Moon video

This is a pretty cool video composite caught by Apollo VIII and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 1968

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dE-vOscpiNc

 

 

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Conflicts in Europe

How did Europe become what it is today?

By Jay

I'm including a link here for further study and reference:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_Europe

I have been studying and visiting museums on the subject of European history and finding it helps me understand how societal changes have occurred and shaped the various issues we are working through in a global way today.

The world has had its share of "Rascals" and "Scoundrels" and it doesn't appear this is going to change any time soon.  More on this to follow.

Hundreds of years B.C. there were small groups of like minded humans foraging for food; gatherers, hunters and eventually farmers.  Conflict was between the humans and nature. At some point in the "metal ages", tools were made to help these humans survive against the elements and to enhance food production. Societal struggles came about when resources were scarce and began appearing over land, poaching, vengeance and at some point over kidnapping of slaves and women. Demonstrations of superiority and dominance over others (by Rascals) led to tools becoming weapons and efforts being made to protect groups from attack by other groups. We see the advent of castles becoming fortresses and control meted out over the common people by the elites and aristocrats. Farmers and merchants were taxed and made to conform to standards not of their own choosing. Landholders were given compulsory quotas for food production that allowed them to keep a portion for their own use, but when crops failed to yield the prescribed quotas, the landholder suffered the most. Often the land was given up as chattel or even forfeited. In our travels in Europe we are visiting huge mansions and estates once occupied by the aristocracy that are now memorialized, made accessible to us through government ownership (for a small fee). One cannot help but draw a conclusion that many of these succumbed to lack of maintenance, occupation by hostile forces, or perhaps onerous taxation.

We learned an interesting accounting related to hunting. At one point the rascals decided that hunting should be restricted to themselves as a measure of their prowess while landholders could kill animals that endangered their crops or families but could not profit from same.

The elites (aka Rascals) devised a hierarchy of royalty, nobles, lesser nobles, knights and such in order to give definition to societal structure. Allegiance, loyalty and subservience were tantamount to securing control. Rascals often plotted against other rascals and the number of familial murders and mayhem are quite notable.

Conflicts lasted for years as wars. While many were touted and justified as religious or political imperatives, the character of high order individuals makes one wonder. Some were revered, others hated and depending on which end of the sword a person was on they were both.

Over decades certain groups rested control over vast geographical areas only to lose that control in subsequent rebellions. Today we see century old buildings reflecting these changes in their architecture, most notably religious structures.

Then there were the "Scoundrels" who got the idea they could dominate and control the whole world through plunder and elimination of vast numbers of humans. Vikings,Turks, Napoleon and Hitler are the most notable scoundrels (heinous criminals) to live. In the scheme of things a lot of people suffered and a few (too many) gained.

The World Wars, I and II, certainly didn't teach us anything except how to maim and kill other human beings. Reading and seeing the evidence on the ground puts these events in perspective but I can find no justifiable explanation why they occurred.  Human cleverness created the ability to hurl large amounts of lethal material into populated areas and destroy infrastructures hundreds of years in the making.

It seems as though the "higher ups" of today are prone to repeating the worst aspects of our history.

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What we have learned in 41 days of travel

What we have learned in 41 days of travel.

By Jay

Please note that the following represents my personal opinion and is not intended to show any animus toward any country or its people and culture. We have nothing but the highest regard and appreciation for our privilege and opportunity to visit these countries and try to always respect the local norms and traditions. No animals were injured in the writing of this dialog.

Padua, Italy is still our favorite. The larger towns that we have visited are full of tourists and everything is expensive. There is a marked increase in the number of Asians traveling in Europe in recent years and far fewer Brits and Americans. Don't expect any theories or explanation here; just an unqualified observation.

Europeans smoke more than Americans and millennials have invented and employed every conceivable mechanism of transportation that does not require walking. The evening stroll is like walking across ten lanes in a bowling alley.

Currency has become more common with the advent of the Euro. Remember traveling with British Pounds, French Francs, German Marks and the Greek Drachma? And carrying and trying to negotiate payment with the American Express Travelers Checks? Well in this trip we have had to negotiate only four non-Euro countries and it's a hoot. Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Hungary and Croatia don't use the Euro and the exchange rates are not simply converted. In Hungary we found it extremely important to count the zeroes on different bills and there are many risks in conducting cash transactions. The Croatian Kuna runs between six and seven to one U.S. dollar, not an easy divisor.

Tip from me: Use Visa card whenever and wherever possible and be sure to have the merchant record the sale in the local currency.

Well, having left Padua a few weeks ago, we have found our way to Zagreb, Croatia, which like Padua is a university town and students outnumber tourists by a good margin. Guess what we have learned about that… everything here is much cheaper than any other place we have been on this trip.

Note to travel file: look for university towns in future travel plans.

Students are notoriously poor and the merchants cater to a much more frugal economy. Zagreb has become our second most favorite destination. Of course Zagreb has many more positives than just low cost.  Croatia is beautiful in its people, culture and history.

My next writing is going to focus on history.

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Our 2017 Itinerary

I imagine sending a daily update to the blog as we move through Europe
We are starting in Venice and will end in Venice moving clockwise on the map.

Click on the map for a larger view.

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Europe 2017 Planning

The following is a glimpse of our planning for a two month circuit in Europe. Keep in mind that our style of travel is very independent; never part of a tour group. We never check baggage and have learned to travel very light and our mantra is "Travel WHERE we can, WHILE we can."

 

Jain does most of the research on accommodations and we work together to put everything in a three ring binder which accompanies us on the trip. I assemble a planning worksheet with Excel for Flights, Lodging, Ground Transportation Transfers and Activities.  Everything is backed up on Google Drive in a private folder in PDF format. If you are interested, I would be happy to send you an Excel template.

 

Our flight arrangements are almost exclusively with Delta and we use our accrued miles for free trips or upgrades. For booking accommodations we use Booking.com, HomeAway.com (VRBO) and AirBnb.  Many times Jain has found the same property on more than one site and she shops for the best deal (price) or the best cancellation policy. Booking.com generally has the best cancellation and payment policies. DO NOT book with a Bank Transfer payment. You will see this often in Home Away (VRBO) and it provides you NO protection from being left out in the cold or victim of bait and switch scheme ("Oh so sorry, we had plumbing problems with the apartment you booked but we have another place for you.") You can learn more about the bank transfer situation on Trip Advisor; which, BTW has gotten more into the booking business than before. They usually show properties and refer you to one of the other booking agencies, like Booking.com

 

We HATE Expedia. They are great on making a deal, but if something doesn't work out, they are extremely non-responsive when it comes time to get your money back.

 

We have an annual travel insurance policy with Allianz. Their executive plan has great coverage for $700 for both of us. They paid off like a cash register when I hurt my leg and had to cancel our Tahiti vacation. Jain just couldn't imagine how much fun it would be pushing me through the sand in a wheel chair. I filled out a form, had the doctor sign "No Travel" and we got a check within two weeks.

 

Here are some links that I think you will find helpful in your planning.

 

Deutch Bahn (German Rail)

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml

 

Tickets online – Italian Rail

http://www.fsitaliane.it/tcom-en

 

Flixbus (Bus travel through Europe)

https://www.flixbus.com/

 

Rail Europe

https://www.raileurope.com/index.html

 

The Man in Seat 61 (Excellent Resource for all travel; extensive web site)

http://www.seat61.com/

 

We have very little experience with renting cars so won't attempt to steer you. We have used Avis and Euro Star and everything we read suggests that you make the arrangements here in the states before you get there with no cars (or only very expensive cars) available.

 

 

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