Banff Springs Hotel, Bookshop Cats, Galápagos Library & More: Endnotes 06 November

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.

The magical-looking palace above is the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. It’s sometimes called the ‘Castle in the Rockies’ for obvious reasons and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built in 1888 during a flurry of hotel construction funded by the Canadian railway lines to build a series of grand hotels across the country. The ‘railway hotels’ were often built in the Château style, featuring turrets and towers and other Scottish and French architectural elements. This spot was chosen for the hotel by one William Cornelius Van Horne, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, who quipped, ‘If we can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.’ In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited during their royal tour (photo). According to Atlas Obscura, the hotel is haunted by both a brokenhearted bride and a dedicated bellman.

• Your Best-of 2020 reading lists are covered! Every year, Largehearted Boy compiles a massive list of all of the year-end lists. It’s epic.

• This is very cool: tracing the history of artist Edward Hopper’s blonde femme fatale through his paintings over time.

• Here’s a recipe for Persian-Spiced Winter Vegetable Soup to enjoy while you listen to our Iran podcast episode.

• I also want to be one of these cats:

• From The Statesider: How My Love of Regional Airport Diners Took Off. ‘Dozens of toy planes hang from the ceiling, and air travel memorabilia and photos of local history adorn the walls. Servers who are actual pilots are known to shout Roger! after taking your order.’

• Watch the Words Without Borders Gala online for free until 12 November. Words Without Borders was founded in 2003 to promote the best contemporary international literature. The virtual celebration features readings from international authors — including National Book Award nominee Megha Majumdar (A Burning) and Booker Prize finalist Maaza Mengiste (The Shadow King) — as well as musical performances and discussions.

• This Q&A with a librarian in the Galápagos is packed with so much awesome. For example: ‘I work yards away from the sea, and the marine iguanas usually walk in front of the library’s door. I can hear the waves (and the Darwin’s finches) from my desk.’

• These colorful vintage photos of Mexico in 1968 are just the eye candy you need! (My favorite is the balloon seller.)

• The secret world of diary hunters (!)

• Take a quick trip to Estonia, via fashion.

• How about a dinner on a Ferris wheel?! Views of Budapest. Glassed-in private compartment. Michelin-starred menu. What’s not to love?

• Such a fun and community-minded idea! Jason Dewees, author of the gorgeous book Designing with Palms, created a self-guided walking tour of trees, gardens, and homes in San Francisco, using chalk to mark the route on the sidewalk. I’m inspired to do something similar in our neighborhood! How about you? (Click through to Twitter to see more photos.)

• Bookish podcast of the week: Narrative Futures is a new podcast from the University of Oxford featuring interviews with authors and editors in speculative fiction. In this episode, author Lauren Beukes discusses her novel Afterland and how art might be the only way to get through these challenging times.

• Travel podcast of the week: Timely! This episode of the Sidedoor podcast from the Smithsonian investigates how the 19th amendment brought women’s suffrage to Hawaii and what was taken from Hawaiians to get there.

Wishing you peace of mind, and, if not that, then enriching distractions.

Top image courtesy of Zachary Kyra-Derksen/Unsplash.