A view of the Prague Christmas market.

Twinkling lights. The smell of Christmas pine trees. Artisanal holiday crafts. Gingerbread houses. Hot chocolate and mulled wine. And, of course, a chilly night spent traipsing through a city square. What could be more festive than a visit to a Christmas market? The most famous ones are in central Europe, where the tradition goes back centuries in some places, but a few other cities have developed popular Christmas markets of their own. Here are some of the more interesting Christmas markets, selected from a few recent news articles about this holiday tradition:

Reuters (with the help of cheapflights.com) published an article on the top 10 Christmas markets around the world. Seven of their picks were in Europe, including:

Prague, Czech Republic – A giant Christmas tree in the Old Town Square is the focal point for Prague’s festive fun. The main markets are to be found at the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square and there are smaller ones at Namesti Republiky and Havelske Trziste. All feature beautifully decorated stalls that sell everything from Bohemian crystal and Czech marionettes to braided pastries and gingerbread. While shopping from stall to stall it’s customary to grab a mug of svaree vino (sweet mulled wine) to sip along the way.

Strasbourg, France – Strasbourg’s Christmas market takes pride of place in front of the sublime, towering Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg. It’s the largest and oldest Christmas market in France. For more than 400 years the city has welcomed visitors to its Christkindelsmaerik. Beautifully made Christmas decorations, Nativity figurines and traditional delicacies (spiced bread, mulled wine and foie gras) fill the stalls. Each year, a different country is celebrated; in 2011, it’s Switzerland’s turn. Place Gutenberg will host a Swiss market featuring authentic delicacies, concerts, dancing and exhibitions from its cantons.

Nuremberg, Germany – Nuremberg’s Christmas market was first held in 1628 and is one of the best known in Germany with more than 2 million visitors annually. Candy-cane striped stalls serving glühwein and bratwurst fill the Old Town while live music is performed late into the night. The must-buy souvenirs are the Nuremberg Plum People, tiny figures made from prunes.

Away.com and BootsnAll published a similar story on the best Christmas markets. An excerpt:

Chicago, Illinois - Chicago’s Chriskindlmarket is the largest traditional German market outside of Germany, a must-do to kick off Christmas season in Chicago. On November 26, it sprang to life in the Loop’s Daly Plaza with the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Nosh on Bavarian pretzels and grilled bratwurst, or pick up some hot wine in a souvenir cup, and browse the small village of shops beneath the lights of city skyscrapers.

Munich, Germany – Like many large cities in Germany, Munich offers several Christmas markets, but the largest and oldest is in Marienplatz, in the old center. More than 140 stalls in the shadow of a giant Christmas tree sell decorations, art, jewelry, and traditional German fare. The market opens on the first Friday in December, and every evening at 5:30 Alpine choirs perform in the Town Hall’s balcony.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia’s four-week Christmas Village is just about the closest you can get to a traditional German Christkindlmarkt without getting a new stamp in your passport. Inspired by Germany’s most popular market in Nuremberg, the Philly version takes place downtown in Love Park and offers live music, a recreation of Santa’s house, more than 50 market stalls and timber houses beautifully lit at night, and all the German fare you would expect including gingerbread, bratwurst, and mulled wine.

Bolzano, Italy – Like its European neighbors, Italy has its share of Christmas markets as well, though they are predominantly located in the northeast, especially the Trentino-Alto Adige region. The market in Bolzano was one of the first Christmas markets in Italy, known for the South Tyrol cuisine served and the massive advent calendar, made from the windows on the facade of a nearby building. The Italian spin on the German Christmas market can be seen in other areas of Italy, but this one stays true to its roots.

Check out both articles for a more extensive list of wonderful Christmas markets.

And here’s wishing one and all a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Photo credit: Hynek Moravec via Wikimedia Commons.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Balloons take to the sky at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

The iconic view of Monument Valley.

Two of the famous Mittens.

A different angle on the rock formations.

Another view of the desert landscape.

A closer view of the Mittens.

The freedom of the open road on the way to Monument Valley.

Photo credit: All photos by Bob Riel.

Boston, Massachusetts – Birthplace of Independence

Samuel Adams statue in front of Boston's Faneuil Hall.

