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Go to Galicia - Follow the Way of St James
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Spain is a country that as has been described on a great many occasions is actually more than just the sum of its constituent parts.As a country that still has great inter regional “differences of opinion” - euphemism here for cultural differences and in some cases acts of terrorism, Spain still has a tremendous amount to offer.

As you travel around the country you see glimpses over past rich in the heritage of former conquerors be they the Moors, medieval Spaniards themselves or parts of the country that have Jewish and other international flavours.

There are numerous religious sites and pilgrimage routes within Spain as befits a country that is how such a profoundly religious background.

If we take one of these pilgrimage routes, the Camino de Santiago, the way of St. James.This first became a popular route for pilgrims in the ninth century when apparently the sepulchre of St James was discovered and as a result in the century’s ensuing, pilgrims from around the world have flocked to this route to have the chance to walk along the route to pay tribute to the apostle St. James.

El Camino de Santiago has out a chequered past with regards to popularity indeed at some points that has been barely interest at all. Folklore says that during this time prisoners used to walk along the route is the attempt to try and perform penance. It is arguable that political unrest in the 16th century, Black plague, Protestant Reformation may have had something to do this.

Interest in this particular pilgrimage route was revised in the 20th century when UNESCO made Santiago de Compostela a world heritage site – a site that now has since become the setting for one of the world’s biggest pilgrimages.

In addition to people undertaking the religious pilgrimage of which there are a great many or so as many if not all who travel along the route to appreciate the route for nonreligious reasons.

The route is more than just one route and the three most popular would be the Camino Frances, the Camino del Norte and the Camino Ingles. It has to be said that the most popular pilgrimage routes originate in France, leading from the north or France right down to Spain. All of the French routes come together and meet in the town of Roncesvalles in Navarre.

To be totally honest nowadays all but the most ardent and fervent pilgrims start out along the Way of St James from Roncesvalles and proceed along the 760 kilometre route to Santiago de Compostela. As they pass through historic towns and villages along the route such as Navarre, Burgos and Logrono, many pilgrims claim that having gone through this experience en route they feel suitably spiritually prepared for when they arrive at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

The French route is the more popular of the three routes.

A fairly functional but recognizable system of yellow arrows is used to ensure that all war is and pilgrims along the way to not get confused and deviate from the actual route itself. It is said that these were by and large painted in the 1970’S by Father Elias Valdinha who as well as wanting to improve the way also wanted to avoid more confusion that was necessary and also to ensure that all pilgrims arrived at their destination in good order as well as humour!

A considerate man.
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Scott James writes about all sorts of automotive issues on the Internet and Check out the following for more information about the above: Travel Galicia / http://www.travelgalicia.info/santiago-de-compostela.html

In the first face-to-face meeting between the Bancroft family and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch, the two sides convened yesterday for more than four hours to discuss issues of journalistic independence for Dow Jones

WASHINGTON — Existing-home sales retreated in April, dropping to the lowest pace in nearly four years in another negative sign for the slumping housing sector.

Home resales fell to a 5.99 million annual rate, a 2.6% decrease from March’s revised 6.15 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. March’s rate was originally estimated at 6.12 million.

The median price for a home previously owned was $220,900 in April, down 0.8% from $222,600 in April 2006. The median price in March this year was $217,400.

NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said he has anticipated slower demand because many subprime-loan products have dried up.

“In addition, increased scrutiny by lenders is stopping risky mortgage origination, which is good for both consumers and the lending community,” Mr. Yun said.

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The April resales level was below Wall Street expectations of a 6.18 million sales rate for previously owned homes. The 5.99-million pace was the lowest since 5.94 million in June 2003.

The subprime mortgage market mess is expected to restrain sales going forward. The Federal Reserve’s latest quarterly survey of banks’ senior loan officers, conducted in April and released last week, showed lenders tightened standards on subprime and nontraditional mortgages. Analysts expect tighter standards will lower the number of mortgages approved and keep sales depressed.

