28n June 2026

Greetings!

Hello from lovely Riga, where temperatures are below those of Paris, Amsterdam, London, and Rome, but certainly unseasonably warm here in the Latvian capital.

The solution to that, of course is Agusta Zupa -- Latvia's gorgeous beetroot summer soup. I stocked up on all the ingredients to make this marvelously cold and refreshing soup. I will to get this up on the website this week. The weather certainly warrants it.

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We left Seabourn Ovation yesterday, very reluctantly as it was a superb three weeks in Iceland and Norway. These Northern European countries are always a reset for me, and a great way to finish up a full two months on the road! Sadly, Schipol, normally so delightful and efficient was almost buckling from the excessive heat, insufficient air conditioning, and half of the world trying to get through security. I really loathed my HVAC guy in Massachusetts — a more annoying and useless human never drew breath — but I feel that anyone else in the industry should look to the EU for opportunities.

We have more than 144 new subscribers this month! I thank you for your interest and welcome you again to this weekly missive, where I alternate between destination/region/museum deep dives and recommendations from the Books for Travelers section of my website, along with podcasts to go deeper.

As a subscriber to the Destination Curation Newsletter, you have access to my ​ cruise schedule ​, which you can visit ​ here. ​If any of these voyages align with your travel plans, I'd love to share the journey with you.

This week’s reading recommendations take us east and south: to the contested, sun-warmed waters where Europe, Asia, and Africa have argued, traded, and intermarried for three thousand years. I’ve been putting the final touches on my lecture line up for two months in the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean. These are regions close to my heart: two of the more layered cruising grounds on earth.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, each harbor wall has been built, breached, and rebuilt by someone with either ambition or grievance — or both come to think of it — and certainly an impressive fleet. The three books below will not let you arrive ashore lacking context. One is a doorstop I adore, one reads like a thriller, and one will make a heap of Bronze Age rubble break your heart. Pair each with the podcast that follows it, and you will be ready for the region!

​Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West

Some books you read; others you move into. Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is the latter: a 1,100-page act of devotion to Yugoslavia that began as a six-week journey in 1937 and never really ended. It remains the most ambitious travel book ever written about the Balkans and the indispensable companion for anyone sailing the Adriatic.

West sees everything: the Ottoman inheritance in a Sarajevo coffeehouse, the Venetian stones of the Dalmatian ports, the fault lines that would crack open again within her lifetime and ours. She is opinionated, occasionally maddening, and never dull. Yes, it is long. Pack it anyway, or load it onto your e-reader and let West narrate the coast as you glide past Split, Hvar, and Kotor. You will understand why these alluring shores have been coveted, contested, and adored for two thousand years.

​Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 by Roger Crowley

If you have ever stood on Istanbul's land walls and wondered how anyone, ever, got past them, Roger Crowley wrote Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 for you. Crowley is the rare historian who writes battle with a novelist's pacing and a sailor's eye for the water. Here he trains both on the fifty-three days in 1453 when Mehmed II's cannon finally breached the city that had held for a thousand years. The result reads like a thriller, yet every cannonball is footnoted. You finish it understanding not just how Constantinople fell, but why its fall still echoes: in the Hagia Sophia's contested silhouette, in the Orthodox world's long memory, in the very name of the city. Read it before you sail the Bosphorus, and the skyline rearranges itself into something far more dramatic than a postcard.

​1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline

We are fond of imagining the ancient Mediterranean as a sequence of tidy, separate civilizations. Eric Cline's 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed demolishes that comfort. In the Late Bronze Age, he shows, the Egyptians, Hittites, Mycenaeans, Minoans, and Babylonians were knit into a single, dazzling, globalized world — one that came apart with terrifying speed, undone not by a single catastrophe but by a cascade of them: earthquake, drought, famine, migration, and the shadowy Sea Peoples. Cline writes with the brisk clarity of a working archaeologist who has spent decades in the trenches, and his subject could not feel more contemporary. For travelers bound for Greece, Crete, or the Turkish coast, this slim, gripping book turns a field of Mycenaean stones into the wreckage of a lost global age. You will never look at a Bronze Age site the same way again.

