Europe on $10 a Day [antikvár]

PREFACE TO THE TWENTY-FIRST YEARLY EDITION OF EUROPE ON $10 A DAY TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO, under its earlier title, this book made its first appearance on the travel shelves of the nation's bookstores—and provoked something close to a minor riot. "Impossible!" cried one class of readers, as they spotted its name, "Europe on $5 a Day?" "Is he crazy?" countered another. "I did it on $2 a day." Now controversy was expected when this book appeared. But no one—not even my most Bohemian advisers—anticipated complaints that I had over priced the cost of a European vacation. And yet there came such letters: gentle, chiding letters, suggesting that the guide to a really low-cost vacation was yet to be written; regretful letters, stating it was such a shame I had missed that cute little hotel in Madrid where a room-plus-three-meals costs $4.10 a day. Among the hundreds of letters that readers have written, letters of the disappointed variety were happily few in number. But I mention the minority reaction to Europe on $10 a Day to prove a point. Ten dollars a day is no miracle budget for life in Europe. There is nothing fantastical about this book, or about the recommendations it contains. Mention its title to a European—or to an experienced American tourist—and he will ask what all the fuss is about. Do you still doubt it? Do you wonder that travel on a strange continent can cost a fraction of the amount you'd spend in the United States? Thousands of Americans have come, seen, and been convinced. For an opening bit of proof, try the following letter from an Army captain and his wife, who were equally doubtful: "Frankly, we took a rather jaundiced view of your book because of the sharp contrasts it offered to American vacation prices. Nevertheless, we took it with us on our first trip to Paris, which we regarded as the supreme test. We bought $300 in francs here in Nuremberg prior to departure, drove to Paris and back in our own car, stayed seven days, followed your book almost completely, and returned with $80 in francs . . . Our room at the Hotel Voltaire on the Left Bank cost $8 a night for the two of us, and while It was three flights up, it was a charming place with a little balcony that opened onto the Seine.JWe have a friend who is studying at the Sorbonne, and as we walked with him to lunch one day, we passed a sidestreet on which we recognized the Restaurant St Michel from your book. We ate for $2 apiece among students and artists, and we had a wonderful time. Our friend, who has" been in Paris for over a year, was amazed as to how we could have discovered such a true Parisian hangout There were superb meals