Travel without rules. Like religion without a Benedict. Sant Pere Pescador. Did we all lose with Benedict

Where does Travel, Unscripted, Lead?  
To areas of thought not earlier examined.

Do we dare.  

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Saint Peter the Fisherman, Church, Sant Pere Pescador, Figueres, Spain

 A Theology Match.

From travel and exposure to all those wars of religion in Europe, 
ask which is more "Christian."

History says: Benedict and his Rules, because Rome's version won.

What do Offbeat-Travelers say?

Meet a Catalan alternative.
Sant Pere Pescador, in Catalan, Saint Peter the Fisherman.
Not Peter as buried under icing at the Vatican.

This has come slowly, as a surprising and unintended personal conclusion to one who is not a Sunday Regular, an issue not considered at the outset. It is the issue of Rules in Religion, when it seeks institutional power rather than faithfulness to a Founder, and the role of Rules in shaping Western ferocity in putting down religious dissent. This echoes in politics, with parties wielding exclusionary Rules, in hopes of centralizing power and influence.  Must religion do the same.  It has. What on earth are we doing with all our rules. Who so ordained? On what authority? Is the origin of Western Violence rooted in early Mithraism, Roman, ideas of vengeance, hierarchy.

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Is this so, after seeing years of travel where issues related to religious determinism have ruled by power, not merit in closeness to meanings of texts. Would we have been better off as Western Civilization, if Benedict, embodying Rome's Regimentation and need for Rules, and hierarchy, had not taken root in the evolving "Christianity." What if is a useful inquiry, in focusing on alternatives that might still be available.

• What if the concepts of Pere Pescador, Peter the Fisherman, not Peter as hailed in glory at the Vatican (what??)  had prevailed, instead of Paul the Romanist, against all the political and military odds of the Time.  Would we all be more at Peace? Including with Islam? Are we so dyed in the wool that we cannot see how we got here.
•  What if Paul, originally from Tarsus, a seat of Mithraism, that in itself influenced Rome, rejected Mithraic practices and stayed with those of Jesus. See Sociology of Masculinity in the Middle East, by Dr. Hossein Adiby, 2006 paper, at 4ff, Mithraic influences on major religions. "Mithra, a male god, was worshiped only by men at Mithraic shrines." Social structure of patriarchy, man owning his family, etc. Search for "Mithra" and "Mithraism."

Travel is like, would you believe, life.  The approach a person taken to either, I think, reveals how far that person will value autonomy, independent thought.  Or is authority absorbed as gospel. Follow the guide with the bouncing flag.

With all the opposition to autonomy through the centuries, is autonomy worth it. Institutions oppose autonomy. They all fight it like Crusades, whether corporate or evangelical or union or whoever.

And they win in direct confrontation, of course.  Here, the Papal complex at Avignon, where armies in the name of God were raised against dissenters, Cathars.

Avignon, Bishop's Palace, France.

In response to that opposition, for those of us who cannot survive well without autonomy, must we nonetheless support someone's "institution." Even travel institutions. The opposition to our kind of travel is fear.  Must we fear other people, other cultures, others in control including religious, so that we have to travel in little gangs with flags leading the way to what we may, or may not, see..

WWF Theology Match.

After fourteen years of unscripted travel in Europe, the Car-Dan Tour Company, we raise our own flag again for human individual contact in cultures, no tours, rent a car and go. What will you find.

We began as an enrichment course for a Down Syndrome son, Dan Widing, who had met the age limits for education through the system.

We are an ersatz family event consisting of a supportive Dad, not a tour company at all, and the Dad stays home because he does prefer an agenda.  So Dan and Mom head out, an aging but spunky lady with an amazing Down Syndrome adult son with enormous human and intellectual capabilities that we barely scratch, Mom who likes not knowing and heading out. Dan has caught the bug.  Our theme song:  I wonder where the Car-Dan is sleeping tonight?  And much laughter. Which way next?  Cross arms and point in opposite directions, more laughs, and pick one, and go.

Ask, as to the option of road trips instead of tours.  Can a reasonably  intelligent person engage in travel without rules imposed by some outside "guide." Is it safe, what is gained, or lost. What is the on-balance result. Can there be religion without a Benedict's rules.  Yes.  Can there be travel without a company's rules. Sure.

