Globe Corner Blogs

We invited all of our customers to visit during the month of June and mark a special spot on the map that you visited with the assistance of GCB resources.  The dots on the map started appearing in a flurry in the first 48 hours!  Please stop by and share your “sweet spot” .   Long distance customers can email their “spot” to acooke@gcb.com.

It’s commencement time in Boston/Cambridge when the lilac bushes start fading, the rhododendrons begin blooming, and the white party tents for reunions appear on the college quads. Below are a few gift ideas from our staff for the high school and college graduates…

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Lonely Planet’s The Big Trip

Your Ultimate Guide to Gap Years and Overseas Adventures

The new edition of this guide hits the shelves just in time for commencement. The one-stop guide has essential information on pre-trip planning, including health and safety, budget, tickets, packing, the latest technologies for keeping in touch, and even tips on how to choose travel companions.

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For the college grad migrating to one of the urban havens of the hip, the Not For Tourists guide series is a perfect apartment warming gift:

Boston

New York City

Brooklyn

Washington D.C.

Chicago

Seattle

San Francisco

Los Angeles

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World Heritage Sites:

A Complete Guide to 911 UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The 911 sites are found in 151 countries across the globe, and strict criteria assures that only the most spectacular and extraordinary sites make it onto the list.

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I went to Vegas for a weekend with my family. My older brother recently moved out there for work, and so after a few months I went to visit him with my mother and my two other brothers. I woke up super early one Friday, worked a full shift, and then went straight to Logan airport. By the time I arrived in Vegas, the sky was pitch black, but the city lights were ablaze. The sight from my little airplane window really was spectacular. (At least, it was when I pushed to the back of my mind thoughts about what all that electricity was doing to the  precarious state of the planet’s environment . . . .)

We landed at about 11pm Vegas time (2am Boston time) with no intention of going to bed anytime soon. Being accustomed to waking at dawn for work, I therefore felt mildly delirious for the entire trip. But that was probably inevitable given the absurd nature of Sin City, USA. The taxi ride to our hotel was an adventure unto itself. Driving along the strip through this somewhat nightmarish fantasyland, I stared wide-eyed at the bright lights, flashing signs, gigantic buildings, colorful cocktails, and some of the highest heels I have ever seen (keep in mind, I studied abroad in Eastern Europe). Continue Reading »

Ulla the Golden Retriever

There comes a time in life when bluffing your way through adulthood actually turns into “Being a Grownup (capital G).” This is an important realization. Nobody ever knows what they’re doing really, but somehow they get there anyway. Which is, as it happens, one of the best perks of being a Grownup: having the freedom to take off and search for parts of yourself in faraway places. MiddleGround blogger, traveller, and Grownup Dylan Fitzgerald had a little help reaching her destination, and we are very proud that a member of the GCB staff gave her the inspiration to get where she needed to go. Obviously, we’re talking about Ulla the Golden Retriever, the Globe Corner Bookstore’s resident travel agent/guidance counselor extraordinaire.

It all started when Dylan read Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises in high school and made a promise to herself: One day she would stroll beside San Sebastian’s harbor and take in the sights from one of the nearby cafés, just like the novel’s main character Jake. After college and several dead-end jobs, Dylan wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Thankfully, fate brought her to Ulla during an afternoon walk around Harvard Square. Being the great Hemingway admirer that she is, Ulla encouraged Dylan to fulfill her old promise. After a few belly rubs and some serious conversation with her “new life line,” Dylan booked a trip, hoping to discover France, Spain, and maybe a part of herself too. “Paris. Bordeaux. Provence. Nice. Madrid. Barcelona. San Sebastian . . . I headed to Ulla’s bookstore shortly thereafter and started buying maps.” Continue Reading »

Daffodils - photo by Llalan

After a stint in New York City, I have moved back to Ohio – a part of Ohio that New Yorkers would call rural. Last night I heard muffled bumping and scuffling on the porch. I opened the door to find three raccoons looking up at me over nearly empty bowls of cat food, left out for the strays. Before I stomped my feet and yelled nonsense at them, I paused. They really are beautiful creatures with their full tails, sharp black masks, and delicate paws.

Every Ohioan I meet says, “New York, eh? Must be quite some culture shock for you here,” poking gentle fun at our small town. They are right to an extent. A few weeks ago I was walking down the street in my bright red wool coat. Several women crossed my path and stared. Perhaps it was the herringbone scarf. My hair stylist asked where I was from, because of my accent.

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I-Concepts Prints

Yes, it’s that time again folks: Opening Day for the Red Sox!!! Cue wild cheering, followed by mild to moderate hyperventilation, and finally, breathing into a paper bag. Get ready for Ulla the Dog’s prancing around in her seasonal sports collar. Then, Lisa‘s bewilderment at my completely appropriate behavior. (She is a Mariner’s fan and, thus, is not really used to watching a winning and/or actual major league team. Minus the Griffey years.)

