onlooker wrote:Yes, I support the 911 families suing the Saudis.....
The 911 victims and families believe they have cause to sue the Saudis because the Saudi's aided the hijackers. Hopefully Obama won't veto the law in order to protect big business and his wealthy Saudi benefactors.
onlooker wrote: Planty.... I am going become a freelance journalist. Oh and Plant, I am glad you can afford to afford to take vacations to exotic locations. Wish I could.
Travel in Europe can be surprisingly cheap----you just have to travel like the Europeans do. Don't go on the expensive tours (who needs a big bus and a loud pushy tour guide anyway or a giant gaudy cruise ship filled with other Americans).
Heres how to go cheap
#1. Stay in cheap hotels and hostels. When I did the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across northern Spain there were hostels all along the trail. The hostels, run by cities and religious orders, charged 10 Euros a night! And that included breakfast. I would pick up something simple for lunch for a few Euros, and for dinners restaurants served special multi-course "pelligrino" dinners (i.e. special meals for pilgrims---you had to show your pilgrim ID, which you got for free at a hostel) for 10 Euros---including local wines. So I was spending about 25 Euros per day on food and lodging. Heck---I can spend that at home just for a restaurant tab. Now I also rented a bicycle (about 100 Euros for three weeks) and one night the hostels were all full and I stayed in a private home for $25 Euros, and another night I was sick of the bunk beds in the hostels and I splurged out 70 Euros for a three star hotel in some little Spanish town so I could watch English language TV channels and have a private bathroom, but altogether I spent 3 weeks crossing northern Spain on the camino for about 650-700 US dollars, not counting my airfare to Spain.
#2 Go off season. When I went to Greece last spring I went in late March. My airfare from Alaska to Athens RT was $800. The airport hotel in Athens was 100 Euros. But then it got cheap. I flew to the island of Rhodes for 47 euros. My hotel on Rhodes was 50 euros a night. I took public buses to get around Rhodes---a few bucks a trip. Then I went to Paxos by ferry and had an oceanview room in an ocean front hotel for 50 Euros a night. Again, free breakfast. Took public bus around the Island and up to the famous monaserty for the most beautiful hikes in the world down the mountainside to the town, passing by the Cave of the Apocalypse where John wrote the book of Revelations--- except for one day I rented a car --- 15 Euros for the car for the day. Then the ferry to Athens and on to Hydra---one of the most famous and poshy places in Greece. My hotel there was 40 Euros with free breakfast, again with spectacular hikes along the coast to even little towns---one had the best Greek taverna in the world, with grilled octopus to die for. Then ferry back to Athens and three nights at a posh hotel where my room had a view of the Parthenon...again about 50 Euros per night with free breakfast. The deal is european hotels cut their prices by 50% to 75% in the winter!
#3 Figure out how the locals travel. When I went to Sicily and Rome last Christmas holiday I ended with a week in Rome. My beautiful 18 yr old girlfriend and I split the hotel room so thats 50 Euros a night divided by 2 is 25 Euros a night for me, including a wonderful free breakfast! I bought a bus pass good for a week unlimited travel on Rome buses and subways---about 40 Euros or 6 bucks a day. And every European city has what I call the "restaurant street"---an area filled with small sidewalk cafes competing for the cheap travelers money, with very inexpensive but rather nice four course meals for a set, low price. So everyday we'd go a different museum, church, Roman monument, or Roman flea market or street market for free with the transit pass, then returning to the 25 Euros a night great hotel where we talked about the art we had seen, then have a nice dinner and wine on the restaurant street with the trams clattering by our sidewalk cafe, and then up to room for some memorable sexual encounters (18 year olds are inexperienced but enthusiastic). The week in Rome cost about $400 US dollars.
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If you want to travel in europe then I suggest you just go do it. The cheapest possible trip is the Camino. Get a cheap flight to Madrid, take the train to somewhere along the route, check into the hostel, and start walking with the pilgrims. Vaya con Dios!