ExperiencePlus! Blog


Book Review

  • Views from Parc Guell, Barcelona

    The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

    Dive into this deliciously dark tale about passion, love, loss and life and follow David Martín, the main character, through Barcelona’s murky alleys and wide avenues. David is a gifted writer who is emerging from a poor and desolate family… Read full article

  • Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine

    Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free, By Héctor Tobar On August 5th 2010 the San José mine located just outside of Copiapó, Chile collapsed and… Read full article

  • Ravenna

    The Emperor and The Saint….

    The Emperor and The Saint Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, Francis of Assisi, and Journeys to Medieval Placesm by Richard F. Cassady As the Foreword states, this book is the biography of a “giant” who traveled, ruled and fought across most… Read full article

  • St Malo, France where the ExperiencePlus! Brittany and Normandy tour begins.

    All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

    “All the Light We Cannot See” was on almost everyone’s top books of 2014 list and was also a finalist for the National Book Award. This intriguing story follows two young people, Marie-Laure a blind girl who lives with her… Read full article

  • Touring Club Italiano maps

    Touring Club Italiano (TCI) Maps and Books

    Paola and I just returned from two weeks in Puglia, the “heel” of Italy, where we explored small towns, villages and the regional capital of Bari relying mostly on guidebooks and maps published by the Touring Club Italiano (or TCI).… Read full article

  • If I Only Had A Brain – by Dennis Globus

    A few months back I received an email from a longtime traveler of ours who asked if someone at our office would be willing to review his new self-published book for our newsletter. Having had a few interactions with the… Read full article

  • Bicycles in Amsterdam

    In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist by Pete Jordan

    Here’s a book to add to your collection about bicycle history and advocacy.  Don’t get me wrong, Pete Jordan’s book about the history of cycling in Amsterdam doesn’t rank among the classics like David Herlihy’s Bicycle: The History or John… Read full article

  • Tomintoul, Scotland visited on the ExperiencePlus! ride across the highlands.

    Following the Sun: A Bicycle Pilgrimage from Andalusia to the Hebrides

    Reviewed by ExperiencePlus! traveler Phillip Singer Following the Sun is a story of a cycling journey by author John Hanson Mitchell, a self-professed sun worshipper, beginning in southern Spain riding through Andalusia and western France to England and on to… Read full article

  • A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson

    Certain places call out to me for the mystery and the allure that they exude.  Tasmania and the Afghanistan of fifty years ago fit that category, mainly because I did projects about them in Mrs. Gagliardi’s seventh grade geography class… Read full article

  • Neuschwanstein Castle

    The Ludwig Conspiracy By Oliver Pötzsch

    Reviewed by ExperiencePlus! traveler Jeff Berger. Oliver Pötzsch has taken time off from his Hangman’s Daughter series in order to address the real life mystery, albeit in fictional terms, of the death of “mad” King Ludwig II of Bavaria, the… Read full article

  • Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne

    Reviewed by ExperiencePlus! traveler Pam Brills. If you have visited Paris, or plan to in conjunction with a bike ride through France, this is a must read.   Alistair Horne is a prolific British writer who has authored a number of… Read full article

  • Dervla Murhpy in Barcelona (Courtesy of Dervla Murhpy)

    Dervla Murphy, Touring Bicyclist and Traveler Extraordinaire

    As you anticipate your bicycle travel adventure you would do well to prepare by reading some of Dervla Murphy’s bicycle narratives.  I can’t think of a better way to “gear up” for your own adventure (besides taking some training rides,… Read full article

  • Just another day in paradise.

    Rose Café: Love and War in Corsica

    More than four decades after he lived and worked in Corsica, John Hanson Mitchell writes of his time living on the Mediterranean island at the age of twenty.  He describes his youth as a successful disguise of being a student… Read full article

  • The Inferno by Dan Brown

    Reviewed by ExperiencePlus! Traveler Bill Giovinazzo When Dan Brown came out with his latest thriller “The Inferno,” there was no question; I had to read it. It isn’t that I am a Dan Brown fan, but over the past year… Read full article

  • The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

    Edmund de Waal’s The Hare With Amber Eyes explores culture, history, geography, politics, war, art, relationships, and family.  Universal themes made unique by the methods used to bind them all into one fascinating story: a collection of Japanese netsuke (tiny… Read full article

  • The Lead Goat Veered Off by Neil Anderson

    If you are looking for an adventurous and entertaining tale about cycle touring, The Lead Goat Veered Off fits the bill. If you’ve been to Sardinia or plan to head there in the future you’ll love Neil Anderson’s vivid descriptions… Read full article

  • Regensberg. Photo by ExperiencePlus! traveler John Clevenger

    The Beggar King by Oliver Pötzsch

    ExperiencePlus! traveler Jeff Berger reviews the third novel in the Hangman’s Daughter series. The newly released third novel in the series, The Beggar King, finds the Hangman Jacob Kuisl, in Regensburg, coincidentally the starting place for the Experience Plus! Bicycling… Read full article

  • Ride the Tour Divide

    Julie Horton reflects on Paul Howard’s Eat, Sleep, Ride: How I Braved Bears, Badlands, Big Breakfasts in My Quest to Cycle the Tour Divide and Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide by Jill Homer in preparation… Read full article