"You don't just visit Edinburgh; you fall in love with the place." The best-selling author of Eccentric Britain takes you away from the obvious tartanalia and into Auld Reekie's hidden corners to find spooky stories, weird buildings, mad judges and strange customs. Benedict le Vay also asks the pressing questions that others avoid: Is the Scottish Parliament a monumental cock-up? Was the Stewart dynasty really useless? Should you eat deep-fried Mars Bars...?
A delightful romp around the British Isles searching out the mad marquess, the eccentric earl, the barmy baron, and the daft duke and gathering a fair collection of crackpot inventors, weird adventurers and fascinatingly and not to mention insanely curious customs along the way. All of which make this rainy little island home to that remarkable breed of individual - the British eccentric.This expanded book still doesn't tell you where Stonehenge is, but it does tell you where ten spookier stone circles are where there will be no crowds, no admission charges and no parking problems... This is a book for the intelligent, humorous, curious tourist who doesn't go with the crowd. It is also a great armchair read that has been known to have readers weeping with mirth at the weird ways of the British.
A Tesco on every corner, Boden catalogues piled through the letterbox, and Center Parcs holidays - Britain has been overrun by all-pervasive corporate sameness. Or has it? Ben le Vay - expert on all things eccentric - reveals the quirky gems hidden near your home: hotter than the spice girls everywhere, Norfolk's fascinating Mustard Museum; Devon's Gnome Reserve, home to over 1,000 of Britain's beloved garden characters; or the fourth Earl of Dunmore's eccentric home, The Pineapple. Encompassing eccentric pastimes, aristocrats and bizarre last wishes, Ben le Vay's Eccentric Britain is both a humorous and entertaining read, as well as practical guide to some of Britain's most peculiar and unexpected monuments, gardens and museums. Benedict le Vay is a features editor on a leading British newspaper. He spends his spare time researching zany facts about the British and their way of life. He is also the author of Bradt's Eccentric London and Britain from the Rails.
Part of the Cities of the Imagination series, this is an in-depth cultural, historical, and literary guide by a lifelong native to Scotland's vibrant capital and home to one of the world's greatest arts festivals.
The Quirky Clan – A Biography of an Eccentric Family’s Unconventional Lives is the story of the extraordinary life of Anna Rains and her very eccentric family. Spanning five generations, it was written to tell her grandchildren and those coming after about the lives of their predecessors so that these wonderful stories would not be lost forever. At the centre of the story is Anna herself, and her unusual and colourful childhood. Often touching, always funny and upbeat, it begins with her travels round the country with her parents and siblings in a converted bus. A funfair and circus were part of these journeys. A remote cottage with no water, electricity, or sanitation, and Romany gypsy neighbours also played significant roles in the fascinating early life of the author. Her later life has been equally engrossing. She describes the one-way ticket to Hong Kong when she was eighteen and her experiences in the early seventies in California with hippie neighbours, (she grew up fast, she says!) Thumbnail sketches of her many jobs are amusingly combined with accounts of flying lessons, sailing, her forty-six moves to new homes, and stories about her aunt, eccentric mother and grandmother, and unusual friends. At the age of 81 she says she is still living life to the full. Never bored and, metaphorically, still finding ‘new mountains to climb’. One grandfather was a toy salesman, the other a colonel who was awarded the CMG for bravery in the First World War. Among the historical memories are details about this grandfather’s time in the trenches while serving in the Royal Scots, (The Royal Regiment). Accounts of his and her uncle’s military careers are included in the book. Beautifully written, and with a wonderful sense of fun and self-mockery, The Quirky Clan is an account of a life lived to the full by the indomitable Anna, and her zestful enjoyment of whatever fate has offered.
This guide to Chile refreshingly focuses on the country's natural history and culture. It encompasses every aspect of this geographically diverse country, from the immense deserts and peaks in the north, via the fertile central valleys, to the dense rainforests and glaciers of the south. There is opportunity to discover the culture of Chile, including mummies from the 5th century BC found in the Atacama Desert and Inca ruins. Travellers can hike the Andes, savour fine and affordable wine, and venture off shore to sail and kayak. This guide details every aspect of travel, from accommodation and eating out to national parks and sailing, in this most easy of Latin American countries for independent travellers.
Switzerland is one of those countries where everything works—and this extends to its transport system whose trains, buses and boats purr in seamless harmony. This guide, fully updated to include the latest route information, including the recent opening of the Lotschberg base tunnel, provides everything a traveller needs to negotiate both the famous landmarks and little-known secrets of this compact country. It describes every railway line, reveals what there is to see from each station, and details the connecting journeys by steamer, postbus, funicular, cableway, bicycle and on foot.
Provides comprehensive information on the geography, history, wildlife, governmental structure, economy, diversity, peoples, religion, and culture of Tibet.