An obvious place to begin is in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre and the Ride of Paul Revere are legendary moments among the 18^th century events that led to American independence and you can learn about all of them along the Freedom Trail, a self-guided 2.5-mile walk that connects 16 historic sites.

The trail begins near the Boston Common and the Massachusetts State House. The early part of the walk will take you to such stops as the Old South Meeting House, where a 1773 meeting led to the Boston Tea Party; the Old State House, where the Declaration of Independence was read to the public in 1776 and near where five men were killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770; and the Granary Burying Ground, where John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere are laid to rest. Later, you’ll pass Faneuil Hall, the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church (of “one if by land, two if by sea” fame).

Together, Faneuil Hall, the Old State House and the Old South Meeting House will introduce you to the rooms and buildings where John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and others led some of the most vigorous early debates about the idea of American independence. Just off the Freedom Trail, at Fort Point Channel, the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is being renovated and is slated to open again in the spring of 2012.

There are also important Revolutionary era sites on the outskirts of Boston, starting with Adams National Historical Park. This is the birthplace and home of two presidents: John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The first Adams was the country’s second president and one of the leading figures of the American Revolution. He was the main writer of the Massachusetts Constitution, which served as a model for the later U.S. Constitution and is today the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. The national park is in the town of Quincy and is close enough to Boston to be accessible via the city’s subway system.

The suburban towns of Concord and Lexington, meanwhile, are where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired on April 19, 1775. At Minute Man National Historical Park you can see Lexington Common, the site of the first battle, and Concord’s Old North Bridge, where the colonial militia fired the first shots against the British. These historic locations are connected by the five-mile Battle Road Trail, which also encompasses the Paul Revere Capture Site and the Hartwell Tavern Historical Area.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Where America was founded

If the first stirrings of independence were sounded in Boston, then it could be said that Philadelphia is where America was founded. This is where the Declaration of Independence was written, approved and first read to the public in 1776, and where the U.S. Constitution was debated and adopted in 1787.

The Liberty Bell in front of Independence Hall.

Independence National Historical Park in the center of Philadelphia encompasses more than 20 sites but the main attraction is Independence Hall. It was here that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were born. As you tour the building, you can see the Assembly Room where debates were held, a silver inkwell that was used for signing ceremonies, and the Rising Sun Chair that George Washington sat in during the Constitutional Convention. Just across the street from Independence Hall is the Liberty Bell Center, where you can see the most famous bell in American history.

Many other historic sites are within easy walking distance. These include Congress Hall, home to the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800; Carpenters Hall, where the Continental Congress first met in 1774; Graff House, where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence; and Franklin Court, the site of Benjamin Franklin’s home.

The history doesn’t stop at the national park. Other sites that are worth a visit are the National Constitution Center, where you can learn about the nation’s founding document via interactive exhibits; the Betsy Ross House, home of the woman who sewed the first American flag, and City Tavern, where you can still get a meal in a place that was a favorite hangout of the Founding Fathers.

On your way out of Philadelphia you may want to visit Valley Forge National Historical Park. This celebrated location was the winter home of the Continental Army during the winter of 1777-78 and is where the soldiers first developed into a more cohesive and disciplined unit. Visitors can see the home that served as George Washington’s headquarters, as well as reconstructed cabins that were used by colonial soldiers.

Virginia homes of the Founding Fathers

The next stops are in Virginia, where you can visit the historic homes of some Founding Fathers. Then we’ll circle back and end the journey in Washington, D.C.

Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello – Charlottesville, Virginia

Begin in Charlottesville at Monticello, the estate where Thomas Jefferson lived for much of his life. Jefferson first became famous as the author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the country’s third president. Monticello is currently the only private residence in the country that is a World Heritage site. This is due not only to Jefferson’s political achievements, but also because he was a talented architect who incorporated innovative design ideas into his home. There is a 42,000-square-foot education center on site with exhibits on Jefferson’s life and work.

While you’re in Charlottesville, it’s also possible to visit Ash Lawn-Highland, the estate where James Monroe lived for a quarter century. Monroe was the fifth U.S. president and as a young adult served in the Continental Army, including at Valley Forge. Additionally, you can tour the grounds of the University of Virginia, another World Heritage Site that was designed by Jefferson.

