Ok, yes this probably belongs in the books/movie section but as things are slow going for the main General Europe page.
How about a listing of UPLIFTING travel movies and books as folks have a good deal of time to occupy. I’ll just name 1 or 2 to get things going.
Books: Take a mental trip to Italy through the eyes of Frances Mayes. Any of her books, starting off with Under the Tuscan Sun.
Movie: The Way by Emilio Estevez with Martin Sheen.
Movie: Midnight in Paris! I love it. I watched it a dozen times before we visited Paris.
Midnight in Paris is align hearted movie with some really great shots of the city. I also thank it for leading us to the Polidor for dinner.
We found the church where the Owen Wilson character got in the 1920's car! We actually went back there at midnight and sat on the steps! I know, silly, but a lot of fun. And no, the car didn't arrive for us. :-)
I love to sit on those steps, lol!! And the church is really interesting as well, lol.
I saw the poster for The Hundred Foot Journey this morning when the news was doing an obit for Floyd Cardoz who apparently consulted on the food. That one showed lovely French countryside and markets.
Books - love many of the books by chick-lit author Trisha Ashley who lives in Wales. Many of her books are set in Lancashire or Yorkshire. Currently re-reading one set in Haworth.
The One Hundred Foot Journey. Loved that movie, thanks for the reminder.
For local food travel I highly recommend Chef with Jon Faveau.
I have a very obscure recommendation. It is a book called "No Picnic on Mount Kenya" by Felice Benuzzi. It is not a conventional travel book. Its author was an Italian diplomat and public servant who was captured by the British in Ethiopia during WWII, and became a POW in Kenya. It is the account of how he and two other bored POWs escaped from their prison camp to climb Mt Kenya which they could see from their camp. After their attempt, they then broke back IN to the camp. It is a fascinating and surprisingly uplifting story. This is the page on Wikipedia.
Ted- a wonderful suggestion. I’m going to track that book down!
Don't know if it qualifies as uplifting but we streamed "If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium" today ( I think netflix). So funny to see travel circa 1969 and compare to today.
Take an armchair trip to London , in 1884 , and watch " Topsy - Turvy " , the creation of Gilbert and Sullivan's " The Mikado " . This film from 1999 , is the work of the brilliant British writer and director , Mike Leigh . With a stellar cast , and sumptuous cinematography , it will keep you enthralled for nearly three hours . https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy-Turvy
Roman Holiday
Charade
The Quiet Man
Hard Days Night
Local Hero
Alfie
Ryan’s Daughter
Gran Prix
Madame Rosa
Vicki Christina Barcelona
The Confession
Out of Africa
And Godard’s Breathless
Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels—-filmed in Cannes.
Midnight in Paris, of course.
Mostly Martha (German version)
Overboard (orignal)
Bull Durham
Shaun of Dead (no they don't have Covid 19)
Atlantic City
Onefastbob, thanks for starting this thread!
Excellent suggestions from everyone.
Playing this week on Showtime; "Hampstead" with Dianne Keaton.
Filmed in Hampstead Village, Hampstead Heath and London.
Dianne Keaton makes friends with a formerly homeless man who lives in a shed on Hampstead Heath.
Good scenery, good story.
Showtime is giving free access for the next couple of weeks to those who do not subscribe.
A Good Year: film about French wine with Russell Crowe.
A Year In Provence: An older British four part TV series about a couple who move to France.
Probably only found rarely now. The book is great too, as are all the books by Peter Mayle, RIP.
Any Bill Bryson book: side splittingly funny, most of them.
Greyfrairs Bobby: The True Story of a Dog (1961) - Scotland
Goodbye Mr. Chips — made me feel that I was really present at a British prep school. I remember going to see it at a movie theater in La Paz, Bolivia, almost 50 years ago. When I came out, I was unbalanced and confused about where I was, England, Bolivia, or where?
On a local rerun station, they showed the entire Saint series with Roger Moore as the Saint. The Saint was a rogue who committed crimes to help people. Pretty ridiculous, but lots of fun. Roger Moore is, of course, almost as cool as David MacCallum or Sean Connery. The best part is that the series is set in Europe, mostly rural England, but also in France, and sometimes Netherlands or Belgium. Great fun.
A book I really enjoyed was "Vroom with a view" by Peter Moore.
It's an account of a midlife crisis where a man approaching his 40th birthday buys a Vespa built in the year of his birth and rides it from Milan to Rome. Not great literature, but quite fun.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. I read it the first time before my first trip to Paris. I've read it numerous times since.
To Catch a Thief. Mad that area (Monaco and the South of France) look amazing.
Worth watching just to see how that area used to be.
And of course If it’s Tuesday this must be Belgium is just one of those fun 1960s movies with a bunch of sub plots some funnier then others.
