Frances Mayes' A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler is a great example of armchair travel reading. I had not read her early work Under the Tuscan Sun, but I am now planning to. She is my kind of traveler - interested in the culture, food and history of an area. She also has an interesting habit of renting houses instead of staying in hotels, and emerses herself within the culture and the neighborhood. And she seems to be a habitual rehabber - she constant sees houses she thinks about redoing.
Her language is lush, her descriptions are fascinating and she makes you hungry for the food of the country. Each chapter is a different country or city. I have never really wanted to go to Portugal before - she makes it sound wonderful. Naples has now become a must see. (Just to experience the food alone!!) She almost manages to explain to me the complex (and confusing) history of Turkey and Greece. I think she would be a great traveling companion. Take a taste of her travels. Well worth it.
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