The palace under the Alps: And over 200 other unusual, unspoiled, and infrequently visited spots in 16 European countries

When I first read about The Palace Under The Alps, I was shocked to see the prices some people were attempting to charge for it(all over $100) and figured I'd have to wait until I made a score in a second-hand store. But when I requested an inter-library loan, I was overjoyed when it came after only a few weeks. Saying that, The Palace Under The Alps is definitely a 1980's style travel book("Oh, cool, West Germany"), but what I really like is that Bill Bryson's sense of humor and writing style was still maturing(well, maybe developing would be a better term than maturing). In this book, Bryson does the back roads thing, not visiting every place in a country, but visiting interesting, and mostly offbeat places. The one thing I found odd(as in "Where's Bryson, and what have you done with him?")was when Bryson glowingly reviews golfing in Ireland, and in Sweden. I don't know about you, but Bill Bryson has never seemed like a goof. Hey, that's OK, it's not a character fault, I was glad to see it. If he golfs, God knows he must have humility, since it's a humbling kind of game. This was published in 1985, which was the year of my first visit to the UK, and I wish I'd had it along. My only tour book was a Let's Go, which served me well, but there are so many choices, so much to see, that something like this would have been a godsend. I'm constantly planning my next trip overseas, and I would love to take this along, and use it while visiting the continent. But there's a couple of problems: an outdated book like this could prove to be a hindrance(unless you research exhaustively, which I do, thanks to the 'Net) since I know of at least one museum is no longer in existance(and I know that at least in the UK, the city codes have changed), and the other, more serious thing would be that I'd hate to be wandering down some Bahnhofstrasse or some such place, and have some Yob spot my copy of The Palace Under The Alps, and hold me up for an incredibly overpriced, semi-rare book. There must be some sort of problem with the publisher holding the rights, since I've never read or heard of Bryson mentioning this tome, or possibly he's embarrassed by it, although self conciousness has never seemed to be a problem for The Thunderbolt Kid. I'd love to see him update it, but I'm happy I was able to read this Lost Gospel from the Book of Bryson.

I picked up this book at a used booksale, along with about 2 dozen other travel books. It was by far the best of any of them! I had read Mr. Bryson's Neither Here Nor There prior to diving into Palace, and enjoyed finding in this text a few more detailed summaries of the sights in his travelogue. Set up by country, Palace describes anywhere from one to 25 little-known sights for each country with enchanting, humorous detail. I am about to spend a year in Europe, and will certainly be investigating many of his "secrets". His descriptions were extroadinary, and I fell in love with some of the places just reading about them; I can't wait to actually experience them. As I searched through the 2 guidebooks that I am taking with me (a Let's Go and a Lonely Planet), I was thoroughly astounded at the number of places in Palace which weren't even mentioned in either of these. And if they were mentioned, 9 times out of 10, what Mr. Bryson wrote was infinitely more valuable. It is an insightful, enjoyable read, with characteristic brutal honesty from Bryson. A note of caution, though: This book was written about 15 years ago, and Europe has changed quite a bit since then. For example, Bryson lists the Algarve as one of Portugal's most beautiful, non-touristed spots, and it has since become a major tourist destination. There are several other extremely unique sights that probably no longer are in existence, but I am looking forward to searching them out anyway! I would certainly enjoy a more recent edition, should Mr. Bryson care to do all that careful research over again! Heck, I'd love to help! For anyone traveling through Europe with a "Back Door" philosophy, or for someone who likes the idea but can't stomach Rick Steves, this book is a jewel.