Loved “The Way.” We planned an entire trip in 2017 around seeing places in that movie and “Spanish Affair,” since they are in the same general area of Spain. Followed that up with walking a portion of the Camino last year from Sarria to Santiago.
In Bruges is a comedy set and filmed in Bruges. Very funny.
(In Bruges is fantastic)
Italy. I have Italy on my mind. It's so happens that I have been immersing myself in Italian viewing and books, and only just realized the power of this.
I will say, these aren't exactly uplifting, especially the first two. Unless you are like me and find deep satisfaction in being made to ache with feeling, whatever it is
First, The Best of Youth A 6+-hour long movie. It is so absorbing, that years after viewing it, I think about it often. My sister recommended it as her favorite movie of all time. I think I will go back and watch it, but before I do I have to finish ...
Elena Ferrante Neopolitan Books (and now series on HBO) - we got an HBO subscription just for the stay-at-home period and I finally watched My Brilliant Friend (season 1 = Book 1), despite attempting the book several times because it is right up my alley. I never got into the book, but oh the series! I devoured it. Only to find that season 2 (Book 2) had just started and was streaming weekly. Because Im so hungry for more, I started reading Book 2, and am loving it, and then watch each episode on Mondays when they come out. What reminded me of The Best of Youth is that in season 2 of My Brilliant Friend, the politics of the 50's into 60's emerge as transformative in the lives of the characters as they had in B.O.Y., and I am driven to learn more about the era and thus feel more immersed in the country. And then feel even more compassion for what is happening now
Beautiful Ruins (book - by Jess Walter), which also covers Italy in the 60's, with much more. This might be more uplifting, or just a fun read
The Agony and the Ecstasy - not uplifting but a time-machine
The Name of the Rose
Fellini's " Amarcord " ( 1973) , This is the semi autobiographical story of Fellini's youth in the 1930's , in the area around Rimini , Another great film is Jacques Tati's " Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot " ( 1953 ) ( M. Hulot's Holiday ) Monsieur Hulot , the original twit , goes on summer holiday in a small seaside village on the Atlantic coast of France . A gentle , charming film , you will be smiling all the way through .
For Florence, "The Medicis"
A little sample from " Amarcord " https://youtu.be/Q5iNjuZfYv0
While watching movies with foreign (or even local) locations is interesting, they rarely provide much incentive for me to travel to those spots. Can you honestly say you planned a vacation around visiting a place shown in a movie filmed 30-40 years ago? Another issue is that often the country being portrayed is not the one in which the filming is taking place. Travel shows (like Rick's) do much more to actually promote travel to various destinations.
What I have found is once you get away from all the various promotional films/videos (who actually shoots in film anymore?), the next best thing is online courses as offered by various educational channels. My current favorite is the "Great Courses" offered thru Amazon Prime. Currently I'm working thru the Great Medieval Cities of Europe, which consists of two hour long lectures from an excellent Historian (University of Toronto) on 14 cities. He goes in depth on the history of the cities, the buildings, etc. This is the kind of data I can actually use to plan a vacation, and make it even better than it would have been without the input.
Frances Mayes books are positive and I often find myself with a map at hand. (I will confess, however, that I can't listen to these as audiobooks. She records some herself, and I cannot get into an Italian mindset with a Southern accent in my ear). I also enjoyed the Italian stories by Marlena de Blasi. She was a NY food editor who married and moved to Italy. She writes about updating old farm houses, getting accepted by the locals, that sort of thing...and yes, food often enters into the discussion. Her last book was a fiction novel met with mixed reviews from the folks here.
I also love the escape and innervation of watching Monty Don's global garden shows. Yes, I did start a trip plan around his one about Italy, but too many were out of the way or private.
Vroom with a View - Peter Moore
The Lost Vintage - Ann May
Summer's Lease - John Mortimer
City of Falling Angels - John Berendt
The Year of Living Danishly - Helen Russell
Bill Buford has recently written a book about his experience living in Lyon, France and learning to cook French food. It's not always uplifting but it's an interesting story about life in France and working in a French restaurant (they are serious about good food). It's called Dirt.
I'm currently reading a book by Nick Hunt about his journey walking from Rotterdam to Istanbul. He is retracing the steps of a similar walk by a British author Patrick Leigh Femor (Femor's journey was in 1933,) What I like about the book is that I can use Google Maps to trace his journey and see photos of small villages he's walking through along the way. They may become possibilities for off-the-beaten path destinations for a future trip. It feels like a mini-holiday though his couch-surfing-style of travel wouldn't be my choice!
"Walking the Woods and the Water (In Patrick Leigh Fermor's footsteps from the Hook of to the Holland to the Golden Horn)."
