Following the Sun: A Bicycle Pilgrimage From Andalusia to the Hebrides

by John Hanson Mitchell

An account of the New England Booksellers' Award-winning writer's 1,500-mile journey on bicycle from the port of Cadiz to the Arctic Circle documents his sun-drenched adventures through southern Spain, Bordeaux, Versailles, Wordsworth's Lake District, precipitous Scottish Highlands, and a Druid temple.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Memoir, Scotland, British Literature, Spain, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2002

About the author

Author of six books dealing with the experince of place and natural history. Most recent book is The Paradise of al These Parts: A natural history of Boston (Beacon Press 2008).

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Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me at the subtitle: Who could resist a bicycle pilgrimage from Spain to Scotland? Not someone like me, who has visited one and dreams of traveling to the other. So I brought the book home and the author and I went on a trip together, rolling along on a trusty Peugeot on the back roads of western Europe and Great Britain, sharing fine meals and funny conversations with the locals. Along the way, we stopped to look at prehistoric sites related to sun worship. Mitchell has made quite a study of this, and his erudite discourses on sun lore kept me entertained. It was an easy trip, filled with sunshine and delicious food and intellectual stimulation. He is not a tortured soul, traveling to escape trouble or find healing. He does not seek dangerous adventures. He just tootles along on his trusty bike, thinking about things that interest him, and looking for a nice bed and breakfast next to an atmospheric pub. When I finished the journey with him at the standing stones of Callanish in the Hebrides, watching sunset on the summer solstice, I sighed, and immediately turned back to the first page to start reading again. That's why I gave the book five stars, which I almost never do: I didn't want to say goodbye.

[Morgan (Turbo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book because I am planning a bike tour of Europe and was hoping to get some tips for the trip, instead I discovered a very nicely written book about most religions focus on the sun. In the preface he quotes an old professor, "If you wish to bow down to some god then bow down to the sun. It is the source of all life on earth, the nearest any of us will ever come to experiencing a creator." The author has a vast knowledge of ancient history, art, literature, and the natural world. He often has interesting theories about the religions of the world like the battle between sun religions and mother nature religions. Not exactly what I was looking for but a pleasant surprise.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable read but a bit misleading since the author seems to spend as much time on trains and in cars as on his bicycle. It was also a bit disappointing to get to the end and learn that this tour happened years ago. Still, there is much interesting historical information about sun worshipping.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

at first this quirky writing bothered me, but then i got used the many many asides into astronomy, archealogy, natural history, bike touring, and train hopping. this is a good read about western europe and the sun, and some culture of the raods less traveled.

[Vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

A travel journal interspersed with a discussion of the sun as a religious and/or political symbol. Some scenes make me want to take a bicycle trip like this.

[Sam Dye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in Main Library in DEN looking under bicycle adventures and it was much more than that. Creative and informative from Cadiz to Callanish!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky bike ride on an even stranger bicycle.

[Nancie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book but it needed maps!