James Madison’s home at Montpelier – Orange, Virginia

James Madison was the country’s fourth president and is regarded as the prime architect of the U.S. Constitution. About an hour from Charlottesville, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is Madison’s Montpelier estate. Visitors can tour the home and learn about Madison’s life and philosophies of government in an on-site educational center.

George Washington’s home – Mount Vernon, Virginia

Further east in Virginia, you can pay tribute to George Washington, the country’s first president. Several stops should interest you, beginning with Washington’s boyhood home at Ferry Farm in Fredericksburg and then his birthplace in Colonial Beach, where the George Washington Birthplace National Monument has a replica of the house in which he was born.

Then just outside of Washington, D.C. is Mount Vernon, which was Washington’s home for four decades. The property on the banks of the Potomac River looks much as it did when the Father of the Country lived there in the late 18^th century. After touring the house, you can pay your respects at Washington’s tomb and explore educational exhibits in a visitor’s center.

Washington, D.C. – Experiencing the nation’s capital

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

The final stop on our Birth of Democracy road trip is the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. For our purposes, the center of the action is at the National Mall. It’s truly difficult not to feel at least a twinge of awe as you make your way past the buildings and monuments located here. If you begin at the U.S. Capitol building, it’s a 1.9-mile walk to the Lincoln Memorial. Along the way you’ll pass the White House and Washington Monument. Just off the Mall is the Tidal Basin where you can visit the Jefferson Memorial.

If you plan ahead, you can arrange public tours of the Capitol Building and the White House, which are must-see stops for anyone with an interest in American democracy and U.S. government. Also nearby is the National Archives, which is a nice way to wrap up this road trip. There, you can see original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights on display in the Rotunda.

While you’re in the area, of course, there are numerous other attractions along the National Mall that aren’t connected to the birth of democracy but are still worthwhile stops. These include the Franklin Roosevelt, World War II and Vietnam War memorials, as well as such Smithsonian institutions as the Museum of American History and the Air and Space Museum.

Map and directions

Below is a map of this road trip. If you click on the “Birth of Democracy” link, it will take you to a larger map and detailed directions.

View Birth of Democracy road trip in a larger map

Photo credits: All photos by Bob Riel

Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off from Kennedy Space Center.

Are you fascinated by space travel? Are you saddened by the ending of the space shuttle program? Then it may be time for you to explore some of the intriguing space-related destinations that are scattered across the United States. These places are dedicated solely to the exploration of space and the history of the space program.

New Mexico is quickly becoming a player in the emerging business of private space flight and it played a historic role in the development of rocketry. So the state developed a Museum of Space History that includes an International Space Hall of Fame, an IMAX Theater and Planetarium, a Space Science Research Building and more.

Tucson, Arizona

Snow in the Sonoran Desert – from a February 2011 storm near Tucson, Arizona.

Mark Twain's boyhood home is in Hannibal, Missouri.

Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Laura Ingalls Wilder. These writers all have something in common, namely that they each hail from the American heartland. If you love literature and have a desire to spend some time in the Midwestern United States, you could do a lot worse than to craft a literary road trip through the homes and hometowns of these and other American writers.

We’ve previously looked at literary road trips through New England and California, so here is a third journey to the homes of great writers to add to your travel list.

Mark Twain’s Hannibal

The Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri is as good a place as any to begin your journey. Mark Twain may be the quintessential American writer and several of his works, notably The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, owe a great deal to his boyhood in Hannibal. Today, this town has an entire tourist industry dedicated to Twain’s life and his books. The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum is the main attraction, but visitors can also see the Huck Finn House, Becky Thatcher House and Grant’s Drug Store, as well as wander through the Mark Twain Cave or cruise the Mississippi on the Mark Twain Riverboat.  There is no better place to get a glimpse of the young Samuel Clemens than in Hannibal.

Laura Ingalls Wilder in Missouri, South Dakota and beyond

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family moved a lot during her childhood and there are sites that memorialize her in six different states across the Midwest. One of the best of these destinations is the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum near Mansfield, Missouri. It was here, on Rocky Ridge Farm, where Laura and her husband Almanzo settled permanently and raised a family. It is also where she wrote the Little House series of books that made her famous. The home is now a museum with memorabilia from her life and writing career.

