Publication of guide to the Camí de Cavalls

[pigeonpie]

Publication of guide to the Camí de Cavalls

The Island Council has published a guide to the Camí de Cavalls, the public right of way which runs around the island.

Printed in four languages (Catalan, Spanish, English and German) at a cost of 69,000 euros, the guide describes the historic bridal path’s route, dividing it into 20 stages for walks.

An updated second edition is in the pipeline including alterations carried out to the path within the last few months.

[pigeonpie]

Nice photos, shame about the text

A glance at the title “Guide of Camí de Cavalls” should forewarn potential purchasers of the book that this is not actually an English edition as is claimed but a ‘Spanglish’ version. Unfortunate, as the long-awaited guide is well laid out with plenty of lovely colour photographs and sections on practically every aspect of Menorca, from its geography to flora and fauna, archaeological sites, culture and the island’s towns plus, of course, extremely detailed descriptions of the different sections of the Camí de Cavalls bridle path.

However, all the hard work and financial resources which have gone into producing this guide are wasted in the English version where the text is cumbersome at best and almost unintelligble at worst. As an example, a complete sentence taken from the section on the island’s whitewashed houses reads: “The whitewashers lived and cleared the branches from the woods to keep an eye and light the fires” or another from the section on the Menorcan landscape: “Altogether reminds the aspect of a mosaic where each tiny piece may seem similar to the one next but never the same...”

With so many English living on the island it may have been a good idea to ask one of them to proof-read the guide prior to publication and before presenting it to the tourist sector at the World Travel Market in London which must have made the island look unprofessional in the eyes of those who were supposed to be impressed.

Anyone thinking of buying the guide as a Christmas present for a friend may be well advised to choose a Spanish-speaking friend as the recipient and buy the Spanish version which is well-written, informative and proving very popular.

[pigeonpie]

Camí de Cavalls book now on sale in English

The republished English version of the Camí de Cavalls guidebook is now on sale and can be bought for 21 euros from outlets such as the Comercial Papelera, Maó (Maggy Dougan’s).