Storytelling in Dublin, American Sandwiches, Trans-Siberian Railway & More: Endnotes 10 July

Storytelling in Dublin, American Sandwiches, Trans-Siberian Railway & More: Endnotes 10 July

Friday, 10 July, 2020

Every Friday, we celebrate the weekend — and all the reading and relaxing and daydreaming time ahead — with Melissa's favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Why work when you can read fun stuff?!

This post is part of our Endnotes series.

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That whimsical town above is Popeye Village on the island of Malta (just below the toe of Italy’s boot in the Mediterranean). It was built as the set for the live-action film version of Popeye and remains as a theme park where you can hang out with Olive Oyl, Bluto, and the spinach-eating, tattooed sailor man himself. The movie got mixed reviews in 1980, but this piece in Vanity Fair makes a strong case for watching it. Like the madcap film, the park has a lot of over-the-top fun going on: There’s a Popeye Comics Museum, mini-golf, a boat tour around Anchor Bay, a pool with water trampolines — and you can join the cast in a real-time re-make of the movie. {more}

church tower in hvar, croatia
Hvar, Croatia. Photo courtesy of Cody Black/Unsplash.
  • With real-life travel on hold for so many people, Airbnb has started offering ‘Online Experiences,’ unique, interactive activities you can do from home. A writer for Slate tried 80 (!) of them in one week. Here’s what he had to say about it: ‘If you judge a great trip on its provision of unforgettable moments, then this week surely qualified. I’ve never felt more privileged by any encounter than the half-hour I got to spend speaking to China’s first sailing Olympic gold medalist Xu Lijia, a human so stirringly inspirational that I began to worry whether you can give a laptop water damage through tears.

  • The Newark Book Festival is this weekend (10-11 July). It offers online sessions with distinguished authors speaking on topics including ‘Agatha, Poirot, and Me,’ ‘Gothic Fiction,’ and ‘Brontë 200.’ Sessions are about $3USD each. Neat!

  • The 1455 Summer Literary Festival is 16-18 July and is FREE online. It will focus on the power of storytelling in creative and academic fields, as well as business and politics. This year’s topics include ‘Cultivating a Daily Writing Practice,’ ‘Off the Shelf: Bookshops as Community Leaders,’ ‘The 10 Commandments for Becoming a Better Writer,’ and dozens more.

  • Bookish podcast of the week: In each episode of the podcast A Phone Call From Paul, the host Paul Holdengräber calls an author or other artist and asks them about their latest projects. In this episode, he talks to filmmaker and author John Waters about his memoir and what it was like to work in the bookstore owned by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.

  • Travel podcast of the week: The Thoughtful Travel podcast invites travel lovers to listen in on stories from other travel enthusiasts, and it’s a delight. In this episode, the host Amanda chats with two guests about their experiences taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia. By the end, you’ll be ready to book tickets of your own.

 

May your imagination take you to just the place you want to go.

Top image courtesy of Magdalena Smolnicka/Unsplash.

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Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey, undiscovered Europe, online Midsommar celebrations, 50 coolest neighborhoods, bookish face masks & more.
Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got Queen Vic Market in Melbourne, remembering Carlos Ruiz Zafón, handmade maps of coronavirus lockdown, Jane Austen fest online & more.
Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got the best-dressed characters in fiction, a Babylonian dinner, breathtaking pics of water lilies, Cincinnati's Book Bus & more.

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