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Luxury Gold – Journey Beyond the Ordinary -
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Inspiring Travels of Great Literary Figures

December 18, 2020 by Luxury Gold No Comments

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” Ibn Battuta

Travel inspires us, from seeing dramatic landscapes that leave us breathless at their beauty, to spending time with locals and learning more about how they live their lives. Many of us are missing the feeling of new discoveries, wondering when will it be safe to travel again and itching to book a fantastic vacation to an unexplored destination.

Many great writers through the ages have been inspired by the places that they visited or lived in. We’re familiar with the many tales set in the city streets of the world’s famous capitals, but what about lesser known destinations that have influenced great works. Through their writing, authors take us on a special journey and introduce us to a place through their eyes. We can travel farther than we can imagine, simply through the pages of a book.

So, we thought now would be a great time to learn more about the locations that some of the world’s best authors fell in love with and we’ve chosen one special destination that links several of these people.

Majestic Switzerland lured several literary greats to its soaring peaks and picturesque lakefronts, spawning fantasy elven towns such as Rivendell and the setting for many espionage thrillers on the cobbled streets of Bern.

Lord Byron – Making a Triumph of an Exiled Summer

Photo by The Society of Classical Poets

George Gordon Byron was only 28 years old when he escaped England for a summer, already a successful poet but wracked with scandal, he decided to take off with some friends to a villa by a Swiss lake. It was 1816, and Byron had split from his wife after being caught having an affair with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh.

At that time, it had become customary for artists and aristocrats to embark on a Grand Tour that took them through central Europe. Byron’s friends Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin (who later became Shelley’s wife), her stepsister Claire and a young physician called John Polidori, along with the disgraced poet, rented the porticoed Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva for a summer, which would prove to be historic. Unlike normally balmy Swiss summers, the weather was appalling, trapping the young group indoors for lengthy periods. After a prompt by Byron that each should try writing a ghost story, Polidori produced “The Vampyre”, which would inspire Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Godwin wrote “Frankenstein”, aged just 19.

However, it was another grand house that gave Byron inspiration – the Château de Chillon. This historic island castle was visited by the young English group in June that year, but it was Byron most enthralled by its grisly past. Its unusual layout, in an oval shape that follows the natural rocky outcrop that it’s located on, makes it stand out like a fairy tale against the towering Savoy peaks behind it, but the thick walls hid the cries of many tortured souls. From persecuting Jews (who were accused of spreading the plague) as far back as the 14th century to imprisoning so-called witches in subterranean chambers before burning them in the castle courtyard, Chillon castle was not a place that anyone wanted to be summoned to for many hundreds of years.

However, Byron’s fascination lay with a 16th century nobleman, François Bonivard, who became a political prisoner at the castle. The poet imagined Bonivard’s torment, as he watches his brothers die and he becomes a martyr to freedom. Indeed, it is Byron’s romantic narrative poem that has made Chillon famous, and why thousands of tourists visit every year to see the dungeons and the column where Byron’s name is etched since that summer in 1816.

Mary Shelley – Evoking the Darkened Skies over Switzerland

Photo by time.com

Mary Godwin was just a girl that summer, but must have felt that she was in the company of giants. Her beloved Percy Bysshe Shelley had left his first wife for her, and she had just borne him a son before they traveled to Switzerland. Lord Byron was a well-established poet and his dashing doctor, Polidari, must have seemed sophisticated to the impressionable young Mary. Perhaps it was the unusual weather that summer, affected by the fallout from an eruption of Mount Tambora, in modern-day Indonesia, that stirred Mary’s creativity.

One wonders if she spoke of herself or one of her companions on the trip when she wrote the lines “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.” Either way, she poured out the incredible story of “Frankenstein” – the story of a grotesque creature brought to life brought to life by his creator, Victor Frankenstein, a Genovese scientist. She said the phantasm came to her in a feverish dream, and she committed it all to paper that June, housed in the Villa Diodati, the green-shuttered mansion that still stands in Cologny. Although she became a respected writer, this early work would become her most famous, and has been reproduced in many forms to this day.

