Europe on $400 a day

Press, 28 November 1987, Page 27

Europe on $400 a day

Apple’s Europe. By R. W. Apple, Jr. Macmillan, 1987. 275 pp. index. $39.95.

(Reviewed by

Glyn Strange)

“Apple’s Europe” is as much a celebration of a way of life as the guide that it claims to be to those parts of Europe that the tourist industry has left relatively untrammelled. "Johnny” Apple was, from 1977 to 1985, chief London correspondent of the “New York Times” — the perfect job for a bonvivant like him, because it placed him near most of the gastronomic capitals of the Western world, gave him opportunities for frequent travel, and provided a huge expense account to smooth the way. In attempting to lead the reader to places that are not over-touristed, he is not entirely convincing. Bath, for example, has a tide-mark of tourists as much as any other British city, and Granada’s Alhambra can, scarcely be said to be off the beaten track. On the other hand, everyone knows that there are fewer tourists to compete with in

Scandinavia (too expensive), Morocco (too hot), and the South of Italy (too dangerous). The core of Apple’s book lies, however, in what he writes about food.

Here be is also on safer ground, because restaurants are so numerous that few can say “been there, done that” as they read. Such a book, in lesser hands, could have become a snob’s guide to places where the riff-raff are not seen, but Apple has enough self-deprecating wit, enough cdmmonsense, and enough simplicity of taste to keep him emotionally and intellectually within the range of most readers. He is an excellent travelling companion for all those who never tire of religious art and architecture, for gourmands and wine buffs and, of course, for those who are not on shoestring budgets. His book is suitable for those who do not blench at spending SNZ6O on lunch (for two), $lOO per night for a hotel room, and these figures combined for an evening meal. Clearly this Apple is not of the Spartan variety.