Just across the border, in southeastern Kansas, is an historic site where Laura’s family lived for a brief time when she was very young. This is the Kansas location of the “Little House on the Prairie” and there is a replica of the Ingalls’ home on the site. There are similar destinations commemorating Wilder at other childhood homes in Walnut Grove, Minnesota; Pepin, Wisconsin, and Burr Oak, Iowa. All of these sites can easily be visited on this road trip.

Aside from her adult home in Missouri, though, the other prime Wilder location is in De Smet, South Dakota. This is where Laura grew into an adult, became a schoolteacher and got married. At Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes in De Smet, visitors can do a driving or walking tour that includes, among other places, two of the Ingalls family homes, a replica of the schoolhouse where Laura taught, and the town cemetery where her parents and other relatives are laid to rest.

Willa Cather and Nebraska

In between your visits to the Wilder homes in Missouri and South Dakota, you can drive through Red Cloud, Nebraska, where Willa Cather spent her formative years. The early 20^th century author of O Pioneers!, My Antonia and other works, Cather credited her Nebraska childhood for providing rich material for her fiction. You can visit Cather’s childhood home, as well as do a walking tour of Red Cloud, which inspired much of her later writing.

Minnesota homes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis

Minnesota happens to be the home of two of America’s most celebrated 20^th century writers.  F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Jazz Age writer of The Great Gatsby and other works, has roots in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although the houses that were important to Fitzgerald’s life are privately owned, you can conduct an interesting walking tour that takes in the home where he was born, the place he lived while working on his first novel and other nearby sites that influenced his life and work.

Sinclair Lewis, meanwhile, who was the first American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, was born and raised in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Some of his most well known novels, such as Main Street and Babbitt, were about small town life in the Midwest and were somewhat based on his childhood in Sauk Centre. Today, Lewis’ boyhood home has been turned into a museum dedicated to his literary career and his family.

Iowa City and Literature

Although the next author’s home is in Illinois, you should consider stopping along the way in Iowa City, which has been designated by UNESCO as a City of Literature. The only U.S. city thus far honored in this way, Iowa City was praised for its commitment to literary culture through such programs as the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and the Summer Writing Festival. But even if you’re not planning to participate in a writing workshop, you can still soak in the vibes at the University of Iowa campus, or at least wander through the famed Prairie Lights bookstore, which has hosted talks and readings by numerous nationally known writers.

Ernest Hemingway and Carl Sandburg in Illinois

From Iowa City, it’s not very far to Galesburg, Illinois, the birthplace of Carl Sandburg, a Pulitzer Prize winner both for his poetry and for his biographies of Abraham Lincoln. The Carl Sandburg Historic Site includes his boyhood home, a museum and a small theater for lectures and videos.

A bit further east in Illinois is the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Home. Hemingway won the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature for such works as The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. Although he became famous while living in such places as Paris and Key West, his roots are in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. His birthplace home is open to visitors, as is a nearby museum with artifacts from his life and his writings.

Kurt Vonnegut in Indianapolis

Finally, southeast of Chicago is the city of Indianapolis, which is home to the Midwest’s newest literary landmark. The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library opened in 2010 in the author’s Indiana hometown. The author of such 1960s and 1970s novels as Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle, Vonnegut lived much of his adult life outside of the Midwest but always claimed that his work was tied to his Indianapolis upbringing. The museum has a replica of his writing studio, a collection of his drawings, his Purple Heart for service during World War II and other Vonnegut memorabilia.

Map and directions

Here is a map of this road trip. If you click on the “literary Midwest” link, it will take you to a larger map and more detailed information about the journey.

View Literary Midwest in a larger map

Photo credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Polar bears approach a U.S. submarine in the Arctic.

We don’t usually think of the Arctic region as much of a factor when it comes to geopolitics or economic development. But that could change dramatically in the future. A new book, The World in 2050 by Laurence Smith, posits that the Arctic region will become a significant global force in the decades ahead, driven both by its untapped natural resources and its impact on climate change.  One result of this will be to increase the geopolitical power of Arctic nations – not only the United States and Russia, but also Canada and the Nordic countries of northern Europe.