Shelley evokes the dismal days of that summer often throughout the novel – the flashes of lightning that illuminate the lake, but also gives readers suggestions of the surrounding landscape where she wrote the novel – the perennially icy peak of Mont Blanc and the brooding Jura mountain range. On the day of Victor and Elizabeth’s wedding, they sail on Lake Como, but perhaps it was the beautiful shores of Lake Geneva that were in Mary’s mind as she spun the tale.

Mary Shelley travelled widely, but as her characters of Victor and the wretch he creates are so intertwined with Geneva, so too is the writer. Gothic horror fans can follow in Mary’s footsteps on their visit to the tranquil settings that she details in the manuscript.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Inextricable Links with the Country

Photo by britannica.com

If Geneva birthed Frankenstein then perhaps it could be said that it was the death of another huge literary character, Sherlock Holmes. It was on a trip to the Swiss Alps in 1893 where the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, planned Holmes dramatic demise.

The famed author had already become wealthy from his serialization of short stories about the eccentric detective, but Conan Doyle was also an adventurer and lover of the outdoors. He felt that writing about Holmes was holding him back, both from pursuing other writing and other hobbies. Thus, he wrote the meeting of Sherlock Holmes with his arch-nemesis, Moriarty, in the elevated town of Meringen on a path overlooking the Reichenbach Falls. The pair struggle and fall into the swirling waterfall and are never seen again, presumed dead. This set Sir Arthur free and he moved to Davos, a town known for the spectacular surrounding beauty and its promising influence on health.

Sir Arthur Conan’s wife, Lady Louisa, suffered from tuberculosis, but the fresh air, altitude and sunshine did wonders for her health. This freed Sir Arthur up to push towards some goals he had, one of which was to ski the 14-mile Maienfelder Furka Pass between Davos and Arosa. Conan Doyle wrote about this experience in an 1894 article for The Strand, entitled “An Alpine Pass on Ski,” and it has been cited as the first guided ski tour in the Alps.

Indeed, Sir Conan Doyle was credited with popularizing the sport for tourists and today visitors can find a plaque in Davos to the man, which reads “The perfect pattern of a gentleman.” Intrepid explorers can follow the route he took on ski tours today, admiring the fir trees below and the undulating white slopes of the Swiss mountains, but certain advancements make it a slightly easier journey than it was in the late 19th century.

Visitors can also find the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Meringen, with an authentic recreation of the parlour where Sherlock Holmes met with Watson at 221b Baker Street in London.

JRR Tolkien – Creating a Fantasy World from the Alpine Landscape

Photo by historycollection.com

Avid fans of The Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit have seen the locations of Middle Earth realized through the eyes of Peter Jackson in the blockbuster movies of the novels. This has immortalized the awe-inspiring scenery of New Zealand in the minds of millions of movie-goers as the setting for this fictional world.

However, it was a walking trip that Tolkien took, at the youthful age of 19, that imprinted the majestic Swiss landscape on his brain, providing such striking inspiration that he created a whole world upon its template. Tolkien was invited on the walking holiday by the Brookes-Smith family who planned regular trips every year and brought along friends who wanted to go. Those familiar with Switzerland can call to mind the diversity of its geography – it’s not simply soaring peaks, but bucolic towns and rushing rivers, placid lakes and sun-dappled forests. This is where Tolkien found his Middle Earth, a fact which he relayed to his son by letter in 1967, telling him of his adventures in the country in 1911.

Traversing the Lauterbrunnen valley, it’s easy to see how this became the Elven town of Rivendell, set amid the rocky cliffs with the 300-meter high Stauben Falls thundering down the mountainside into the valley. This peaceful village sets the scene for where Bilbo Baggins could hide from Sauron in The Hobbit, and it was also where the Council of Elrond met to decide the fate of the One Ring.

The Swiss Alps provide the blueprint for Tolkien’s Misty Mountains, the range that provides the heroes with many challenges throughout their journey across Middle Earth. Tolkien’s party of 13 traversed a number of mountain passes, from the Grosse Scheidegg to Meringen and the 2,165-meter Grimsel Pass to the largest glacier in the Alps, the Aletsch glacier – all immersive experiences which likely fed into his writing. When the young man first saw these peaks, he must have imagined them as a place where mystical beings meet – where the land meets the clouds.

