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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In Europe À La Mode, Linda Hall-Kelsoe recounts a six-week journey across southern Europe that gradually reshapes her understanding of what makes travel worthwhile. After disappointing visits to crowded attractions leave her exhausted, she begins paying closer attention to the experiences that feel most natural to her. Time spent walking through waterfront cities, taking regional trains, lingering in cafés, meeting residents, and settling into simple nightly routines becomes more rewarding than chasing packed tourist landmarks. Alongside her husband Jeff, she moves through Italy, Portugal, France, Austria, and Spain while learning how personal habits influence every part of a trip, from sightseeing choices to meals to pacing. Through stories drawn from ordinary moments abroad, the book presents travel as a way of living attentively in unfamiliar places instead of racing through them.
Linda Hall-Kelsoe’s Europe À La Mode feels especially relevant at a time when vacations are often measured in packed itineraries and social media photos. The author tells us to forget what we've been told. Memorable travel comes from paying attention to daily enjoyment, like the time she embraced nightly tea rituals overlooking Lisbon streets. The author has a wonderfully conversational writing style that turns her experience into practical advice readers can apply during their own trips. Her account of reserving inexpensive standing room spots at the Vienna opera gives travelers a realistic cultural option. Later, her recommendation to build downtime into each afternoon presents rest as part of successful planning. Her experiences drive the book, from her extended European rail journey to her willingness to discuss practical travel decisions in detail. The chapters concerning lost luggage and hotel selection show familiarity gained through direct experience abroad. Retirees considering multi-week overseas travel and all others hoping to shape vacations around comfort and personal routine will absolutely appreciate this book.
