Otros libros que te pueden interesar

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  Vanilla - Travels in Search of...

  Tim Ecott

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  From Papantla in Mexico—“the city that perfumed the world”—to the Indian Ocean islands, Vanilla traces the story of the vanilla plant and its secretive trade.   From the golden cups of Aztec emperors to the ice cream dishes of US presidents, vanilla has mystified and tantalized man for centuries. The only orchid that produces an agriculturally valuable crop, vanilla can mask unpleasant tastes and smells, but also makes pleasant tastes stronger, smoother, and longer lasting. Because it has over four hundred separate flavor components, choosing premium vanilla beans is as complex as judging the aroma and taste of fine wine. Vanilla finds its way into over half of all dessert products sold worldwide, as well as the finest perfumes, well-known brands of rum and vodka, and even Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Americans consume more vanilla than anyone else on Earth—a fact that has forced growers and traders to mount armed guards over their plants in the tropical jungle. The traders who travel the world in search of America’s favorite flavor are a small and secretive elite. Vanilla is a globetrotting adventure that follows buccaneers, aristocrats, and gourmets, all in search of the ice cream orchid.

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  Gondola

  Donna Leon

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  Of all the trademarks of Venice-- and there are many, from the gilded Basilica of San Marco to the melancholy Bridge of Sighs-- none is more ubiquitous than the gondola. The internationally acclaimed "American with the Venetian heart," Donna Leon, tells its fascinating story (The Washington Post). First used in medieval Venice as a deftly maneuverable getaway boat, the gondola evolved over the centuries into a floating pleasure palace, bedecked in silk, that facilitated the romantic escapades of the Venetian elite. Today, the gondola wears black-- a gleaming, elegant hue, and is manned by robust gondolieri in black-and-white-striped shirts and straw hats. A tourist favorite, the gondola has never ceased to be a part of authentic Venice. Each boat' s 280 pieces are carefully fashioned in a maestro' s workshop-- though Leon also recounts a tale of an American friend who attempted to make a gondola all on his own. The feat took five years and countless do-overs. But the gondola is a work of art well worth the labor. And once its arched prow pushes off from the dock, the single Venetian at its oar just might break out in a barcarole, a popular Italian boat song..

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  Ghosts of Genesee Country - From...

  Ralph Esposito

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  With a psychic as his supernatural sidekick, a local tour guide and radio host gets to the bottom of western New York’s most terrifying legends.    The Seneca Nation knew the area as the “good” or “pleasant” valley. Grateful for the waterfalls that provided power for their mills, early settlers dubbed Rochester the “Flour City.” For countless ghosts and spirits, however, the towns and cities of Genesee Country are simply called “home.” Local tour guide and radio host Ralph Esposito brings to life stories of New York’s strangest inhabitants. From a highway still traveled by the covered wagon of Underground Railroad conductor Walter Vond to a suburban neighborhood often treated to the clip-clop of hooves from a Civil War-era horseracing track, the Genesee River Valley is haunted!   Includes photos!  

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  O Canada Here I Come

  Aine Moorad

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  Eight-year-old Zayd is migrating from Pakistan to Canada. Though he's sad leaving his grandparents behind, he's excited at the thought of reaching Canada. From the moment he boards the airplane, he experiences all things Canadian: from the famous Canadian poutine to the Canadian provinces. But the most fascinating of all: Zayd enters a magical world of the Canadian Arctic, where he's surrounded by grizzly bears, Canadian geese, dog sleds, and a very special polar bear, named Jackson. For Zayd, the adventure has only just begun!

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  Haunted Summerwind - A Ghostly...

  Devon Bell

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  The true story of the Lamont Mansion, which was meant to host a president—but instead become a home to the paranormal . . . includes photos!   Buried deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods, the ruined splendor of the mansion known as Summerwind bares the bones of its legendary past. Robert Patterson Lamont purchased the property in 1916 as a country retreat where he could entertain such guests as President Warren G. Harding. Unfortunately, the house played host to visitors of an entirely different sort, and Lamont reportedly fled the property after discharging a pistol at a ghoul in the basement pantry.   Raymond Bober abandoned his attempt to convert the house into a hotel in the 1970s, describing rooms that changed size and the mysterious presence of an eighteenth-century explorer in his famous book The Carver Effect. Join Devon Bell for a glimpse through the shattered windows of the most specter-laden spot in the Badger State.

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  Haunted Virginia City

  Janice Oberding

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  The author of Haunted Nevada explores the spooky goings-on in the city named one of the top-three most haunted towns in America.   Unlike any city in America, Virginia City epitomizes the notion of a western boom-and-bust ghost town. The Comstock Silver Rush lured wealth seekers from around the world, including a young Samuel Clemens. Despite the fortune some found, not all of the town’s earliest settlers rest easy. Shops, hotels, boardwalks, and cemeteries are said to be filled with the supernatural remnants of Virginia City’s hardscrabble characters and their violent propensities. The queen of haunted Nevada, Janice Oberding, mines Virginia City’s spectral history, from the ghost of Henry Comstock to the ghostly Rosie and William of the Gold Hill Hotel.   “Virginia City is known for its rich mining history that designated Nevada as the Silver State. But to local residents and paranormal investigators, it’s better known as a place to look for ghostly dwellers.” —Reno Gazette Journal

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