Legion of Angels News Archive

Look online — there are travel deals everywhere.

CheapTickets.com is offering a $100 discount on packages to several beach destinations like Puerto Rico, Hawaii and California. Orbitz.com is offering 40 percent off international flights to the Caribbean, Italy and Spain. At Expedia.com, there are 50 percent discounts on hotels across the country.

It must be autumn. This time of year is when travel providers are looking to compensate for the decline in travel that inevitably follows summer’s peak. The Travel Industry Association says that 38 percent of trips are taken during the summer; the number drops sharply to 23 percent in fall. The discounts are also used as a way of spurring tourism in destinations where the crowds dissipate after the high season.

Consumers who shop for travel specifically during the off-season can reap the benefits, says Lorraine Sanders, an expert and blogger for the travel Web site Kayak.com.

“When you look at all the possible resources,” she says, “you’ll find savings you didn’t realize were there.”

Sanders recommends that consumers stay abreast of the latest sales by subscribing to weekly newsletters distributed by travel providers, which often list last-minute discounts. Another strategy is to request fare alerts via e-email from an airline that services certain destinations.

The best bets
Useful as these techniques many be, however, they won’t help much for travel to destinations where prices remain high throughout the fall, like New York and Chicago. For the biggest savings, consumers should look to beach spots in the U.S. and the Caribbean, where cooler temperatures mean fewer crowds.

Hotel rates in these regions are expected to drop as much as 40 percent, according to a recent forecast by CheapTickets.com. In Miami, hotel rates will likely shrink by 33 percent to an average daily rate of $110. The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau also maintains a list of hotel and resort deals, which includes complimentary nights and food and gas credits.

On Mexico’s Riviera Maya, where tourists can lounge on sandy beaches and visit archaeological ruins at an ancient Mayan city nearby, a hotel room will cost an average of $219, a savings of 23 percent over peak-season prices.

“You can get unbelievable bargains in these destinations,” says Heather Leisman, senior director of merchandising for CheapTickets.

The only caveat of visiting destinations on the Gulf Coast or Caribbean this time of year is that they can easily be interrupted by a hurricane. If that risk outweighs the benefit, less-expensive getaways in Europe are a great alternative.

Think outside the continent
The Azores Islands, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, offer hurricane-wary travelers the chance to enjoy a warm-weather island vacation after summer passes. Paying European prices to golf and sail may not seem like a bargain, but getting to the Azores can be. Regional air carrier Azores Express is offering a fall package that includes round-trip airfare from Boston and six nights of lodging at one of six country inns, starting at $979 per person.

Iceland also isn’t a conventional pick for a fall vacation, but it offers an affordable, off-the-beaten-path experience in Europe. With the krona dropping in value against the euro and discounted airfares from Iceland Air going for as little as $478 from New York, it’s an ideal destination for those who enjoy hiking, kayaking and sport fishing.

If Europe seems a bit too far and the planning too involved, Kathy Krawiec, assistant director of AAA New York, suggests that travelers look into cruises. Not only do cruises offer predictability in pricing, purchasing an all-inclusive package and departing from a nearby port — instead of flying to one — can save consumers hundreds of dollars on top of the seasonal discounts.

The other advantage of cruises is there’s no shortage of options. For a multi-day tour of Canada and New England departing from New York City, Norwegian has cut prices to $249 per person. If warm and sunny is more appealing than cool Northeast weather, Carnival is offering three-day trips from Florida to the Bahamas starting at $199 per person.

With so many options, it might be hard to choose. But Lorraine Sanders of Kayak warns against hesitating. “If you’re not on top of things,” she says, “those fares will be gone quickly.”

Source — MSNBC

(Tribune Media Services) – Here’s your reward for taking a staycation this summer.

The price of a real vacation is now a bargain. A steal, actually.

Why? A lot of Americans skipped their summer getaway, forcing nervous rental companies, hotels and restaurants to slash prices. We had our reasons for staying home, of course. Record high gas prices, a soft economy and air travel woes made us miss the expensive out-of-town vacation.

So between now and the holidays — the traditional off-season for a lot of vacation hotspots — here’s your chance to make up for lost time. The deals will be good. Really good.

Call it the staycation effect.

Consider that Florida is in a deep recession, weighed down by declining real estate values and rising unemployment. In Orlando, hotel rates are expected to go into freefall, as properties get desperate to fill rooms.

Ditto for Las Vegas, which is seeing its lowest hotel rates in five years, according to a recent survey. Among the bargains: $60 a night at the Monte Carlo, $103 a night at Loews Lake Las Vegas and $199 a night at the Wynn.