John le Carré – History and Fiction Interwoven in Bern’s City Streets

Photo by www.lesechos.fr

David Cornwall first arrived in Bern, Switzerland, aged just 16, hoping to study at the prestigious University of Bern. The quaint city was a dynamic place for the young man – he took a room near the Tobler factory, attended tea dances at the sophisticated Bellevue Palace, and even claims to have washed elephants for the circus.

At church one Sunday, he met a pair of consular officials who would later task him with his first tasks for British intelligence. He found fame under the pen name, John le Carré, when he began publishing thriller novels featuring the spy, George Smiley.

Apart from attending university in Bern, le Carré also made it the setting for many famous scenes from his novels. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”, published in 1974, is one of his best-loved books and one scene sees two British spies evade the police by escaping through stairwells and hallways decked in mirrors and glittering chandeliers. That is the Bellevue Palace, where le Carré spent the Saturdays of his youth.

In “Our Kind of Traitor”, Bern features again. The 2010 novel centers around a money-laundering oligarch who is lured to Bern by the leader of a criminal brotherhood. Later in the novel, a safehouse is found for the Russian oligarch in the Swiss Alps.

Perhaps most profoundly, the magical Old City of Bern is a central location for his mostly autobiographical novel, “A Perfect Spy”. The protagonist, Magnus Pym, travels there to run an errand for his trickster father, where he works odd-jobs at night. Le Carré’s descriptions bring the city alive, even in the candlelight. He also paints a perfect picture of nearby Elfenau, reached by tram, where St. Ursula’s English-speaking church is located, the place of his own recruitment.

 

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Reading time: 10 min
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10 Travel Novels and Books to Inspire You

June 23, 2020 by Luxury Gold No Comments

We’ve rediscovered the enjoyment of a slower pace of life, and many of us have relished the opportunity to spend the extra time we’ve gained catching up on our reading. What better way to relax and use our minds to escape, travelling far away into the pages of a great novel.

We asked our team to provide us with their recommendations for the novels and books that have really inspired them during this down time to discover new places, people and cultures when they are able to travel again.

Which one of our teams’ top recommendations will make it to your nightstand?

© 2015 Fallois Poche

  1. The Final Days of our Fathers by Joël Dicker

This 2010 novel takes us back in time telling a story set in the heart of World War II. It reveals the true story of the Special Operations Executive, an underground branch of the British Secret Intelligence Service who trained French Resistance cells.

Recommended by: Meryll M, Digital Marketing, Geneva

“This is my favourite book of 2020 and is written by acclaimed Swiss novelist, Joël Dicker. The book tells the story of the Special Operations Executive, a British World War II organisation. The book allows you to travel into the past from France to the UK and Germany with incredible protagonists. A stunning literary journey.”

© 2020 Mira

  1. The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Transporting us to the incredible India of the 1950’s, the Henna Artist shines a spotlight on a strong, independent woman struggling between traditional Indian culture (with an arranged marriage) and her desire to live a modern life. At just 17, she flees her marriage and travels to the vibrant, pink city of Jaipur, becoming a highly sought-after henna artist to the upper class and learning their innermost secrets.

Recommended by: Amber B, Custom Groups, California

“I have been reading books from my neighbour’s lending library and I recently found The Henna Artist: by Alka Joshi. What a find this was – India is by far one of my favourite places to travel to and it was so fun to re-visit the country through this book!”

© 2019 Penguin Vintage Classics

  1. The Rings of Saturn by W.G Sebald

This novel follows a protagonist’s journey by foot down along the coast of Suffolk and his many observations. It deals with the themes of memory and history, touching on the Chinese empire and previous trips to Ireland and Belgium as they connect to the stories of the people and places that he encounters on his quest to understand himself and his surroundings.

Recommended by: Hayley G, Contact Centre, Toronto

“I would have to go with “The Rings of Saturn” by W.G Sebald. It’s an intriguing mix of part memoir, part travelogue, and part history as he narrates his journey down the coast of Suffolk. He encounters places and characters of interest both past and present on his quest to understand himself and his surroundings in their correct place in the passage of time, and how they all relate to death.” 