Then, can a reasonably intelligent person engage in life without rules imposed by some outside "guide" even when someone else's interest is not at stake.

 Is it safe.  What in this kind of randomness is gained, or lost. What is the on-balance result. When to trust a "guide."  Who tells you something is as important, as more important to an individual, than what is said and whether it is believed.

San Pere Pescador.  I am of a Christian Protestant tradition, and find the idea of a simple fisherman embodying the essence of Western Christianity on point.  Not the riches and accumulations and force through Crusades, that Peter in Rome, at St. Peter's, the fake tribute to one whose ideas were fast abandoned in favor of Avignon's riches, embody.

Sant Pere Pescador.  That "resonates" in the terms of the introspector-groupies.  Pere Pescador.  Find us. We need you.

I am an unscripted, but heritage, Christian, so leave now if you like.  The theme here is a religious one:  spurred on because it is impossible to travel freely in Europe without finding at nearly every turn, the effects of forced rigidity in Western religion.  Largely, this took the form of Rome and Paul's spin against all other interpretations, forcing conversions, dogma. Hundred years' war. Thirty years' war. Rome and the regulatory monastic houses against meeker Irish theology This is now a firmer interest after 14 years of unscripted travel:  and at the root, after the Roman Empire, find the influence of Benedict,  Sixth Century, Roman Empire fallen, Europe decentralized, peoples migrating all over, lawlessness for lack of processes.  There was also faithfulness: the Celtic, individualized Christianity, the contemplative, the seekers, Christian forms in the Middle East.  Not for long, says the Rules Man -- who does bring protection of walls and more productive agricultural systems to the monastic territories.  He also fosters a malignancy and intolerance of others, that taints us yet.

Vestiges of lost alternatives do remain:  Compare to truths of The Losers --  as the figure of Sant Pere Pescador, Saint Peter the Fisherman in Catalan. Heart, seeker, contemporary.  He was there. 

Cheap Travel to Europe Falling Prices This Fall

It doesn't seem possible that the summer is already over! I hope that you had a great time this summer and were able to find good travel bargains. There were a few to be had from time to time and often they were in the most unusual places. I didn't expect to see any cheap prices on my recent trip to Istanbul, Turkey. I thought I might be better off taking a camel train and paying for the food and water for myself and my animal rather than paying for airline tickets. However, I was pleasantly surprised that Istanbul and Turkey in general is opening up more and more to the cheaper carriers. This has caused some of the traditional "old school" airlines to lower their prices to stay competitive.

The good news is that we are seeing more destinations popping up on our screens when we search for budget-rate fares and carriers. It seems to be a trend that has caught on and is expanding in Europe. Gone are the days of simply paying the national airline whatever price they ask if you want to land in a certain country. The free-skies agreement has opened up the competition and lowered the prices for all travelers. Are customers looking to travel on the cheap less desirable to hoteliers and restaurants? That is another conversation for another time. But I will say that hostels are starting to open up where there previously never would have been a market for them, because their location was a destination of the rich and famous.

Well, nostalgia aside, the observations made above relate mostly to cheap travel within Europe. For anyone from N. America, the challenge will remain getting across the Atlantic to start traveling within Europe itself. The time to do this is in the "off-season." Fall is setting in and the travelers will be slowing down, especially anyone who has to consider school dates. So families with school-age children, teachers, professors and students are no longer able to fly, especially mid-week. Fall is the time to see the airline prices... well, Fall (yes we did!). Since the Olympics are over in London, things might be cooling down enough to actually find some good fares to London.

If you didn't get to travel this summer and have been waiting for Cheap Travel to Europe, the time seems to be here and "the price is right." You might want to "come on down!" I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.

Starting a search from the East Coast, I was actually able to find some pretty good prices out of Newark. I tried the consolidator 1800flyeurope.com. With the new target of $800 to Europe, I would say that this Fall is a good candidate for Cheap Travel to Europe!