​The History of Byzantium: pair with Constantinople

Where Crowley ends, Robin Pierson begins. The History of Byzantium picks up the story of the Roman Empire in 476 and carries it all the way to that final siege in 1453, one meticulously researched episode at a time. Pierson is a born storyteller: lucid, wry, and never hurried — and his command of a thousand years of emperors, schisms, and palace intrigue is total. I’ve listened to the entire thing once through, and revisit specific episodes when doing research, or just when I feel in the mood for something specific. It is rightly considered one of the finest narrative history podcasts going. Begin anywhere; you will soon be hooked, and Istanbul will never look the same.

​The Rest Is History: pair with Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

On my last voyage, I met so many “Tom and Dom” fans! Better known as Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook: the genial, absurdly erudite hosts of The Rest Is History, one of the most downloaded history podcasts in the world. Their multi-part series on the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand — several episodes recorded live in Sarajevo itself — is the perfect audio companion to West's Balkans. They trace how a teenage assassin and a tangle of Serbian secret societies lit the fuse of the twentieth century, all delivered with the wit and warmth that earns the show its near-universal five-star adulation. Listen before you walk Sarajevo's streets, and history will feel startlingly close.

​Tides of History: pair with 1177 BC

Patrick Wyman holds a PhD and, mercifully, wears it lightly. On Tides of History he takes the big, structural questions — how empires rise, why they fall — and makes them gripping. His episode "What Was the Bronze Age Collapse?" is the ideal accompaniment to Cline, expanding the story of that vanished, interconnected world with Wyman's characteristic blend of rigor and momentum. The show is a consistent favorite among serious history listeners, praised for being both deeply researched and genuinely accessible. Queue it up on a sea day before Greece or the Aegean coast, and the ruins ahead will hum with new meaning.

Be sure to check in with the ​Destination Resources Reading Lists,​ which I update regularly with new books, podcasts, TV and film, and other resources designed to make your travel meaningful. I did a big update recently, changing the format to make it easier to navigate. Visit ​via this link​!

I finished The Other Bennett Sister last night, and I will miss it! I loved it for its championing of relationships of the mind, its winks and nods to Jane Austen’s own life, and the marvelous acting. I understand there will be a Christmas special, which will take the place of the Call the Midwives that has been an anchor in our Christmas night line up for more than a decade.

I don’t know how I missed The People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks when it came out, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it as I sourced images and make slides for three new talks. It was engrossing, intriguing, and hit some of my favorite places and historical periods: Venice and Barcelona in the 1500s, Seville in the late 15^th century, and Vienna during its indulgent belle époque. The story surrounds an Australian book restorer’s search for clues about the provenance of a rare illuminated Haggadah that miraculously survives the siege of Sarajevo. I listened to the audio book and I have to say I wouldn’t recommend the narrator. But the book is a phenomenal story.

Best Hostess Gifts

I loved this post on Substack, by the always entertaining Plum Sykes about hostess gifts.

My daughter came to me recently with this dilemma: what makes a good hostess gift?

We had quite a brainstorming session.

Unless the host or hostess specifically directs you to bring alcohol, I never feel this is the right way to go: you don’t know what’s on the menu, you may not know what the rest of the party likes, and you may be screwing with the hostess’s pairings.

However, an upscale bottle of spirits — think Bombay gin, Grey Goose Vodka — wrapped in tasteful wrapping paper, which you hand to the hostess and indicate that it is for her to enjoy after the party is a good idea. She can always regift it, or keep it on her bar tray for guests.

However, these days you just don’t know. My advice to Francesca was a lovely bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We all use it (don’t we?) and the good stuff — the drizzling oil as opposed to the sauté oil — is pricey. Wrap it with a lovely tea towel and you will certainly be invited back.

I was intrigued by the idea, and spent some time gathering up gifts that I have bestowed as well as the ones that have delighted me in this list. A few highlights below, but let me just say that the marvelous silver holder for Tabasco is also available for Worcester sauce, tomato ketchup, Coleman’s English Mustard, as well as Marmite. Looking for a gift for someone who has everything? Look no further. I’d love all of them…and I hate Marmite.

​Kosterina Green Goddess Olive Oil: Early-harvest and cold-pressed in Greece, this is the peppery, grassy oil that turns a heel of bread into a small holiday in Crete. I keep one tin by the stove and a spare by the door, ready to press on a deserving host.

​Michael Aram Backgammon Set: Few things civilize a long evening like backgammon. This one folds shut into a quiet objet and opens into hours of cheerful rivalry — the gift for the host whose table doesn't empty after dessert.

