canadian history or I had pretty much forgotten what I had learned in school. What was the war of 1812 about? How did Canada play a role? What played a role in the French experience in Canada and why are the Quebecois so adamantly French. Well, while at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, I picked up a copy of The Illustrated History of Canada, a terrific book that takes you from the "first peoples" to the present. I've made it through about 100 pages. If you care about history, the book can help put your visit to Canada in context. Not a guide but a wortwhile companion to Canada.

On a different topic, while driving back to Cardinal from Montreal, we spent some time talking about lakes in Texas, namely Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in the state of Texas. Earlier this afternoon, I noticed that the Houston Chronicle was running an article on both Caddo Lake and Jefferson, a historic town on the banks of the lake. Apparently Jefferson has a very colorful history and is filled with restored buildings and houses. The town used to be the base of a very important inland port that eventually fell out of favor due to a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, with over 60 bed and breakfasts in town (including the first in Texas), Jefferson is supposed to be a great long weekend destination, be it from Dallas or Houston. The drive from Houston is 234 miles and from Dallas the drive is about 168 miles. The Marion County web page offers a great deal of information and searching online can lead to a treasure trove of information, as well.

Cheap Eats in London

If you've ever traveled to London, you know that the city is dreadfully amazing. This applies to everything - hotels, petrol (boy does it apply to petrol!), food... just about anything you can imagine. Let's think about food... a $9 burger and fries at a restaurant in the States would run you 9 pounds in the UK - essentially $18! That $3.00 Starbucks latte in the States? 3 pounds in UK... and easily found now that Starbucks is everywhere in London.

Really "Cheap Eats"... a Picnic in the Park

Any help you can get when it comes to saving on food in London is welcome help. When we went over New Year's Eve weekend, we found the Time Out Guide to Cheap Eats in London to be a true blessing. Of the restaurants we tried, as recommended in the guide, all turned out to be a good value.

Divertimenti, at 33-34 Marylebone High Street, is kind of like a small Crate & Barrel, sans the furniture. In the back is a small cafe that is nice and casual but offers a selection of healthy sandwiches, wraps and salads.

Nando's, a British chain found throughout London (we visited the location on Baker Street), offers great affordable Portuguese food. The concept is reminiscent of Houston-based Cafe Express. The Peri-Peri chicken combinations are a good value.

All in all, you'll find over 300 restaurants, all of which can be visited for under 20 pounds per person. Yes, that's $40 a person . South of that is considered cheap in London. You'll be sure to find plenty of options that will be pleasing to your palate and your wallet.

While you're online, check out a recent article from Time Out on 20 Cheap Eats.

Wallpaper's New City Guides

Wallpaper Magazine just rolled out the coolest little city guides. We spotted some at Barnes & Noble earlier tonight. We flipped through the Rome guide and then picked up a copy of the Madrid guide. They're compact and mostly focused on cool architecture, a few hip hotels, shops and restaurants. Each one also includes a little 24 hour itinerary for each city. They are by no means comprehensive but offer a nice taste of each destination.


20 guides were just published in October of 2006. Some of the main international cities include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Tokyo. Another 20 guides will come out in April with even more in October. Each one is only $8.95 and is available directly from Phaidon Press or via typical retailers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

By the way, while we're on the topic of Wallpaper, a recent issue includes a review of the new Design Suites Calafate. We were lucky enough at the Design Suites in Bariloche and simply loved the hotel. The new one in Calafate looks like it has taken design to another level - a stylish way to stay near the amazing Perito Moreno Glaciar.

Reviewing City Walks: London

My wife gave me a box of the City Walks: London cards this past Christmas as we had planned a New Year’s Eve trip to London. Rather than constantly carrying around a guide everywhere we went, we opted to occasionally try out some of the cards as I'd heard they offered some good insight into different areas of town. The cards are packaged in a handy little box that includes 50 cards and a fold-out map with a broader idea of each walk's location. They're conveniently sized and easily fit in a coat pocket or, if you don't mind if they get messed up, in the back pocket of your pants.

We had much on our plate and only so many days in London so we only had a chance to use two of these cards – one was walk #38 through Notting Hill to Holland Park and the other was walk #39 to Portobello Market (the two cards you see me holding above). We used both back-to-back as one big walk, first touring Portobello Road and then Holland Park. The Portobello Road walk provided some insight on some of the shops and houses that we were passing. That particular walk would have been more pleasurable had the crowd been less overwhelming. Apparently, it’s usually quite busy on Saturday mornings - no surprise there so maybe its shame on us. The second walk was a real treat. It took us through some lovely neighborhoods (I particularly enjoyed our stroll from Hillsleigh Road up to Aubrey Walk) and to Holland Park, the former grounds of Lord Holland.

The cards were convenient and included small maps on one side and details on the other. While the maps were relatively accurate, I found that using a secondary map made it easier to walk around as not all the streets were marked. Personally, I used The London Mapguide by Michael Middleditch. I referred to it countless times during our London stay. While not the most portable size, it offers an outstanding level of detail and markings for restaurants, pubs, hotels, shops and other points of interest.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend using the London Walks cards on your next trip. Of course, they also come in other "flavors" such as Rome, Paris, New York, Boston and Amsterdam. We have the Paris set but have yet to put them to use. In good time...

Book Review: Italian Neighbours

Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona by Tim Parks is written along the same vein as Stephen Clarke's A Year in the Merde. I picked up the book at la Feltrinelli for 14 Euros while visiting Italy in 2005. It remained mostly forgotten until this past fall when I found it buried under some Italian novels. While not as funny or wry as Clarke's memoir of his adventures in France, Italian Neighbours offers an amusing look at a British couple's life in Montecchio, a town outside of Verona.

As an Italian, I found that many of Parks' observations were valid. Specifically, chapters such as Statali, dipendenti, autonomi... rang true. The chapter details the lengths people go to land civil servant jobs as statali - positions that offer lifetime security and benefits. It is these civil servants that permeate the Italian bureaucracy that Parks must grapple with on a regular basis. Other chapters focus on everything from the use of Italian words and bureaucratic bribes to old maids, religion and other local characters.

Italian Neighbours is 326 pages and perhaps a bit long but certainly enjoyable. And, as you can guess from the book's title, you will become very acquainted with Parks' neighbors (with a "u"). While not in the same league as The Italians, the book is worth reading.