Traveling prompts one to learn more about an area's history. In turn, knowing the history of an area can make traveling a much deeper, richer experience.
No. 2 on my list of top 10 things I love about Europe is all the history the place represents. I'm not a complete history freak, but given some encouragement that's a cliff I could certainly jump off. To me, understanding the history of an area makes traveling to that place a much deeper, richer experience.
Before a monthlong trip to Australia last year, a friend encouraged me to read "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. While touring around Sydney, my sister, who had lived there several years at that point, asked me why I knew so much about the area. "Ya gotta read 'The Fatal Shore,' " I told her. It made my trip Down Under so much more interesting than had I gone in blind.
Since then, I've made it a point to read about the history of the places I'm visiting. Compared to the United States and Australia, however, Europe's history is absolutely daunting. Still, I enjoy a place so much more when I've done a little reading. And then the experience becomes viral: I read about a place, visit, discover more historical links, start researching, reading and then want to go back.
For example, I've read quite a bit about France, but when a friend brought me to the islands just off Cannes, I knew very little about them. When I stepped foot into the cell of the "man in the iron mask," I was hooked. Sure, I've seen the Leonardo DiCaprio movie and heard of the Alexandre Dumas book (which my Dad is getting me for my birthday), but I didn't know much beyond that. Then, I went to Turin for the Winter Olympics with some other friends and found out the poor guy had been imprisoned near Turin also. Definitely have to read more about him and the intriguing and enduring mystery surrounding his incarceration.
Sometime in the near future, I plan to write about books I'd suggest reading before visiting Europe. For example, "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong," gives a nice overview of the French politics, culture and people. "French Women Don't Get Fat" describes the culinary culture of the famously thin French women and gives readers a good idea of typical French cuisine with a bit of history, too.
If anyone out there has suggestions, I'd love to hear about them. One note: I'm generally not talking about guidebooks, but rather historical works, historical novels and books on the general culture of a country or region.
