“Huh? Oh no, the vacuum of doom! You can’t even tell that they exist in time and space.”

It’s not a well-kept secret that settings challenge me. More than a few times when writing, I marvel at how my characters can exist in a vacuum. My characters just cease (or never began) to interact with the environment around them.

And descriptions! I’m definitely not one to write long, flowery sonatas about the scenario, and I know that doesn’t make me a bad writer. Just that when I do try to write about settings, I try to describe something in my head and there’s no words. I don’t know what that detail is called, nor how to find out what it is called, or how to describe in less jarring and humourous terms as “thing-a-ma-jig.”

A recent #ufchat on Twitter reminded me just how much I’ve neglected setting. Not simply just the buildings, but as came up during the chat, the history of the place. The feel of the place. What makes that place unique and different from any other place. How that feel lends itself to shaping the plot and atmosphere so that readers can’t imagine it ever happening anywhere else.

(I am getting better at having my characters interact with a space – but that’s a lesson for another post.)

So, in an effort to rectify this, I hereby dedicate part of my Europe trip to setting. Where better to learn about atmosphere, places and differences than in four different countries?

While every place I go will (hopefully *fingers crossed*) teach me about setting, I’ve chosen three places to visit in particular. Pay no mind that two of the places I planned to go to anyway. These three picks may not seem right for an urban fantasy setting, until you delve deeper into the hidden oasis of preternatural creatures such as they fae, but works quite nicely for my current piece of sci-fi/fantasy.

And yes, I am referring to travel guides for the knowledge of architecture.

The Doge’s Palace, Venice

This palace, or palazzo, is huge! Of course, it was for the elected ruler of Venice and for centuries was the only building worthy of the title palazzo. The outside owes it’s beauty to 14th and 15th century designs, and maverick designers who broke from tradition with by perching the pink Verona marble onto lace-like Istrian stone arcades, or so my guidebook says. From the picture, it appears to be startling white, with some very interesting statues.

Why I want to go: A little bit because I’m in love with Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series, which features Venice as La Serenissima. Even after reading about the Doge in the second book, I wasn’t quite sure what the Doge was (thank you Wikipedia). I’m curious about the (probably) torrid history of the Doges.

In addition – Venetian architecture and canals! From a mainly land-locked perspective, Venice features an almost entirely alternative way to build. The innovative way they built the city on a lagoon by using logs as a base… Plus, torture chambers.

La Cité de L’Architecture & Du Patrimonie Musée

What better place to learn about French architecture than a French museum on architecture? This museum offers exhibits from the Middle Ages to contemporary on architecture, wall paintings and stained glass. Did I mention that the displays include life-size casts?

Why I want to go: What better way to learn how to describe architecture than by studying the buildings themselves? Perhaps in a museum which provides labels and explanations for each feature. I hope to learn the proper names, as well as glean ideas about how different places are put together.

Chateau de Versailles

Extravagance upon extravagance. Did you know that Marie Antoinette had a small village built within the walls so that she could play milk maid? Well, there’s more to it than that. It did provide food for the table. The guidebook could only go into so much detail.

With over 700 hundred rooms and acres of land… They let you rent an electric car just to get around the grounds. I’ve scheduled a whole day to take it in.

Why I want to go: As I’m writing about characters who can have every extravagance they think they desire built for them on a whim, this was a must-see on my list. It’s a symbol of absolute monarchy – and my characters are absolute monarchs, given the right to rule by the dark gods themselves. The only ones who wouldn’t bow down to them as they rightfully should were each other.

If you could go anywhere to experience first-hand that setting, where would you go?

*Photos are not mine, but are through the Creative Commons License. Click on them and explore more of these great photographers’ pictures. P.S. The Versaille picture was taken on an iPhone. Wow.