“Venice: City Guide”
(Lonely Planet, $17.99)
We all know that Venice is unique, but it takes a book like Lonely Planet’s city guide to remind us all over again what makes it so special. Most people today get around by car. What must it be like then to rely on your own two feet or catch a water taxi to your destination? As author Damien Simonis notes, the roads of this magical city are made of water. Venice may sound like a theme park, but it isn’t–yet (Venice has always been on the brink of disaster, waiting for the next flood to sweep it away into the ever-present sea). Since the 1950s, according to Simonis, the population has dropped by two-thirds: Housing is too expensive, jobs are scarce, transportation can be a challenge. Today the population of Venice proper is 63,000 (along with 400 licensed gondoliers). What keeps Venice alive, for better or worse, is tourism. And so the city fathers do their best to please fickle visitors, bombarding them with regattas, music fests, art exhibitions, architecture, opera, theater, dance and grand churches. Simonis provides suggested itineraries, walking tours, where to eat (and where not to) as well as entertainment, shopping and lodging options. Nearby cities and towns (Verona, Padua) are also explored. (ISBN 1-74104-198-8)
“The Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World: How to Get the Most Out of the Best Disney Has to Offer”
(Bowman Books, $19.95)
Walt Disney World, in author Cara Goldsbury’s estimation, is not just for kids. In this fat volume, packed with loads of tips for enjoying the perennially popular Florida institution, Goldsbury offers useful advice for even the most experienced–jaded?–Disneygoer and something else, too: a look at the sophisticated side of Disney. A good chunk of the book is devoted to descriptions of Disney resorts. Disney World has 22 resorts; Goldsbury has chosen the best of the bunch. For anyone who hasn’t given much thought to Disney, the statistics can be a bit mind-boggling: a complex twice the size of Manhattan with four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom) spread out over some 27,000 acres. Goldsbury offers advice on what to see, the rides that offer the most thrills as well as suggested itineraries, descriptions of the attractions (including Pirates of the Caribbean, a 10-minute ride) and dining (including the best places to dine with Disney characters). She tells you the busiest times of the year (ranging from President’s Day week to the Christmas holiday season) to the least busy (second week in January to the first week in February as well as the week after Thanksgiving until Christmas week). As if all this isn’t enough, Goldsbury devotes a chapter to Universal Orlando and other nearby attractions, including Seaworld and even the Kennedy Space Center. (ISBN 0-9726972-2-5)
Specialty travel
“The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Cold War”
(Palgrave Macmillan, $19.95)
Understandably, the words Cold War and travel usually are not spoken in the same breath. And yet the Cold War, a complex period that lasted about 45 years, affected most everyone in the world in one way or another. This helpful guide contains 50 maps, with explanatory text, that puts the crisis in historical perspective while addressing its many cultural, social and economic consequences. It includes maps of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis (which clearly displays the area of the U.S. that was under threat–most of the country), the arms race, nuclear proliferation and the surviving Communist world (Cuba, China, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam). Fascinating and, oftentimes, scary. (ISBN 0-333-99404-3)
“State of the World 2004”
(Norton, $16.95)
Published on the 30th anniversary of the Worldwatch Institute, this excellent guide focuses on the complexities of consumption: how we consume, why we consume and what impact our habits have around the world. It features chapters on food, water, energy, economics and the good life. Consider these statistics: Western Europeans use public transit for 10 percent of all urban trips compared to Americans at just 2 percent; consumers around the world spend an estimated $35 billion on bottled water; the average can of non-diet soda has 38 grams (150 calories) of added sweetener. Many hours can be spent perusing its fascinating contents. (ISBN 0-393-32539-3)
“Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York”
(St. Martin’s Griffin, $13.95)
In New York City, the great equalizer is the subway, bringing together people from vastly different cultures and classes who would never–in the real world above–even consider acknowledging one another’s existence never mind sit or stand in such close proximity. This forced intimacy is almost unique to New York: The vast majority of people around the country may drive to work, but New Yorkers take the subway. “Subwayland” is a collection of Randy Kennedy’s “Tunnel Vision” columns from the New York Times. In this strangely surreal underground world, Kennedy meets many colorful characters: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the everyman billionaire politician; tango-dancing Julio Diaz and his partner, a buxom life-sized mannequin named Lupita; Paul Kronenberg, dedicated subway buff and self-proclaimed underachiever; and Adrian Brune, a struggling writer who sells her short stories at $2 a crack. And let’s not forget the “wildlife,” such as the train-riding pigeons of Far Rockaway or the Fish Train of Chinatown. Great stuff. (ISBN 0-312-32434-0)
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The Chicago Tribune Travel section does not sell any of the items reviewed in the Resourceful Traveler column. Purchase information appears at the end of each product reviewed. Phone numbers or Web sites are given for travel gear, which may be purchased from manufacturers or retailers. ISBN codes are given for books, which may be purchased at local bookstores or over the Web.
