Julie Duchaine would like to thank her editor, Jennifer Reilly, for her clear, helpful directions and good cheer. It helped a great deal in writing these reviews. Holly Hughes thanks her family for crossing every bridge and hopping on every ferry with her. She’s grateful to all the other Frommer’s writers who shared their own favorite islands—what a great worldwide team you are! And she sends a million thanks to her editor, Jennifer Reilly, for steering this complicated yacht safely into harbor. Alexis Lipsitz Flippin says she could not have completed this fascinating and challenging assignment were it not for the unerring good sense, unflagging support, utter graciousness, and reassuring serenity of her editor, Jennifer Reilly. She is a dream to work for. Thanks, too, to her husband, Royce, for his unflagging support. Sylvie Murphy would like to thank all her island-junkie friends and family for their extraordinarily helpful tips and insights.

Experience the best of the Czech and Slovak Republics with Lonely Planet. With our 6th edition you'll discover atmospheric castles on green hilltops, marvel at centuries of architectural majesty in Prague, ski down pristine slopes in the Tatras andrelax with a glass of crips, golden beer in historic Plzen. Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. This fully updated edition is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed togive you the information you need to make the most of your trip. In This Guide: Tailored itineraries to help you plan your trip. Color highlights chapter showcasing the top sights and activities. Outdoors chapter tells you where to cycle, hike and ski.

Over 800 full-color photographs, taken specially for this guide, show you Venice and the Veneto at their finest. Unique cutaways and floorplans help you explore public buildings and landmarks - no need to purchase other guides. Carefully selected hotels, cafes, and restaurants in all price ranges. Detailed and accurate maps give you instant access to regions, cities, and towns. The Survival Guide shows you how to use local currency, public transportation and telephones.

Whether you're conducting business, traveling for pleasure, or even relocating abroad, one mistake with customs or etiquette can leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. International travelers, now more than ever, are not just individuals from the United States, but ambassadors and impression makers for the country as a whole. Newly updated, redesigned, and resized for maximum shelf appeal for travelers of all ages, Culture Shock! country and city guides make up the most complete reference series for customs and etiquette you can find. These are not just travel guides; these are guides for a way of life.

Travel made the United States. As both a country and a concept, America was founded on movement—of people, of ideas, of goods. Of course, international immigration has been central to American identity since the earliest European exploration, but travel within the continent likewise played a significant role in the creation and maintenance of the American nation. Struggle, too, has been a defining characteristic of the United States since its founding. In addition to battling against a colonial power for independence, the thirteen colonies struggled with themselves to forge a national identity. In fact, after the Revolutionary War, many Americans wondered whether the bonds among the original colonies were strong enough to establish a single nation. They were, but only after the states struggled to define that nation and fought to keep it intact. Numerous studies have pointed to these concepts to understand the United States, but often these works have defined “travel literature” narrowly or made struggle a precursor to, rather than a central fact of, American national identity. In both cases, scholars have too readily looked abroad, focusing on international travel or on struggles between the United States and other nations. Ironically, even though critics of travel literature often thrive on crossing academic and intellectual boundaries, many have neglected accounts of travel within national borders; likewise, many studies of early America have looked primarily at accounts by Europeans in America or by Americans in Europe to understand the culture of early America. But this international focus fails to appreciate the central role of “travel” itself in American national identity; in fact, far from simply constituting a leisure activity enjoyed only by the wealthy, travel has been one of the defining characteristics of the American people and their nation since its very creation. Furthermore, as conflict within the national borders was obviously central to the creation of the American republic, so, too, was travel within and among the various regions of the new nation.

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure. Each "Culture Shock!" title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.

