The Innocents Abroad or the New pilgrims' Progress. Mark Twain.

The Innocents Abroad or the New Pilgrims' Progress
Mark Twain
New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc. 1869/ 1984.

Twain looked at hallowed European landmarks from a fresh and humorous point of view without reverence for the past and poked fun at both American and European prejudices and manners. A very entertaining look at tourism.

Twain comments on "the malignant punishment" of keeping a journal; the joyous spirit of Paris; being "barbered" ("scalped"); innumerable statues of saints; the motivation of doing, seeing something before somebody else; the "humane" Inquisition; his impressions of lava; tour guides--"All guides are 'Fergusons' to us; we cannot master their dreadful foreign names"; the disordered streets of Oriental cities; the 13-hour ride on horseback across the Syrian desert; the timelessness of Damascus; the scenery of the Bible in the contemporary Mideast; the origin of the Catholic Church; the impression that Nazareth is just as Jesus left it; on gaining a new understanding of Scriptural phrases as he travels in the lands of the Bible; and his emerging good memories of his trip after all of the irritations have been forgotten.

If you have not read this book and you are planning or have taken a trip to Europe, you can't miss this one.

All the best. RayS.