The New York Times 36 Hours - 125 Weekends in Europe [antikvár]

Foreword Packed with history, art, diverse culture, and natural beauty, Europe challenges the traveler with its density of riches. How to even comprehend it, much less experience it all? But hop across Europe one weekend at a time, and it comes down to size. No, you can't take in all the wealth and vibrant life of a Dublin or Krakow, much less Paris or Rome, in 36 of the widest-awake hours. But with a well-crafted itinerary, you can come surprisingly close. String those weekends together as leisure and opportunity allow, and eventually you will have your own grand tour. Since 2006, when the popular 36 Hours/eature in The New York Times expanded its scope beyond North America, it has taken readers on uniquely designed, meticulously researched Friday-to-Sunday excursions all over Europe, from Reykjavik to Istanbul. This book follows that trajectory. A sequel to the first 36 Hours book, published in 2011 and compiling weekends in the United States and Canada, this volume brings together 125 updated and new 36 Hours getaways in Europe. As 36 Hours has done from the beginning, each of these itineraries lays out a practical, achievable trip that gets to the heart of a destination in limited time. Whether a 36 Hours is serving as a guide for actual exploring or as a new idea to dream on, it lives in the realm of the possible, departing from most travel writing in its feeling of accessibility. Rather than recounting a trip the writer took, it offers up a trip the reader can take. The work of hundreds of writers, photographers, graphic artists, designers, and editors, combining their talents over many years, has gone into 36 Hours. Europe has provided these creative people with a bounty of material. As I sifted through the archive to put together this book, I marveled at just how deep the varied layers go. The itineraries on these pages will take you to great world capitals like London, Berlin, and Moscow; into tiny countries with big personalities, like Georgia and Slovenia: ond through eye-popping landscapes from the Alps to the Isle ofSkye. They trace the footsteps of Bach and the Beatles. They explore the grandeur of the Parthenon and the quirks of a KGB spies' nest There's plenty to see and do. Sip coffee in a Viennese cafe, bike in Amsterdam, party all night in Ibiza, get up early for the best produce at a market in Provence. But mightyou also care to go mudlarking in London? Ride a dry-land toboggan in Madeira? Kayak in Gdansk? Search for the spot along Lake Geneva where Mary Shelley dreamed up Frankenstein? Your guides are seasoned New York Times journalists and savvy travel writers. Elaine Sciolino, a longtime foreign correspondent, offers three separate tours of Paris and a side trip in southern France. Frank Bruni, the Times op-ed columnist and food writer, advises on pizza and priceless art in Rome. Seth Sherwood, one of America's liveliest and most prolific travel writers, lays out a dozen weekends from Copenhagen to Bodrum, home of the Turkish jet set And the former Times travel editor who created 36 Hours, Stuart Emmrich, brings his inventive touch to itineraries in London, Edinburgh, Oslo, and Barcelona. This book is not a conventional guidebook, and 36 Hours was never intended to replicate the guidebook formula. It was meant from the beginning to work as a selective summary. Travelers who have more days to spend may want to use a 36 Hours as a starting point. Others may want to juggle the itineraries, staying longer at the beach and skipping the art gallery, or kayaking in the morning rather than in the afternoon. There are no rules. The weekend is yours, and Europe is waiting. —BARBARA IRELAND, EDITOR PAGE 2 In a swirl of light, Rome's frenetic traffic streams past tiie Colosseum, the city's ancient symbol of empire. OPPOSITE The Matterhorn, challenge to climbers and landmark for skiers, pierces the Alpine skies on the border of Switzerland and Italy.