But there are other reasons why you should book a vacation now, in the waning days of summer. Reasons that go beyond the bargain you’ll probably find.

It’s a “magical” time of year

When it comes to tourism, Orlando turns into a ghost town in September, which may be why many of the city’s top restaurants throw a fire sale. It’s called Orlando Magical Dining Month. The event is billed as a showcase of the globally influenced plates being served in Orlando’s “celebrity-chef studded eateries, one-of-a kind resort kitchens and award-winning neighborhood establishments.”

Participating restaurants feature three-course, prix fixe dinners for $19 or $29 all month long. These aren’t B-list places, either. Among the participating restaurants are Le Coq Au Vin and Emeril’s.

Entire islands are on sale

Few destinations have been as hard-hit by the staycation trend as Hawaii. The overall number of visitors fell about 5 percent during the first half of the year, which prompted the Hawaii Convention & Visitors Bureau to pump about $3 million into a campaign to bring people back to the islands.

The result is a comprehensive initiative offering deeply discounted airfare, free hotel room nights, free meals, free rental cars and free food and beverage dining credits. You’ll save “at least” $200 on your next trip to Hawaii, it promises. This kind of sweeping discount on meals, cars and other activities comes along once in a generation. It’s enough to make me want to say Aloha to the Aloha State.

Some vacations are free

Ever wanted to visit Lancaster County, Pennsylvania? The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau is giving away two nights at the Lancaster Arts Hotel this fall. Lancaster County is one of my favorite places to visit during the fall. It’s quiet and the fall foliage is spectacular.

If you’re looking for something faster-paced, Las Vegas is offering a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to experience Sin City with three chances to win everything from a tattoo at Vince Neil Ink to a Zero-Gravity plane ride. If you’re reading this before the end of September, there’s still time to enter the contest. If not, ask yourself: if more people take staycations, imagine what next year’s giveaway will look like.

Good things come in packages

Not only are the package deals offered by the likes of online travel agencies like Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity getting more and more affordable, hotels are getting into the act, too.

For example, at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois, guests can take advantage of one of its deeply discounted fall packages. Among its deals are a fall bonfire special, which includes a campfire sing-a-long with a direct descendent of Buffalo Bill or a horse-drawn hay wagon ride around the resort, plus a $25 breakfast voucher and, of course, accommodations. It’s available from September 5 to November 23, and rates start at $119 a night. (The cheapest rate I could find on its site during August is $139.)

Yes, even Europe is discounted

Worried about the sinking dollar? Just wait a few weeks for your European vacation, and you could save big bucks. I’ve been giving this advice for years, but this year the deals are particularly attractive. Auto Europe’s combination airfare/car rental rates, valid on departures from September 1 through October 31, include roundtrip airfare (along with the fuel surcharge) and three days of rental. Boston to Venice, Italy, is $797. With the money you save, you could get a room at the San Clemente Palace Hotel & Resort.

But my favorite reason for planning a fall getaway goes beyond these sales and specials. It has to do with the fact that almost no one else vacations in September, October and November.

One of my most memorable off-season vacations happened last year at the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Marco Island, Florida. The summer crowds had vanished, leaving a near-empty beach and a staff eager to lavish personal attention on the guests who remained. We never had to wait for a table at Quinn’s on the Beach, a restaurant that served tasty tropical drinks and Caribbean-themed appetizers. And the highlight of our visit was a WaveRunner tour through the nearby mangrove forests, looking for dolphin and manatees.

I can’t imagine vacationing at any other time of the year, not just because of the reasonable prices, but because it’s the only reasonable time of year to travel.

Source — CNN

WASHINGTON - The last House vote before a vacation usually sparks a stampede toward the doors and waiting planes. Not so on Friday, when Republicans occupied the House floor for a rare, and at times bizarre, protest against Democratic energy policies.

The microphones were off, the House had stopped TV feeds to C-Span and the lights dimmed after the pre-noon vote to adjourn for the August recess. That didn’t deter Republicans, who one after another rose to demand that Congress stay in session until it does something about high gas prices.

Unlike a normal session where the rules of decorum are strictly enforced, GOP lawmakers and their aides who filled the chamber clapped, chanted, gave standing ovations and booed the Democrats.

“Madame Speaker, where art thou?” shouted out Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, in a glancing rhetorical shot at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Where oh where has Congress gone?”

It was a rare treat for tourists. Republicans invited many, in their shorts and sandals, into the chamber, usually strictly off-limits, to better hear the revivalist-like speeches.

The talkathon finally ended around 5:00 p.m. EDT, more than five hours after it began and 30 minutes after police escorted tourists out of the chamber. The Capitol closes to tourists at 4:30 p.m. In a grand finale, lawmakers led a roomful of aides in a rendition of “God Bless America” and walked off to chants of “USA, USA.”