I-Concepts Prints

On Friday April 1st begins that long annual descent into the madness that Bostonians call Red Sox Fandom. Let me explain Red Sox Fandom: The Sox will inevitably disappoint at least once this season, causing you to throw things at your television, radio, and/or computer. (I suggest prepositioning something small and soft near you before a game begins to prevent the smashing of important and expensive things. Personally, I use a rolled up ball of dress socks for lightness.) Although Opening Day in Texas is Friday, we do have to wait for April 8th before the Home Opener at Fenway when the Sox will play the satanic Yankees. (Just kidding, I’m sure all the Yankees are wonderful to their mothers and small dogs. Children, not so much . . . .) You can get started on the season by picking up one of our new photo prints of classic Red Sox moments from I-Concepts. Whether it’s Ted Williams posing with Bobby Doerr or Mickey Mantle, the 2nd Fisk-Munson fight, or Luis Tiant at the plate in the ’78 World Series.* All purchases of  Red Sox books and prints in the store will be 10% off from April 1st through the 8th.

*Note to hipsters: El Tiante sports what is known as a MUSTACHE, please try to emulate!

There are not many occasions when following a guide book feels like taking advice from a native, but Fiona Caulfield accomplishes the impossible, creating a compendium of  ”better than a native” suggestions in the Love Guides for India. An Australian native, she has made India her home. Given our ongoing obsession with the Love Guides and my recent trip to India, we decided to pick Fiona Caulfield’s brain for even more tips than her books already provide. Fiona Caulfield is officially our newest author crush.

1. Do you prefer aisle or window? (Please explain.)

Aisle, specifically an aisle in a middle row. I need freedom.

2. The Love Guides are incredibly detailed. How long did you travel in India before you started making them to compile your bank of insider information?

I first travelled to India in 1992, then again in 2001. I became a resident in India late 2004 with the idea for the brand and then published the first book in February 2007. It now takes about a year to research the first edition of a book.

3. The guidebooks themselves and the maps and drawings they contain are so charming. What gives you the inspiration for their design?

The design brief was sensuality and the content brief intimacy. I wanted the content to feel like I had written a letter to a good friend and the drawings to be like a sketch I would include in a letter, if I could draw. Continue Reading »

Although Boston possesses a certain serene charm during the heart of winter, I confess that after weeks of trudging through knee-high snow I was looking forward to my week-long visit to Brazil‘s sensuous urban paradise, Rio de Janeiro. While I was there, Rio’s sky was blissfully sunny with the exception of only a few brief tropical showers. The air was hot, humid, and heavy. But it was a load I was willing to bear, especially when cooling off in the waters of Rio’s many picturesque beaches.

My father, brother, and I stayed at my uncle’s apartment in Copacabana, three blocks from the beach. Copacabana is a sliver of a neighborhood wedged between Rio’s iconic hills and the vast Atlantic Ocean. Rio’s culture is largely defined by the beach. On any day of the week, a multitude of beach goers relax with family or friends, conversing over the sound of the steadily pounding waves. Streaming through the crowds, vendors sell ice-cold beer, fresh coconut water, shrimp on skewers, towels, bikinis, jewelry, and souvenirs, rhythmically shouting the name of their merchandise as they pass. The atmosphere of the beach is very laid back, and this feeling permeates the rest of the city. Continue Reading »

The huge metropolis known as Delhi is overwhelming, chaotic, and bombarding – even for the most experienced traveller. But the Love Delhi guidebook by Fiona Caulfield seeks out the lovely, the hip, and the local places. It’s easy to get frustrated deciphering what’s worth seeing on a visit, but, delving into Delhi armed with the Love Guides, I seemed always to find myself in some beautiful and unknown territory.

Caulfield’s focus on the local and organic businesses of Delhi not only promotes sustainability, but also makes discovering the ever-coveted small, quaint spots easy to find. Destination attractions are listed and reviewed, but Caulfield recommends temples, restaurants, clubs, and bars that aren’t in other guidebooks. Following Caulfield’s directions, I skipped the temples I knew would be tourist ridden and headed to a temple a few minutes south of the city. At this point in the trip, after Kathmandu Valley in Nepal and Jaipur and surrounding Rajasthan, I had already visited countless temples, but these vivid colors are forever imprinted in my mind. This temple had checkered floors, towering pillars, colors that rivaled the street vendors in old Delhi, and a towering, fifty-plus foot statue of Hanuman, the monkey god. Encountering no other foreigners here, I wandered, marveled, and filled up my camera’s memory card. Continue Reading »

The intrepid GCB staff snowshoed into Harvard Square and has cleared  the sidewalks (with the assistance of the greatly appreciated Harvard Real Estate snow plow) this morning.  We are now open and will likely be open until at least 6 pm.  We’re running out of hot chocolate & peppermint schnapps.

Winthrop St, Harvard Square, 2011 Nor'easter