© 1993 Picador

  1. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

This 1992 best-selling book turned movie, follows a group of different people who come together in the midst of World War II in an Italian Villa. A Canadian nurse tends to her last patient, an almost unrecognisable man who has been burnt in an attack, as they explore the patient’s life prior to injury. A story of love, deceit, and painful memories, this book not only makes us want to travel to the Italian countryside, but also highlights the importance of not just travelling the world, but understanding the people and seeing the truth that lies beneath the surface of the tourist attractions.

Recommended by:
Brad F, President, Toronto

“Aside from the obvious appeal of the Italian countryside, deserts, Egypt, Bedouin mythology and sweeping vivid romantic imagery, this story changed the way I wanted to see the world. It encouraged me to look for the incredible stories that lie beneath the surface of the perfect pictures of the places we visit. I’ve read it several times – it was first recommended to me by my Mother, as it was one of her favourite reads. I’m reading it again now, and it sits on my bedside table for moments to lose myself in a story a few pages at a time.” 

© 2014 HarperOne

  1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Written by a Brazilian author in Portuguese and then later translated to English to becoming a best seller, The Alchemist is a brilliant combination of wisdom, magic and self-discovery. With the protagonist travelling from his Spanish hometown through the Egyptian Desert, and meeting a gypsy, a king and an alchemist who all help him in the search for “treasure.” A wonderful reminder of how travelling can help us look inside and listen to our hearts.

Recommended by: Kirsten S, Marketing, Geneva

“When I first read the Alchemist it had become a popular book for people who were looking for meaning, and was discussed everywhere from bus stops to coffee shops. Whilst it’s true that Paulo Coelho has a way of unravelling the mysteries and magic of the world that provides comfort to many, what I took from it was the rich way he described the landscapes and countries of North Africa from times gone by. A reminder that wisdom is not a new concept and that through the act of travel one can find parts of themselves that were once hidden.”

MORE INSPIRING TRAVEL BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

© 2018 National Geographic Society

  1. Spectacle: Rare and Astonishing Photographs, by National Geographic

A National Geographic collection of some of their photographer’s best breathtaking images from around the world.  This coffee table book is beautiful and inspiring, filled with photography that delights and shocks readers, urging them to travel again to find the joy of witnessing a manmade or rare natural wonder for themselves. 

© Viking Australia

  1. Journey From Venice by Ruth Cracknell

An autobiography that follows Author Ruth and her husband Eric’s journey to escape on their carefully planned holiday, with the mission to have more time to think and appreciate life and each other. As Eric falls ill, the story becomes one of unconditional love and a reminder to readers that no matter how well you plan a holiday, life can have its own plans for you.

© 1998 Riverhead Books

  1. The Beach by Alex Garland

Another book turned into an incredible film starring Leonardo Di Caprio, The Beach makes us nostalgic for the adventures of backpacking or a warm summer holiday. Told in first person by a young boy in search of a legendary beach in Thailand untouched by the effects of tourism. Although originally published in the 90’s, the novel’s issue is more relevant than ever as we look to find a more sustainable way to travel and preserve our favourite places.

© 2004 Vintage

  1. The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

Rather than a book about travelling, or where the characters embark on an incredible journey, this book serves as a great reminder of why we travel. The book also highlights some of the issues of glorifying travel, or a specific trip, that may turn out differently than imagined, or not live up to our expectations.  For everyone, it may be different, but for many of us it’s for the sense of adventure, discovering beauty in nature, cultural understanding and personal growth.

© 2001 HarperCollins

  1. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

A beautiful romance novel which is the first of a best-selling trilogy, the book is set in 1941 as Russia entered the second World War. While we don’t wish to be transported back to the chaos and destruction of a warzone, the love story in this novel set in an environment of hardship, devastation and secrets, also creates a love story between the reader and the country of Russia, as we appreciate the harsh winter, grand cities and unique culture.

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Reading time: 6 min
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10 Outstanding Travel Films to Inspire you

June 3, 2020 by Luxury Gold No Comments

As many borders remain closed around the world, we’re constantly dreaming about our next journey and being able to indulge in a luxury journey. For now, we’re only able to dream about our next escape and film is a magnificent way to be transported to a magical far away destination, even if only for a few hours. We asked our Luxury Gold team to share the top travel films that are inspiring their next journey:

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Reading time: 9 min
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