Outbound Flight
American Airlines	Departure: 26 Sep 2012 11:05 PM Newark Int Apt (EWR)	Arrival: 27 Sep 2012 11:05 AM Heathrow Int Apt (LHR)	Nonstop
Inbound Flight
American Airlines	Departure: 03 Oct 2012 6:05 PM Heathrow Int Apt (LHR)	Arrival: 03 Oct 2012 9:15 PM Newark Int Apt (EWR)	Nonstop
$761.85  (Total price per person including all taxes and fees)

Cheap Travel to Europe in Summer

Perhaps this title is an oxymoron. Cheap travel? In the summer? To Europe? You might be saying "No way!" Perhaps you are ready to avoid the long drawn out quasi-intellectual conversation about "what is cheap?" Perhaps you just HAVE TO GO. The Old Continent is calling you and you have the days off (the upside of a down economy?). You didn't get a ton of notice and had you known six to eight months ago, you wouldn't have had the money to put down on a ticket anyway.  So what are you going to do? If you have the money or a credit-card that isn't maxed out and you HAVE TO go to Europe THIS SUMMER, you just have to buy a ticket. Maybe your long lost friend, the exchange student is getting married and they found you on Facebook and you just HAVE TO be there. Maybe you just now found out you made the olympic synchronized swimming team. Whatever the reason, let's just say you are buying a ticket without a lot of advance notice.

If nothing else, this information will give you some kind of factual basis for all those future (let's face it, they're probably NOT) intellectual conversations about when is the best time to buy to get cheap travel to Europe.

Right now, if you had to go from Chicago to London and you could give yourself twenty-one days advance notice, and you wanted to spend two weeks in or around England, you would need to be ready to part with close to $1,000.

Exactly $972 per person if you fly Virgin Atlantic or United (both of which have non-stops to Heathrow, BTW). These are Wednesday flights from August 15-29th, 2012

Don't lose heart, though, Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Dublin is almost $200 cheaper on US Air on a one-stop through Charlotte (not a bad airport at all). $786 to Dublin (same dates as the London flight) from the Midwest is not too bad at all, given the recent hikes, taxes and fuel add-ons (which have never been reversed, interestingly enough, despite oil being at a recent low of $86/barrel, but I digress). You can go from Boston for $737 (dollars--not Boeing--I kid. I kid!). I would still shoot for $600 from the East Coast for it to qualify as truly "cheap travel to Europe" but we have already established you are going.

From London or Dublin, you can get to almost anywhere in Europe for a pretty cheap flight, as I mention in my classic (OK, it's not a classic, I just wish it were) post: gateway cities. One of the main players out of these two markets is Ryan Air.

Using the "new cheap" bar of $700 for a round-trip to Europe and considering that these flights are out of Chicago, the next time people are saying you can't get any good deals during the summer, you might be able to say "Well, I know of at least one exception to that rule." To which they'll tell you that exceptions prove the rule. Like I mentioned, they aren't really intellectual conversations, after all. But a little bit of hard evidence never hurts.

Travel to Santorini one of the most beautiful islands of Greece!

Fira is the capital of Santorini and undoubtedly one of the most beautiful settlements of Greece, along with Ia. It is built on a naturally impressive site, on top of the cliffs and along the fringe of the caldera at an altitude of 260m. The haven of the town is Fira's bay, where someone can get the teleferique to go up to the town.




-Book here cheap air tickets and hotels to visit Santorini

Alternatively, you can choose going up to town with a donkey or by foot if you are even more adventurous! The view towards the sea captivates you so much that I suggest you be very careful if you pick the latter option (go up by foot) – the cliff is steep and not guarded.
Fira was founded at the end of the 18thC and has been built in the traditional Cycladic architectural style. The houses are brilliant white, small, with domes and arches and lots of little windows along their sides, overlooking the beach; together, they cheekily sneak out from the narrow streets and tease you. Along the fridge of the caldera, the terraces become balconies for the nearby houses.

However, despite the traditional neighborhoods, the bright white houses and the blue domed churches, a walk around the island’s busier streets - where shops and cafes have proudly claimed their space - will make you realize that you really are in one of the cosmopolitan Greek islands.

Santorini Volcano
Santorini owes its existence to it's volcano. Being the only geological phenomenon of the Aegean Sea, the volcano created a place of unique beauty in its heart.
Both Santorini and its volcano will undoubtedly fascinate you. It co-exists with the underwater one of Koloumbos, which is situated 8klm from Santorini, Nisiros, Milos and Methana, as well as the rest of the volcanoes in the Aegean Sea.

Santorini's volcano became active 2,5 million years ago and is still active to this day. Its latest volcanic surface in the Eastern Mediterranean was created just 50 years ago, on the island of Nea Kameni.