Seed Magazine just published an interesting review of The World in 2050. Here is an excerpt:

While this book is partly about such global forces, it has a more specifically geographical remit:  the Arctic and the far north.  These regions have been the focus of much of Smith’s academic research.  He has important work to his name on how Arctic ecosystems will be transformed by climate change and how this may feed back to impact the rest of the world – for instance through methane bubbling out of the melting permafrost and adding to global warming.  Now he posits that the far north will become the cockpit of wider global change. 

This is important.  We have for decades focused our global angst around the teeming tropics.  We fear that economic development there is wrecking the rainforests and releasing their carbon into the air.  And we worry that the poor billions in the hottest region of the planet will suffer most from global warming.  But Smith’s “thought experiment” switches to events in the high latitudes of the north. 

His argument is that there will be winners as well as losers from climate change and the other forces shaping our future.  The Arctic rim will be transformed by climate change into a new economic powerhouse.  As the ice recedes, ecosystems extend and minerals and fossil fuels are discovered and exploited, the Arctic will become a place of “great human activity, strategic value and economic importance.”  The eight nations of the Arctic rim – the US, Canada, Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway– will become increasingly prosperous and powerful, he says.

Smith does not just crunch numbers and peer into his crystal ball, however. He has been traveling across the Arctic, bringing stories of how his global forces are playing out on this new front line.  While he was writing, Russia placed a flag on the sea bed at the north pole, in anticipation of tapping the mineral and hydrocarbon reserves beneath the ice.  Meanwhile, Pentagon types have been predicting future wars over Arctic resources. 

Smith finds miners moving north.  He discovers that western Siberia, rather than Saudi Arabia, is now the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas.  And he remembers that the Arctic tundra has as much water flowing through it as the tropical rainforests.  For many years, the Soviet Union planned on tapping Siberian rivers to refill the shrinking Aral Sea in central Asia and to sustain its vast cotton plantations.  California once craved the waters of the Canadian north.  In a water-scarce world, such madcap megaprojects may seem increasingly vital…

In future, Smith suggests, the Arctic could cease to be a vessel for other peoples’ ambitions and develop a political dynamic and economic clout of its own.

The rise of the Arctic north is a thought-provoking idea and, if nothing else, is a reminder of how geography, politics and economics are constantly shifting when seen from the perspective of history. If you’re interested in the topic, read the entire review for a more in-depth overview. Or, even better, check out the book.

Photo credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Obama’s schedule has taken him to four Asian countries with democratic governments.

The itinerary of America’s self-proclaimed “first Pacific President” has taken him to India (the world’s largest democracy) and Indonesia (the world’s biggest Muslim-majority democracy) before he attends a pair of global summits in South Korea (a dictatorship turned democracy that was saved from communism by U.S. intervention) and in Japan (Asia’s oldest democracy). Even though the vagaries of democratic politics had just dealt Obama what he called a “shellacking,” the U.S. President has spent much of his tour highlighting the virtues of governance by the people.

And his major speeches have played up the role of democracy in those nations. In India:

“Instead of being lured by the false notion that progress must come at the expense of freedom, you built the institutions upon which true democracy depends,” Obama told the Indian Parliament on Nov. 8. “The lesson is clear: India has succeeded not in spite of democracy; India has succeeded because of democracy.”

And in Indonesia:

Today, we sometimes hear that democracy stands in the way of economic progress. This is not a new argument. Particularly in times of change and economic uncertainty, some will say that it is easier to take a shortcut to development by trading away the right of human beings for the power of the state. But that’s not what I saw on my trip to India, and that is not what I see here in Indonesia. Your achievements demonstrate that democracy and development reinforce one another.

And, as a fun but intriguing aside, some of the president’s old elementary school classmates in Indonesia joined him at his Jakarta speech and reminisced about how those formative years may have helped to influence his adult beliefs in tolerance and diversity.

Twenty-seven of them, out of an original class of 38, were at the university yesterday to hear Mr Obama’s speech…As they tell it, it was during this period of his life, when Obama was at the very impressionable ages of nine and ten, that the future president learned the core values that he believes in, values he spoke about at length in his latest visit to Jakarta.

