Books and books and books

I have finally made a decision.

I was toing and froing for months – dancing between deciding getting an ipad, a netbook or an ereader. Then just last week, I bite the bullet and bought an ereader.

I’ve very much a tactile person. I was in a blissful haze when I worked in a fabric department - fingering fabrics, committing their unique thread counts and textures to memory. So when I read books I’m equally tactile (note: perhaps overzealously so) I pull them close, I thumb the pages, I crack their spines, I crease corners, carry coffee stains and continuously flick to gauge how far I have to go.

My eraeder is a compact gadget, unassumingly slight and quiet. I can’t tear into books with my fingers and thumbs, yet I love it, as I can tote around 100's of books in my shoulder bag, minus the risk of scoliosis and at the very least a shoulder ache.

[Booked]

I’ve been in a frenzy of downloading books, as my ereader (Sony PRS 350) doesn’t have Wi-Fi and requires a couple of computer programs to upload books – I need to decide what I want to read for the next eight months before I hit the road.

Travelling essentially equates to long hours of free time - waiting for trains, planes, boats and buses, then being in transit - so I need a glut of books to see me through.

So far I've downloaded a mix of genres thus far including a couple works by Bill Bryson, Kate Atkinson, Ken Follett, Alain de Botton, Barbara Kingsolver and Jan Morris.

[Sony PRS 350]

So if you have any suggestions, it'll be greatly appreciated.

Chêne Chapelle

Since reading The Pillars of the Earth, I’ve been itching to tour the cathedrals of Europe. While the book is fiction, Follett interweaves factual details about cathedral construction techniques and design, into the saga. The descriptions of the cathedrals are painfully beautiful, as each cathedral represents years of back breaking labor, engineering and fine craftsmanship.

I’m sure many people have traipsed around Europe checking out cathedrals, as Follett’s book has sold millions and millions. In fact it’s so popular that the Germans voted it the third best book ever written – after the Bible and Lords of the Rings.

But when I do my tour, I want to include this architectural gem on my list.

[BibliOdyssey]

[The chapel today]

No one knows how old the tree is, people hazard that it is 1000 years old. A spiral staircase winds it way around the exterior of the hollow trunk. Inside are two small chapels. I’m not sure if tourists are allowed into the chapels, as I imagine that the tree is somewhat precarious (note the many cables anchoring the tree to the ground) but I did read that the locals still worship inside the chapels.