Author got the idea to replicate Patrick Leigh Fermor's 1930s walk as a young man "from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn". I much enjoyed Fermor's books (discussions are here) and was quite curious to see how the author would handle things. I think it worked!
good travel books - and this is one - are a really useful tool in reading about geography and history and culture. both large-scale and (particularly!) micro-scale. scenes throughout but especially compelling as he works his way east.
Picking up the concerns of locals in relation to their neighbors - something that is thought about pretty much everywhere. Unusual examples such as the concerns of Romanians v. Hungarians v. Bulgarians; and then onto Turkey. Walkers can pick up lots of details.
[something interesting - author is into Hungary (and out of what I'd call western Europe) by page 119 - the rest of the book is him working east. Interesting perspective in that alone. Hugeness of east. other routes could have devoted a higher % to west but still. Fermor's books like this as well - I appreciate opportunities to learn more about eastern Europe.]
Varying modes of hospitality encountered in so many local settings - this is super-interesting - in author's experience, the people got more hospitable as he moved east, while the dogs grew more unwelcoming.
Delightful, serendipitous encounters when in challenging circumstances.
reflections on the act of walking. how he felt like he had missed something whenever traveling in some other way. in our small way in cities we visit - it feels the same
winter walk in Germany - so reminiscent of the Schubert song cycle
doesn't necessarily make it a better book than Fermor's - but it was written promptly after completion of the walk, so to that extent it's a more faithful portrayal of what was experienced.
the walk took place shortly after the financial crisis of 2008 so repercussions affected locations visited. EU expansion into eastern countries especially tenuous at this stage; thugocracies in former Soviet satellites are troublesome. But it's not a book about politics.
Relatable in that many of us can imagine extended walking tours. But no way to do anything close to this - author was adept at sleeping out in a tent whenever needed, dealing with elements, relating to all sorts of hosts. Seemed able to survive whatever local alcohol was featured for toasts (sometimes weed-accompanied).
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