Globe Corner Blogs

Bruges Canals: Photo by Kate

Bruges is beautiful…  It’s an incredible place to see: a tiny town of canals and swans, weeping willows and ivy, and not a single building that looks like it was built after the year 1500. Brick gingerbread houses with stepped Dutch roofs, tiny cobblestone bridges crossing calm canals, and shady squares with gnarly old trees and tweeting birds. It’s all yours… to share with about 20,000 other tourists! Really, it’s so crowded with tourists there that it’s almost enough to make you lose your appetite for waffles. We found two pretty good ways to avoid the hordes: first, get to the sites you really want to see as early as possible, and second: get a bike! Continue Reading »

Kabouter and shrine--Photo by Kate

This town has a funny tourism schtick: blue gnomes. Technically, I think they are called kabouters. What are kabouters, you ask? According to Wikipedia, they are Dutch leprechauns. From what I’ve been able to decipher from the (wooden) kabouters I’ve seen posted around this Belgian town, they seem to be little men that live in and around oversize red mushrooms with white polka dots. Children like them; they like children. I think they are religious, since the local church has a kabouter at the top of its spire, and this particular kabouter to the right keeps vigil next to a statue of the Virgin Mary. Continue Reading »

Boston BikeMap by Rubel BikeMaps

Each day I bike a very modest distance to work: a straight shot down Mt. Auburn Street – no turns and few stops. Thanks to recently installed city bike racks, nine times out of ten I can “park” directly outside the store’s door, and there’s even a bike lane on our block to ease my transition from street to sidewalk. In short, no fuss, no muss.

So, while I admittedly do not have use for a bike map on a daily basis, I still find Boston’s BikeMap, published by Rubel BikeMaps, to be a useful and remarkably well researched guide to biking in and around Boston (i.e. Brookline, Watertown, Somerville, Lexington, and more).

Here’s a brief list of features I’ve found to be particularly handy:

- All area bike shops are starred in red on the map and then indexed with addresses and phone numbers.

- Contour lines based on USGS topographic maps show hilly areas (aka, areas to avoid when already tired).

Continue Reading »

Montreal Bike Path--photo by Kate McQuillen

In many of the northern cities I’ve lived in, such as Toronto, Chicago, and Boston, the arrival of warm weather brings a sort of delirium. More than just nicer temperatures, there is a feeling in the air of promise and excitement, mixed with relief and thankfulness. We squint, and recognize that bright yellow orb in the sky, from so many months ago. We are ready to sunbathe, anywhere and everywhere, for the next 90 days.

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Cycling Southern France: Loire to Mediterranean is one of the new cycling books and maps we’ve just received. Info on each long-distance or area ride includes text and annotated 1:200K Michelin map images. The 8.5″ x 6″ guide is spiral bound.

Also just in–regional maps for European cycling in the high (Germany/Austria/Switzerland) and low (Benelux) countries, as well as guides with maps for both U.K. mountain biking (in the Lake District, Downs, the Dales, the Midlands and the Peak District) and long-distance cycling routes.