Prized Possession

Alright, I'll admit it: I'm a history nerd. It's actually no surprise if you really think about it. I mean I love books, I love traveling and I love a great story. History is putting all those things together and then admitting that it's all real in the end. Amazing. Nothing better. So when I stumbled upon this baby, you know I was flipping out with excitment.

This a 1961 version of Arthur Frommer's Europe on $5 a Day that I found at a hotel in India. Yes, India. During the middle of our trip, the hotel we were staying at (I hesitate to use the word hotel here, since there would probably be some sort of association with an opulence that didn't exist) had a 'take a book, leave a book' shelf that included an inordinate number of German-language books and very few interesting English-language books. But when I found this little gem, I nearly jumped with excitement over it.

Despite the fact that the cover is missing and it is in delicate shape, I'd say this book is a treasure trove of information as a primary source document. After all, Arthur Frommer wrote the book (literally) on accessible travel to Europe. When it comes right down to it, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone as influential as Arthur Frommer in the modern travel industry.

Some highlights from the book:

*Frommer's suggestions of both Berlin and Madrid as destinations.

In the Berlin section he says "You can glimpse first-hand the meaning of tyranny simply by staring across the street into the Soviet zone...the contrast between the bleakness in that area, and the life of West Berlin, is startling" Nearly twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall leaves young people my age with little to no memory of the Berlin Frommer describes. Berlin today is a testament to growth, change and the possibility to the end of tyranny.

Of Madrid he says, "..the economic backwardness of Spain and the poverty of its people...the amazingly low prices are not the product of progress, but of decline. " He continues, "...it is the fervent wish of this book that the Spanish people will have a better future, and that Spain, in years to come, won't be so darn easy to visit on $5 a day."

It's hard to believe for someone of my generation that these places were so terribly distraught and it is even more incredible to imagine the progess that has been made since 1961 for so many people in Europe. Spain today is on the cutting edge of just about everything and its membership in the EU is the benefactor of its progress.

*The packing list for ladies (by Mrs. Arthur Frommer ;))

Remember Ladies, don't forget your petticoats and travel suits!