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Travel Haiku. Europe Road Ways Review

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Travelers'  Haiku:

Road trips look-back, when costs fit.

Travel still enchants.

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Europe Road Ways Review

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Austria
Empires' crossroads.  Wien,
Mauthausen. Complicity's
Shades. Play on, Mozart.
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Austria, baroque nativity

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Belgium
Old pride riven: Wars,
Culture divides. Still, stalwart.
Plus art. Great waffles.
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Antwerp, Castle Steen, Lanagerwappen

Bosnia
Muslim. Orthodox.
Christian. Mostar's bridge rises.
Who the heretic?

Bogomil grave, Bosnia

Croatia
Spirit, Bishop, Nin.
Mass, Croatian. For that, banned.
Seek!  Autonomy!

Nin, Croatia, Bishop Gregory of Nin

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Czech Republic
Pilsner, property
Confiscated. Ethnic-cleanse.
Now rising, claims Self.

Hradec Kralove, CZ

Denmark
Was fierce! Vast in lands.
Ancient vitality firm,
Then sapped. Return. Sass.
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Denmark, Sonderborg Castle figure

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England
Jolly old. Self-full.
Exploited colonial
Subjects roost roots here.

Leeds, England. Turtle, ducks back

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France 
Devastate. Repeat.
Marching armies, Popes, Kings.
Courage! dit Piaf.

Angers Castle, France

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Germany
Lockstep. Reconstruct.
Marshall Plan! Wealth back. Affront!
Bailed out, now must bail?
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New construction,  Berlin, Germany

Hebrides
Standing stones, Vikings,
One-lane roads with lay-bys
Wind. Knights' churches. Breathe!

Rodel Church, Clan MacLeod, Hebrides, Scotland

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Hungary
Roma, Jews,  traces
Of the purged. Oft invaded,
Turns against its own?

Great Synagogue, Dohany Street, Budapest

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Ireland
Spirit of early
Monks rubbed out by Rules, and faked
Invasion permits.
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Norman Tower House, Ireland

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Italy
Vatican kingdom
Grows power, riches. Edicts.
We like Juliet.

Verona, Italy. Juliet and Dan Widing, Italy

Liechtenstein
No unemployment!
Banks at ev'ry turn.  Name names!
Nope. Won't.  Can't tax this.
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Luxembourg
Mighty caverns, trade
Routes, military legends,
Patton. Hamm. Salute.

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Montenegro
Mountains, guerrillas,
Invaders, fjords, Cetinje.
Ostrog survives all.

Ostrog Monastery, Montenegro

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The Netherlands
Tallness, tulips, cheese,
War-crimes court, social coping.
Heritage. At brink?

Canal, cars, houseboat, Amsterdam, NL

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Orkney
Scots now. Whither Picts?
All Norse place names.  Old wipe-out.
Wind-tunnel town streets.
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Romania
Harsh needs, harsh crossroads.
Rome, Roma, cacophony.
Vlad, Lenin, try all.

.Roma, scavenging, Romania
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Scotland
England's muscle-flex.
Uproot crofter! Kill the brave!
Old lives live, despite.
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Robert the Bruce, Stirling Castle, Scotland

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Sicily
Ancients, temples, sea.
Wars. Untamed Aetna. Smokin'!
Cultures, cliff towns. Eat!
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Mt. Aetna, lava, smoke, Sicily

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Slovakia
Defenses, old, new.
Heaviness of history.
Offset: festivals.
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Spis Castle, Slovakia

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Slovenia
Caught. Powers straddled.
Old, proud Carantania
Conveniently wiped.

Lake Bled, Slovenia

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Sweden
Rus-roots, Caucasus,
Sigge Fridulson. Culture
Highjacked? Uppsala.

Old Uppsala, ancient burial mounds, Sweden

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Poland
Easy invade. Flat.
Divided. Abused. Admire!
Retained humor, arts.

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Wales
Edward's great castles.
Stop on the way and listen.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
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Switzerland
Bet both ends v. mid.
Gnome secrets. Alp views distract.
Uncommitted thrive.
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I. Child not for college?
Parents: Offer direct sense
In some way. Go there.

II. Where? You pick distance.
A family root. Crofter?
Mongol? The Black Plague.