The event, said Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, one of the organizers with Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and Tom Price of Georgia, was “the equivalent of the Boston Tea Party over the energy issue.”

Republicans are angry that Democrats blocked them from a vote on allowing more offshore oil drilling and increasing domestic oil supplies.

Democrats have faulted Republicans for obstructing their efforts to stop market speculation, press oil companies to develop the leases they have and force the president to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. The result is that Congress is leaving town without a comprehensive energy bill.

Source — MSNBC

If you’ve read the “King Arthur” legends more times than you can count and your family is worried that you attend too many medieval fairs, it’s probably time for a vacation at an honest-to-goodness castle. Though many medieval castles have been renovated and brought into the 21st century as modern-day hotels, a handful still retain their Middle Age roots and are open to overnight stays, public tours and private and corporate events.

“A castle embodies luxury, romance and chivalry and is laden with history and tradition,” says Freda Katritzky, publisher of “Chateaux Prives,” a guide to private castles, palaces and estates around the world. “They are the ultimate status symbol, and they were built to impress the beholder and to serve as the seat of ultimate power in the region.”

King Arthur didn’t have Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs, so living the life of a 17th-century duke or king—even for a day—may be rather spartan. But that’s part of the charm. “Many castles feature an attentive and helpful staff, but don’t expect to receive the level or variety of services you would in a five-star hotel,” says Patricia Blanche, owner of LCF Custom Travel & Tours in La Canada Flintridge, Calif. “Castles tend to be in more remote or rural areas, so fine dining and other entertainment options can be limited.”

If you’re planning a corporate retreat or family event at a castle, Blanche advises, it’s best to plan well in advance “since it’s somewhat difficult to improvise when it comes to last-minute changes in entertainment or activities.” As with hotels and resorts, rates can change throughout the year. In the off-season, a deluxe room can cost as little as $300 per night; at peak times, minimum stays may be required—and prices may run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Castles aren’t just a European phenomenon. They’ve been so important through the ages that they still turn up in some unusual places. Zhang Yuchen, a Chinese entrepreneur, inherited a passion for all things French from his father, who secretly devoured books by Dumas, Flaubert and Voltaire during the Cultural Revolution. His Chateau Beijing Laffitte opened in 2004, ten miles north of the Chinese capital, and is probably the only castle in the world with ten karaoke studios on the premises.

As one of the world’s newer castles, Chateau Beijing is, of course, in top condition. For older estates, you’ll typically come across the phrase “fallen into a state of disrepair” at some point during its history. Indeed, the Oheka Castle in Long Island, New York, has numerous before-and-after pictures on its web site to demonstrate just what “disrepair” can mean. When developer Gary Melius bought the 115-room, 23-acre estate in 1984, the castle had been abandoned for six years—during which time vandals had set more than 100 fires. Even today, after spending $30 million on its restoration, the castle is only 70 percent completed.

Unlike castles that have been converted into hotels, these more traditional properties offer a limited variety of lodging accommodations. Often, your choice is between a small building with one bedroom and a “small” guesthouse that sleeps 30. Though again, there are exceptions.

But just because they were once stately old castles doesn’t mean they’re immune from engaging in a bit of modern-day marketing. Even castles have to set themselves apart from the competition. The Chateau de Villette, for instance, makes no secret that several scenes from “The Da Vinci Code” movie were filmed there; Chateau de Brissac bills itself as the tallest castle in France. At Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, guests are invited to adopt a deer from the herd at the Deer Park at Culzean Castle & Country Park: “All monies from your adoption go towards the upkeep of your chosen animal.”

Staying in a castle is not for everyone. But if you’d like to channel your inner Lancelot or Morgan le Fay, it’s one of life’s un-missable experiences. Says Blanche, “For those who have a sense of history, a bit of an adventurous streak, and can swing with the unexpected, a castle experience can be memorable and most rewarding.”

Source — MSNBC

Looking to cleanse your soul as well as your body on your next vacation? The monks of Russia’s Valaam Monastery might have just the ticket.

The monastery, which is located on an archipelago in Lake Ladoga, northeast of St. Petersburg, is looking for volunteers to work there, in exchange offering room and board for two weeks, as well as transportation by boat to the islands.

This would not be your typical getaway. It’s a world away from Club Med or Sandals.

At the monastery, one of the holiest sites in the Russian Orthodox faith, volunteers work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday — with a break for lunch — and from 9 until 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

Men and women — including married couples who might want to volunteer together — are housed separately, in rooms for between four and 10 people.