In a region of violent physical and cultural contrasts, Costa Rica is often easy to overlook. Among the six small countries of Central America, it tends not to make the news very often. Costa Rica is not the Central American country with the famous U.S.-built canal and the corrupt military dictator overthrown by U.S. armed forces in 1991. It is not the one ruled by Marxists for most of the 1980s and with whom the U.S. waged a small proxy war. It is not the one that suffered through nearly 35 years of a civil war that has only recently ended. The natural disasters associated with Central America–hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions–also seem to happen elsewhere in the region, just across the border in Nicaragua or to the south in Panama. In 2000, Hurricane Mitch, for example, killed thousands of people in Central America and devastated much of the banana industry in Guatemala,Honduras, and Nicaragua, but it spared Costa Rica. Is Costa Rica lucky? In part, this may be the case. Major tropical storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean Basin usually strike just to the north of Costa Rica. The country’s history certainly reveals some lucky decision-making. For instance, the first Spanish colonists avoided settlement close to the country’s active volcanoes; this was not the case in other parts of the region. It is also true that Costa Rica has worked to avoid the mistakes made by its neighbors. While international attention has focused on the plight and misery of its neighbors,Costa Rica has quietly worked to develop democratic institutions and a sense of national identity that makes it exceptional, not just in the context of Central America but throughout the world. As the civil wars and political problems of the region seem to be coming to an end in the twenty-first century (due in part to efforts that began in Costa Rica), the country is emerging from the shadow of its violent neighbors. The world is finally recognizing Costa Rica as a natural wonderland and as a political model for stability and peace.

“The land where the rainbow begins.” This is how the traditional Mayan people of Guatemala describe their country. A land of striking and sometimes violent contrasts,Guatemala’s vivid colors reflect a varied land and a people with ancient roots. The colors of this land are echoed in the hues of traje, the traditional costume of the Mayans. Ancient and contemporary weavers dye their hand-woven cotton the same dark orange and red tones as molten lava from the country’s volcanoes. Luxuriant greens of the rain forest are duplicated in depictions of the Resplendent Quetzal. The iridescent green, red, and white feathers of this tropical bird have symbolized the land since ancient times. Other depictions of ancient life and symbols use the blue of Lake Atitlán, a mountain lake that English author Aldous Huxley called the most beautiful place in the world. Outside the spectrum of rainbow colors are found the black volcanic sands of the Pacific coast and the bleached chalk white colors of the lost cities of the Maya. So close to North America, yet so distant in many ways, Guatemala is home both to modern culture and to one of the world’s most ancient civilizations. The effects of globalization and reverence for the ancient god Quetzalcoatl coexist somewhat uncomfortably here. Its natural beauty and cultural richness are appealing, but Guatemala has another face as well. It is a place of recent civil war and ongoing political and economic turmoil. Ethnic bitterness and social inequality are not uncommon. Ruled by military dictatorships for most of the past hundred years, the country only now is transitioning from repressive tyranny to uneasy democracy. Guatemala is one of the original “banana republics,” a derisive term for Central American countries long dependent on agricultural exports to the United States. It is a fact that much of the country’s infrastructure—its railroad, telegraph lines, and ports—was built and controlled by U.S. interests, principally the United Fruit Company. Like its Mayan heritage, this aspect of the country’s past is still alive as well. Despite economic advances of the last five years, Guatemala is still dependent on banana, coffee, and sugarcane production for most of its export revenue.

Maps, colour illustrations, 208pp, phrase index, index, paperback. This fascinating city; the world's largest metropolis, is becoming increasingly popular with and accessible to foreign visitors. Few people today are not affected by the creativity, culture and economy of Tokyo, yet this megacity remains an enigma for many. Tokyo is the seat of the Japanese government and an economic powerhouse in the global financial market as well as a city at the cutting edge of fashion trends and modern architecture. This "DK Eyewitness Travel" guide provides in-depth coverage of the city, from the looming skyscrapers, neon-bathed streets and flashing video screens of the labyrinthine Shinjuku district to the traditional shrine complex of Meiji Jingu and the arresting mix of contemporary building developments found throughout the city. Three specially devised walking tours take you to the heart of this bustling, enigmatic and ultimately bewitching city.

CultureShock! Chicago is an insightful and thorough guide that will help you make Chicago your home. Discover the real Chicago beyond the usual tourist attractions and the gloss of promotional brochures and be acquainted with the reality of living and working in this exciting city. Find out what lies behind the Chicagoan facade and how to make friends in your new community. Chock-full of useful information to help you settle in, CultureShock! Chicago covers a wide range of practical issues such as how to negotiate the grid and get around the city, what to expect from Chicago's extreme weather, how to find suitable accommodation and how to conduct business and manage your finances, among others. It also explores the many excellent recreational facilities in this vibrant and cosmopolitan city. CultureShock! Chicago is the one book you will need to make a success of living, working or studying in Chicago. Book jacket.