Specifically for the Czech Republic:
Amadeus (Prague)
Jojo Rabbit (several cute towns)
Last Holiday & Casino Royale (Karlovy Vary)
" Last Holiday " This film , re-made in 2006 , is certainly a sumptuous eyeful . The Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary is beautiful , and was , in part, an inspiration for the hotel in " The Grand Budapest Hotel " ( 2014 ) BUT - The film , despite the beautiful production, and good casting , was a great disappointment for me . It's based on an earlier film of the same title ( 1950 ) , with Alec Guinness in the role of George Bird . The letdown is what they did to the story itself . Tom , do yourself a favor and get your hands on the original. I don't want to go any further , because that would spoil it for you ,and the film , set on The English Riviera , in Pinebourne , is terrific .https://www.criterion.com/films/1521-last-holiday
Italy: The Enchanted April, Hotel du Lac (on YouTube) (Edit: Hotel du Lac is set in Switzerland)
England: All Creatures Great and Small, South Riding, Brideshead Revisited
Scotland: I Know Where I'm Going
@Steven Great suggestion re Mr. Hulot’s Holiday. I haven’t seen that movie in many years but remember loving it when I saw it. I’ll have to look for it so that I can watch it again. Many other good suggestions in this thread.
Moulin Rouge. Not sure if it can be categorized as uplifting, but it's one movie that I never get tired of watching. I recently read an article of how the movie was a sanitized version of what really went on there. For example in the real Moulin Rouge the dancers didn't wear underwear and when they kicked up their legs nothing was left to the imagination.
Not "travel" per se -- but I am watching PBS reruns of "The Durrels in Corfu" which has beautiful scenery and people trying to adapt to a different locale /language /lifestyle.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (and its sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - I'm a sucker for anything with Judy Dench and Maggie Smith!)
The Bucket List
Eat Pray Love
Into the Wild (book and movie)
A Walk in the Woods
The Lord of the Ring Trilogy (okay, not technically "travel" movies, although the characters DID travel through Middle Earth) - New Zealand moved waaay up my list after being immersed in its gorgeous scenery.
Bread and Tulips or Pane e Tulipani
The Enchanted April
cj traveler-thanks for the reminder about "Tuesday Belgium". I had never seen it and it was hilarious-especially the husband's answer when his wife asked what the wives did that caused Henry to behead them! I couldn't find it on Netflix, but it was on YouTube.
If you don't have Amazon Prime, some of the Great Courses are also available on your local library's website.
Amélie, Cinema Paradiso, In Bruge, A Very Long Engagement. I’m one of the very few who thinks Woody Allen’s films set in Paris and Rome are average at best. He cannot grasp true romance.
I am currently enjoying Elaine Sciolino's latest book "The Seine The River That Made Paris." I agree with the book's description on the back flap. "Sciolino braids memoir, travelogue, and history through the Seine's winding route." "The Seine offers a love letter to Paris and the most romantic river in the world, and invites readers to explore its magic for themselves." Truly an uplifting book that brings back fond memories of Paris.
Yes, Marlena de Blasi! I read her book set in Venice just before going and it definitely added to the experience. We even found the workshop she mentions where they build gondolas.
And a second vote for the Durrell’s of Corfu which aired on PBS. Set in the time before Lawrence and Gerald became a world renowned author and naturalist, respectively.
Also, Ken Follet’s Kingsbridge series initially set in 12th century England, The Century trilogy set in multiple countries beginning with World War 1, the Russian Revolution and up to the 1960’s and especially his Cold War stories Eye of the Needle, Key to Rebecca and many more, basically anything he writes is absorbing, my favorite author by far.
Like all of you I find myself gravitating towards films, documentaries and books to temporarily fill my travel passion. For those nonfictional travel readers, I recommend three Italy reads I recently picked up:
‘Rome Precincts’ by Cristian Bonetto - “A curated guide to the city’s best shops, eateries, bars and other hangouts”. A fun book to reference with Google Maps along side. Great for fellow travelers familiar with Rome.... or planning that next journey.
‘Rome for Food Lovers’ by Peter Loewe - outstanding collection of culinary favorites and great photos. Don’t read if your hungry!
‘Always Italy’ by Frances Mayes and Ondine Cohane - I bought this book recently for my wife and we have been “fighting” over it ever since. The recently released hardback is categorized by region and has great photographs. It is another excellent source for travel planning throughout Italy. I look up her recommended locations, hotels and activities with my iPad in the other hand. Google maps is handy too to find these places.
Many of us have begun to “outgrow” Rick’s wonderful guidebooks and look for the millions of other gems. Her book will inspire you to venture out.
Happy virtual traveling!
