Ettal Abbey, Book Dedications, Dining Cars, Literary Bucharest & More: Endnotes 09 April

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 Baroque confection of gilt and pastel color above is the frescoed dome of Ettal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and church in Ettal, Germany. In addition to its stunning chandelier, golden crowns, and pink-and-blue depictions of Heaven, the monastery’s surroundings offer castle-like buildings and sprawling green lawns. The complex is home to about 50 monks who run a brewery, a liquor distillery (producing seven different liqueurs made from up to 70 mountain herbs), a hotel, and a publishing house that are all open to the public for tours. {more}

• We’re thrilled to announce that we’re (virtually) taking the Strong Sense of Place podcast to the Newburyport Literary Festival on 25 April. We’re doing a live Zoom version of our show with special guest Jasmin Darznik, author of the lovely novel The Bohemians. We’ll talk about life in Jazz Age San Francisco, David will quiz the audience with ‘Two Truths and a Lie,’ and we’ll share about books that transported us to the 1920s in the city by the bay. Registration is free, and the festival schedule is packed with bookish delights. Find all the info you need right here.

• We recently shared 19 International Mysteries and Thrillers with a Strong Sense of Place on our blog. If you need more (who’s TBR doesn’t need more?!), CrimeReads invites you to Travel Around the World in the Roaring Twenties With These Historical Mysteries and to meet Five Fearless Female Wwii Spies and Resistors.

• This Food & Wine quiz about international condiments was a) harder than I expected and b) an introduction to some new-to-me sauces that seem delicious. Recipes included!

• Treat yourself to the poem A Night in the Castle. Here’s an excerpt to entice you to click:

… I gave up on mercy a while ago

That’s what happens when you live in a castle on an artist’s grant You look at the late-afternoon Umbrian light smearing itself over the tomato vines

& feel entitled—like an underage duchess whose husband has finally died of gout leaving her free for more secret liaisons with the court musician … — From ‘A Night in the Castle’ by Kim Addonizio

• This dive into the art of book dedications is so much fun. ‘Agatha Christie inscribed The Secret Adversary To all those who lead monotonous lives, in the hope that they may experience at second-hand the delights and dangers of adventure.’

• The world will open up again someday in the not-too-distant future, and we’ll all be glad we read this roundup of the best face masks for traveling.

• Enjoy this cover reveal of the new book Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide.

• These photos are a time machine to the golden age of US travel and the magic of splashing in the pool of a 1960s motel.

• New podcast alert: On the Road with Penguin Classics. Hosted by author Henry Eliot, each episode dives into a classic novel, visiting locations associated with the story and chatting with an ‘expert’ about the book. The episode featuring The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is excellent.

• 19 Cool Iceland Facts Most People Go Their Whole Life Without Knowing

• Yes, yes, read the book first. But a bowl of popcorn and a luscious period drama are an excellent way to escape for a few hours.

• You know we’re mad for trains (listen to the train episode of our podcast) — so we enjoyed this deep-dive into Polish dining cars. ‘[T]he War’s name (pronounced varse) has in Polish become all but synonymous with its dining cars, serving up a taste of Poland — everything from hearty pierogi to piping hot żurek fermented-rye soup — in sleek and comfortable surroundings. Wars dining cars have fostered countless anecdotes, inspired songs, and generated a large following among contemporary train buffs.’

• Finally! A live-action Jack Reacher with a Jack Reacher that actually looks like Jack Reacher.

• It’s so interesting to see what author Ioana Morpurgo has to say about the push-pull, love-hate relationship she has with the city of Bucharest, Romania. ‘Bucharest is a floating metropolis for me, a wreckage from the turbulent history of a part of the world that refused to go down for good, instead reinventing itself time after time… I feel a combination of nostalgia and nausea every time I visit Bucharest. I love this city against my own better judgment somehow, and I always wonder what it did to me — living there for as long as I did.’

• Mad respect for Evan Saunders, a devout proponent of the club sandwich. He’s tasting and mapping the best club sandwiches around the world.

• Yep, you need to watch 22 charming minutes of Dracula staged with the Edward Gorey Toy Theatre.

Wishing you adventures (real and virtual) with loyal friends.

Top image courtesy of Geneva Karr/Unsplash.