Travel

If your looking for a gay-friendly place to call home but can't decide among the urban hustle of New York the laidback seaside of Key West or the open daily life of Minneapolis this book is for you. Travellers urban pioneers gay families and those searching for a new hometown now have a easy-to-read book that profiles 50 of America's gay-friendliest cities. Most guidebooks reduce coverage of the local gay community to lists - lists of bars lists of dance clubs lists of hotels lists of resources. 50 FABULOUS PLACES TO LIVE surveys each location from a local's point of view. It features cities that are fun places you live work and visit because they encourage and nurture diversity. Each location is described in detail with special attention paid to information the gay community most wants to know including Gay-positive local politics and policies A dynamic gay community with well-sponsored activities and events Cultural and recreational opportunities. Positive gay health and outreach programmemes

Call of the Camino commences as an account of a walk along the Camino Francés from the French town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, at the foot of the Pyrenees, to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela and then on to Finisterre, the westernmost point of Spain. Something of the history of the Camino is recounted, as well as various of the myths, legends and miracle stories which have over time become attached to the Camino and which have, since the Middle Ages, given special meaning to this itinerary.

The creation of Camino lore, however, is by no means at an end. The next strand to be woven into this work is an examination of the personal myths - the stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves – and the processes through which present-day pilgrims on the Camino may come to “rewrite” those stories. All manner of pilgrims, from all corners of the world and for a great diversity of reasons, continue to be drawn to the Camino. The “miracle” associated with today's Camino, for the author of this book, is how many of today's post-modern pilgrims, whatever their backgrounds or expectations, will come to consider the pilgrimage afterwards as having been one of the defining experiences of their lives.

2010 is the Jacobeo, the holy year of Saint James (a year when the saint's day falls on a Sunday.) The number of pilgrims expected to walk the Camino during the course of the year will be much higher than the 100,000 or more who have been walking it in recent “normal” years.


In 1986 only 2,491 walked the Camino whilst in 2007 (the last year we have seen the records for) 114,026 pilgrims walked the Camino.

The only travel guide to Israel that will help you to prepare spiritually for your visit. Combining in quick reference format ancient blessings medieval prayers biblical references and modern poetry it helps today's pilgrim tap into the deep spiritual meaning of the ancient and modern sites of the Holy Land. For each of 25 major tourist destinations-from the Western Wall to Masada to a kibbutz in the Galilee-it gives guidance in sharply focused four-step sections: · Anticipation: To read in advance. Information to help orient you in the site's historical context. · Approach: To read on the way there. Readings from traditional and modern sources to orient you in the site's spiritual context. · Acknowledgment: To read at the site. A prayer or blessing to integrate the experience into your spiritual consciousness. · Afterthought: Journaling space for writing your own thoughts and impressions. More than a guidebook: It is a spiritual map of the Holy Land.

The pilgrim path to Santiago de Compostela is centuries old, stunningly beautiful and deeply transformative. This route represents the most popular Christian pilgrimage anywhere in the world. This guidebook offers the reader all they will ever need to complete part of or the entire journey from St. Jean Pied de Port in the foothills of the French Pyrenees to the fabled pilgrim city of Santiago to Compostella. Special features: • Overview route planner • 33 daily stage maps with optional routes • 33 contour guides with elevations • List of all pilgrim hostels and alternative accommodations • 16 town plans showing location of hostels and hotels • Sun-Compass to aid orientation • Practical notes on preparation • Equipment checklist • Dictionary with basic pilgrim phrases • Historical notes and places of special interest In addition to the physical route there are pointers to the mystical path with: • Inspirational quotations • Space for personal reflections • A self-review questionnaire to help prepare for the inner journey All this in full colour and designed to fit easily into your pocket.

In their search for a deeper meaning to life and to balance the stress and anxiety of most Western lifestyles, increasing numbers are taking time out to go on a pilgrimage. Many of them choose the most famous pilgrim's route, the Camino de Santiago. But more and more continue from Santiago to the ocean or return to Santiago for this next pilgrimage. In fact the number of pilgrims along this path has increased tenfold over the past decade to an average of 44,000 per annum.

This guidebook contains:

• Daily stage maps including contour guides
• Full information on all pilgrim hostels
• Details of alternative accommodation
• Numerous colour photographs
• Overview route planner
• Detailed town plans
• Notes to help us prepare for the outer and the inner journey

The guide is, also, easy to use, featuring detailed, colour maps and clear directions and is of a size that can be carried comfortably in a pocket so as to reduce unnecessary weight on the journey. There is, also, detailed information throughout the book, from preparation for the trip to returning home afterwards as well as historical notes and details of the fascinating legends and mythology of finis-terre, considered to be the end of the world in the 15th century.

Italy has long been the destination of countless pilgrims, yet THE PILGRIM'S ITALY is the first comprehensive guide to the spiritual side of this ancient country. This unique guidebook offers all that is needed to visit profound pilgrimage sites, meditate on the lives of saints, and feel their blessings. The authors provide step-by-step instruction in simple meditation techniques to enhance the pilgrim's experience, as well as a wealth of practical information to make the journey an enjoyable one. Features include: · Inspiring biographies of the saints · Location of hidden rooms with saints' relics · Instruction on how to meditate with the saints · How to find quiet areas for meditation and prayer · Comprehensive shrine information · Useful maps and directions · Helpful references for lodging in monasteries

The footsteps of pilgrims have echoed continuously through the halls of time as seekers of all faiths search for deeper meaning and purpose in their lives. The tangible vibrations of the saints and their shrines provide a direct personal experience of Divinity and transform lives. This is the power of the pilgrimage. Italy has long been the destination of countless pilgrims yet THE PILGRIM'S ITALY is the first comprehensive guide to the spiritual side of this ancient country. This unique guidebook offers all that is needed to visit profound pilgrimage sites meditate on the lives of the saints and feel their blessings. The authors provide step-by-step instruction in simple meditation techniques to enhance the pilgrim's experience as well as a wealth of practical information to make the journey and enjoyable one. Features include: · Inspiring biographies of saints · Location of hidden rooms with saints' relics · Instruction on how to meditate with the saints · How to find quiet areas for meditation and prayer · Useful maps and directions · Helpful references for lodging in monasteries

Here at last is a guidebook written for the traveller who wishes to experience the spirit of ancient Ireland. Ireland possesses such a vast number of ancient sites that most of them remain unknown and all but forgotten except by those who live nearby.

This book offers directions to some 800 sites in both the North and South. Here are simple wells and stones which are still regarded as places of pilgrimage to the local people. Here, also, are sites of national importance, holy mountains, lakes and rivers created by giants and protected by fairies, ancient churches, round towers, high crosses and beautiful cathedrals built on sites held sacred for thousands of years. The enigmatic temples from pre-Celtic times, the megalithic monuments we call tombs, are all well covered here with many new insights. Some are internationally important like the complex and magnificent tombs of the Boyne Valley. Others sit alone on wild and windswept hillsides waiting to be discovered.

Cary Meehan has explored many such previously uncharted sites and she reveals their secrets in historical and archaeological detail, the legends and folklore as well as the current information on earth energies relating to the sacred nature of these sites. This guide will enhance the experience of any traveller to the ancient magical land of Ireland.

As well as b & w illustrations throughout, the guide also has colour codes by province & county & userfriendly maps and keys.