Book Review

With Christmas having been right before we left, our family and friends were kind enough to give the gift of travel guidebooks for Finland, Russia, Scandinavia, and Europe. Over the course of our stay, we have put these books to great use, and can now speak with corresponding great authority of their merits, demerits, and general usefulness.

Lonely Planet: Finland
Possibly the book we have found most useful of the four, the Lonely Planet: Finland guidebook has a great introduction complete with brief rundowns of culture, language, history, and general tips for each area of Finland. Divided by region, the book was detailed but concise, and offered annotated lists of activities, sights, shopping, and places to eat and stay, as well as really helpful maps for getting oneself oriented. It also had the winning attribute of having a photo of really fantastic Lappish boots on its cover. Kiitos to Jacob for an excellent gift.

Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg
Given that an entire half of the book was dedicated to the city (St. Petersburg) that we were visiting, it was automatically a win. This one was divided into genre of activity (Where to Eat, Where to Stay, etc.), and came with a metro map and such helpful add-ons as Local Dos and Taboos and Worst Case Scenarios. It also had an extensive Russian language guide – not that it really helped us, but we think that's more to do with the complexity of Russian than the simplicity of the guidebook. They also had stars marking recommended attractions and Fodor's Choice designations, and we can affirm that they typically merited that distinction.

AAA TravelBook: Europe
For a company dedicated to American automobile travel, AAA did impressively well providing a guidebook for tourists seeing Europe on foot. Encompassing 41 cities across 19 countries, the information was understandably limited, but what provided was a very useful overview to each area. Its Survival Guides were particularly entertaining, and its History and Essential Information were great to prepare us for our short jaunts across the Finnish border. It also featured beautiful color photos but questionable quotes representing each country. Examples: Finland - “The appearance of the town is entirely modern, in some respects suggesting America rather than Europe.” Sweden - “The farther I came North, the more like New England everything grew to look.” I mean, we guess if you're catering to Americans... Regardless, our new Eurosnob status forces us to be affronted, and mention that Sweden and Finland were there first.

Rick Steves' SCANDINAVIA – As Seen on Public TV
The most obnoxious travel guidebook we have ever encountered: Rick James Steves apparently felt the need to publish his personal favorite Scandinavian attractions... and nothing else. Even while doing so, he managed to retain a snotty attitude, the delusion that he is funny, and consistent failure to disclose times or locations.

Rather than having you listen to us complain, we'll just treat you to an excerpt: “Vegeta Vertushus, which has kept Oslo vegetarians fat, happy, and low on the food chain for 60 years, serves a huge selection of hearty vegetarian food that would satisfy even a hungry Viking.” He also tries to convince you that he has been everywhere worth being and seen everything worth seeing, and doesn't want you to be “fooled by overweight guidebooks!” He likes to plan itineraries for you as well: “Helsinki is worth... about seven hours.” Incidentally, Helsinki is the only thing he talks about in Finland. What he advertises on the back cover of the book to be “dozens of custom-designed, user-friendly maps” turn out to be hand-drawn atrocities that really only served to get us more lost than found.

Rick Steves thought he was so awesome that he decided to write, sing, and publicize his own rap song advertising... himself. Listen by clicking here. Yeeeeah boi!