Two Requests!

[tea]

My sister and I take off for the classical "youth backpacking around Europe trip" in (oh my God) 19 days, and I thought I'd make a very general request for useful/interesting books to read before then. We're going to be in Paris, Geneva, Cinque Terres, Rome, Florence, Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, and Amsterdam, FWIW. Be it your favourite travel guide, intro to a city, or travel book in general, hit me!

Second, I've been looking for a specific kind of non-fiction book about music theory: one that's written to be sat down and read, not a series of exercises or a textbook, preferably written with some sort of historical perspective. I can think of lots of science books written in this style, but I've never come across a music one.

Comments

[cloverdew]

Any of the DK travel series are awesome. They include photos, maps, history, trivia, layouts of interiors of popular tourist sites (like museums, etc.) and are generally the best guides in my opinion.

Hope you enjoy your trip. Sounds awesome!

[tea]

I've seen those around! I've generally been overwhelmed looking at city-specific tour guides (so many options, so many cities, so little money) so thanks for giving me one in particular to focus on.

*schedules trip to bookstore*

[cloverdew]

Good luck! Enjoy yourself. Don't get too caught up in reading and forget to LIVE. Remember to ENJOY the trip and be in the time and place. As someone who's done a bit of traveling, I have to say that some of my best experiences have been in just stumbling on places or asking locals where to go. ;)