​Quince Mediterranean Fig Candle: Fig, sun-warmed and faintly resinous: the scent of a courtyard in late August. If you miss the Mediterranean, light this to fill your home with the scents of Italy.

​Linen Cocktail Napkins: A stack of softly colored linen squares — ochre, olive, sage, teal — that make even a Tuesday drink feel deliberate. The un-showy detail that silently tells your host how much you appreciate their hospitality.

​Blue Lagoon Iceland Bath Salt: Iceland's famous geothermal minerals, bottled for your own tub. The most transporting bath a busy host can take without booking a flight north.

​The Vintage Magazine Rack: A warm mid-century rack for the host who still keeps proper books and magazines within reach of a good armchair. Character no big-box gift can match.

​PORTA Sterling Silver Lea & Perrins Sleeve: Worcestershire is a permanent resident of any proper table, so it ought to dress for dinner. Quietly witty, unmistakably luxe.

​Houdini 6-Cube Ice Tray: Slow-melting, jewel-clear cubes for the host who takes a cocktail seriously. Small, scarlet, and disproportionately appreciated. I have four and would welcome more!

​Blue & White Pagoda Salt & Pepper Mills: Chinoiserie at its most charming: hand-painted pagoda mills that turn seasoning into a flourish. For the host who sets a romantic table.

​Green Hand-Painted Umbrella Stand: A bold baroque sweep of green on cream is perfect for any doorway with similar colors.

​Bauer Pottery Monterrey Footed Bowl: California pottery with a storied past and a glaze you'll want to touch. A footed bowl that elevates olives, fruit, or simply a shelf.

​6-Player Croquet Set: Croquet on the lawn remains the most civilized way to start a friendly argument. Packed in its own case, it's the gift for the host whose summers deserve a little sport.

​Verve Culture Olivewood Box Grater: A handsome olivewood box that grates the Parmesan and catches it too — the clever, beautiful tool a host will reach for every week.

Shop the full collection here. Check out my Mediterranean Home collection as well.

One more thing before you go. If this week's reading has you dreaming of Adriatic stone, Norwegian wood, African sands, or Antarctic ice, let me send you ashore properly prepared. My free guide, The Discerning Traveler's Cultural Companion to Cruise Regions, distills the history, culture, and cuisine of fourteen cruising regions — from the Eastern Mediterranean to Scandinavia — into one elegant, carry-it-ashore resource. It is the context I wish every guest arrived with: not a list of sights, but the story behind them. Consider it the amuse-bouche before the feast. This is a free resource, and if you’d like to send it along to the cruise-curious friends and family in your life, just send them this URL 👉🏼 https://jennifer-eremeeva.kit.com/cultural-companion-k.

• ​8 Hours in Athens from Piraeus: A Cruise Port Day​
• ​The Parthenon Marbles: Athens's Hotly Contested Sculptures​
• ​Greek Cuisine: The Complete Guide for Cruise Travelers​
• ​Exploring Ancient Ephesus from Kusadasi or Izmir​
• ​Ancient Greece: Mycenae and Minoan Crete​
• ​What to Do in Dubrovnik — Old City Walls & Beyond​
• ​Mostar's Old Bridge: Bosnia's Bridge of Sighs​

I hope you've enjoyed this edition of the Destination Curation | Books for Travelers Newsletter.

If you'd like to share it with a friend, just forward t Or copy and paste the URL and share it in any way you wish! I deeply appreciate your support for my work!

I hope wherever you are, it is cooler than the heart of Europe! Happily, our forecast in Latvia promises cooler weather this week, which will be a balm as I do my very dull tax prep and other important administrative things. I will then head to Dubrovnik to join Seabourn Quest for eight weeks of sailing in the Aegean and Adriatic. I’ll be rolling out new articles and 8-Hour Guides to major destinations.

I love hearing from you -- let me know how I can help make your travel meaningful. I am rolling out new 8-Hour Guides to popular cruise destinations and love getting suggestions for new ones from this amazing community of readers.

Did you miss my last newsletter? Here are links to the previous three editions.

​🌏 Fourteen Regions: One Guide 🌏​

​🇬🇷 Ageless Athens 🇬🇷​

​📚 Books for Travelers | May 31, 2026 📚​

Safe onward travels!

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