Religious tolerance? His former classmate Rully Dasaad argues that it was in their shared classroom that Barry learned all about respecting religious and ethnic diversity. The class included several Muslims (the majority faith in Indonesia), but also a Hindu, a couple of Christians and Barry himself. This diversity itself reflected Indonesia’s own enormous diversity…“Unity in diversity” was a phrase that Mr Obama returned to again and again in his Jakarta speech, and his classmates firmly believe that he came to appreciate this concept, emotionally and intellectually, at their school in Menteng.

Just another perspective on the president’s Asian trip that goes a bit beyond most of the headlines.

Photo credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Elliott Bay Books in Seattle.

Do you love bookstores? Do you enjoy wandering the aisles, fingering the titles that line the shelves, breathing in the scent of new books, and looking for unfamiliar treasures? Then you’ll enjoy this look at some of America’s most travel-worthy independent bookstores.

I know that many readers love their Kindles, and it’s true that Borders or Barnes & Noble are fine places to shop or hang out, but there is still something to be said for the thrill of strolling the aisles of a bookstore with a truly distinctive feel and personality. A bookstore that not only reflects the culture of its locale, but may even be a tourist destination in its own right. So let’s take a look at seven of the most popular and unique independent bookstores in the country.

City Lights Books – San Francisco, California

Located in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, City Lights Bookstore was founded in the 1950s by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and gained fame initially as a hangout for the literary lights of the Beat Generation, such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. The store maintains a bit of a counterculture atmosphere, in keeping with its history and location. You can browse its collection while musing about the authors who once wandered the same aisles. While you’re in the area, stop in the nearby Beat Museum, or stroll Jack Kerouac Alley, where there are engraved poems on the walkway.

The Tattered Cover – Denver, Colorado

Nestled in the heart of the Rockies, The Tattered Cover is located in an old theater and is renowned for overstuffed chairs, a gas fireplace, and a coffeehouse in what was once the theater’s lobby. For a store that stocks more than 150,000 titles, the style is cozy and comforting. Book lovers are invited to relax as they browse this legendary Denver bookstore, which also claims to have a free special event nearly every day of the year.

Powell’s City of Books – Portland, Oregon

A million books, spread across more than 3500 sections and 68,000 square feet of space. Powells City of Books is one of the largest bookstores in the country, with color-coded maps guiding visitors through the maze of rooms. It’s also a distinctively Portland operation, located in an unassuming building on the outside and with new and used books sharing space on the shelves. One British traveler wrote: “The alternative America of Portland is epitomised by the presence of Powell’s City of Books, a must-see for anyone with even a passing interest in reading.”

Elliott Bay Book Company – Seattle, Washington

The Elliott Bay Book Company is a quintessentially Seattle book store, with brick-walled rooms and a popular café on site. It’s another store that can lay claim to more than 150,000 titles and a constant stream of author readings and book club events. The shop is located in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square district, surrounded by a diverse collection of restaurants, galleries and retail stores.

The Strand – New York City

Like the other stores on this list, The Strand has a character that is emblematic of its city. In this case, large, busy and sprawling. The store boasts of having 18 miles of books. There are 2.5 million new, used and rare books in its collection, overseen by more than 200 employees. The Strand has been around for more than 80 years in its location at Broadway and 12^th Street, during which time it has expanded from 4,000 to 55,000 square feet of space for its burgeoning book shelves.

Politics and Prose – Washington, D.C.

It’s a perfect name for a bookstore in a city that is consumed by politics. The Politics and Prose shop is already well known for being the site of many of the author readings that are broadcast on C-SPAN. But the store is also known for a great selection of books, numerous inviting and comfy chairs for reading, and a great café.

Harvard Bookstore – Cambridge, Massachusetts

It’s appropriate that the most academically oriented of these bookstores would be located down the street from Harvard University. But the Harvard Bookstore is about much more than intellectual topics, with a diverse collection of popular titles and a large assortment of used books in a bargain basement annex. It’s also a great place to begin a day of book shopping, as this is one of several bookstores that are located within a few blocks of each other in eclectic Harvard Square, including the Grolier Poetry Bookshop, the Globe Corner Travel Bookstore and the Harvard Coop.

There are many other interesting bookstores across the country. What else would you add to this list? And there are, of course, many fascinating bookstores around the world, which we’ll come back to in a future article.

Photo credit: Joe Mabel via Wikimedia Commons.