You don’t have to be Orthodox, a Christian or even a believer at all to volunteer, but the work is an opportunity to learn about a faith that is little known in the United States.

“Orthodox spirituality is always powerful,” said Father John Oliver of St. Elizabeth’s Orthodox Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn., who volunteered at the monastery before he joined the clergy. “The idea of remembering God in every aspect of life. It’s the sense that I have to work the field, so I’m going to use it to get close to God.

“Physical work humbles the body,” he said. “It familiarizes a person with the basic cycles of nature, and with how life works.”

The work is mostly agricultural — plowing, sowing, harvesting, weeding and other tasks. The monastery is self-sufficient, but a lot must be done in the short summer to ensure that there is enough food for winter.

The monastery also maintains its own fleet, a garage, farm, stables, forge and workshops, as well as orchards with about 60 varieties of apple trees. There are also a bakery and a dairy.

All of this is necessary, because Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe, is at least partially icebound from November until March or April, leaving the monastery virtually cut off from the outside world for nearly half the year.

That isolation, though, is part of what makes Valaam such a deeply affecting place to visit, even if you’re not quite ready to commit two weeks to living like a monk.

“It felt fundamentally sane — the pace of life felt organic,” Oliver said of his time there. “There’s never a wasted moment, but it felt fundamentally sane.”

The effects of that pace of life are visible on the faces of the men and women who live at the monastery. They glow with a calm and seemingly generous energy, a warmth that even casual visitors to the islands quickly come to feel within themselves, as though it was in the air itself.

If the spirit of the people who live in a place, can come to inhabit the landscape and change the very atmosphere, then maybe that is why Valaam feels the way it does. The islands have been home to a monastery for more than 1,000 years. According to church chronicles, it was founded in the first half of the 10th century by a Greek monk, St. Sergius, and his Karelian companion, St. German, when Christianity was just starting to spread throughout what is now Russia.

Despite its isolation on the rocky islands in the center of an icy lake 60 miles wide and nearly twice as long, the monastery was ravaged several times in wars between Sweden and Russia, but each time, the monks returned to rebuild the site.

During the Soviet era, the islands were used at various times as a navy school, a home for disabled soldiers and the elderly, and as a dumping ground for people the government considered undesirable. Through it all, the monastery buildings were allowed to go to ruin by a government that banned religion.

In the 1960s, there were plans to turn the islands into a tourist resort, with rides and attractions and an airport to make them more accessible, plans that, according to the monastery Web site “would have killed Valaam.” The plans, however, were never carried out.

The monks were only allowed to return to Valaam in 1989, and as they had many times before, they immediately began restoring the monastery.

After seven decades of Soviet rule in Russia, though, the monks had a more important goal.

“The monastic task is not the restoration of the cloister walls and not the gold of iconostasises, but rising a man in Christ’s spirit, living in patience, humility, and obedience to God, keeping clear conscience,” Archimandrite Pankraty, the abbot of the monastery, said after the buildings were returned to the church.

Nevertheless, the churches and other buildings of the monastery have been lovingly restored. Its current incarnation dates from the late 19th century, when a new cathedral was built, consisting of the smaller Church of St. Sergius and St. German and the majestic Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior.

Perched on the highlands at the northern end of the largest of the archipelago’s islands, the cathedral’s sky-blue and white belfry and five domes reach up to the sky, the gold details glistening in the sun.

There is very little on the islands besides the monastery and several sketes — small communities of hermits. Most of the land is pristine pine forests, untouched by any development. In the harbor, there is a small café, but no other amenities for the tourist.

That, however, is what makes the place so special for the visitor. Unlike the palaces around St. Petersburg, which are certainly beautiful and lovingly restored to their imperial glory, Valaam is not a museum, not a historic site. It is alive.

Yet, it is a life that you will have difficulty finding in St. Petersburg or Moscow, which are both increasingly glittering, bustling cities, where it can seem that oil and natural gas money has bought out the famous Russian soul.

Valaam, however, feels completely out of time. There are trucks and machines — the monks do not disdain modern technology, and even have a Web site, www.valaam.ru — but those signs of the modern world seem oddly anachronistic.

On Valaam, the spiritual life of the monastery is stronger than the modern world.

“The benefit of a visit to Valaam is an exposure to an ancient way of life that has produced saints, a way of life that — if followed — will produce sane men and women,” Oliver said. “Going to Valaam helped me fall in love with the sacred, and with what the sacred can do in human lives.”

That may be a lot to expect out of a vacation, but if you are looking for a place where the beauty of nature and the beauty created by man are in harmony, Valaam is the perfect destination.

For information about the volunteer opportunity at the monastery, e-mail valaam2008@east.ru.

Source — ABC