The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.18% in April, up from 6.16% in March, according to Freddie Mac.

Inventories of previously owned homes rose 10.4% at the end of April to 4.20 million available for sale, which represented a 8.4-month supply at the current sales pace. There was a 7.4-month supply at the end of March, revised from a previously estimated 7.3 months.

Sales of existing homes dropped in all regions, down 0.7% in the Midwest, 8.8% in the Northeast, 1.7% in the West, and 1.2% in the South.

Getting a “Real” Real Estate Agent Could Help You Sell Your House Properly

It might not be rocket science but it is safe to assume that actually selling your home is not necessarily that easy an undertaking. The logic behind this assumption is fairly simple in that if it is was then there would be no need for Real Estate Agents.

There are two known ways of selling your home, by FSBO (for sale by owner) and the other option is thru a sales agent or real estate company.

If you opt for FSBO, the first thing you need to do is to determine the current market value of your house by benchmarking with comparable houses for sale in your neighbourhood. You can do a personal survey or flip the pages of the local daily to obtain references. Once determined, it’s time to do some house cleaning: clean the clutter in the yard, perform necessary house repairs and make the interior as presentable as possible. The next step is to advertise your intention of selling your home thru the local daily. Make use of the internet, print flyers and employ friends and relatives to distribute them for you. If payment is made in cash, then this will not be a problem; however, because a huge amount of money is involved in most cases, it is best to ask a mortgage broker to help in the facilitating the sale.

Once all of the above items have been set up, interested buyers will make a house call to request for an open house, a tour of the premises or negotiate for a fair price. In most instances, professional appraisers accompany house buyers to assess carefully the actual state of your home. Thus, be alert and precise in your answers so as not to downgrade the marketability of your home. Some buyers hire real estate agents to do the negotiations for them and to consummate the sale as well. It is preferred that negotiations be conducted between real estate agents since this would make the sale easier and also hassle free.

If on the other hand you don’t like the FSBO set-up, then hire a reliable real estate company to handle the sale of your house and sign a possible listing agreement. They normally charge a fixed fee from the proceeds of the sale. However, don’t be alarmed about such charges since these are all mandated by regulating government agencies and agreed upon as a standard by legitimate associations of real estate companies. Therefore, you’re assured that you won’t get overpriced.

A swift sale of your house can be expected from most experienced real estate agents, since they are well entrenched in the business and have connections in the industry. If you put your house in the sale block, real estate agents will swarm like bees and alert possible buyers of the intended sale. Agents arrange for mortgage financing in case buyers could not pay in cash or refinancing if they have an existing house loan and wish to transfer to your house. All you will ever need to do is wait! Let your real estate agents do the peddling and just sign the sale agreement once the sale is consummated.

After a thorough assessment, a sale coursed a real estate agent is much better than one sold by FSBO. The only drawback is a chunk of money is usually taken out of the proceeds to pay for professional services. But this is rightly justified. After all, you don’t need to experience the rigors and hardship of a FSBO and might as well get to possible buyer scams. So go find a real estate agent today and let them do all the work for you.

Scott James writes about a number of Internet Real Estate based issues such as Real Estate Investors, Home Finance and also about Insolvency Services UK and Foreclosure Issues too

It has to be a young man’s nightmare scenario.

You’ve had a wild night out with the boys, stumbled into a club at the end of the evening, fallen in love, promised the earth and now it’s put up or shut up time.

“I don’t care where we go as long as we’re together” she whispers breathily down the phone “anywhere will do as long as it’s with you.”

OK two days later and now you are beginning to develop a state of wholesale panic. She thinks she’s going away for the weekend, your bank manager and Credit Card Company think otherwise. What’s a guy to do?

As far as you can see it (and bearing in mind we are probably talking about hormonally powered tunnel vision here) you have two options.

On the one hand, there is the prospect of you and the object of your desire, locked way in some hotel enjoying a weekend of unbridled passion and a very annoyed bank manager. On the other there is an extremely pleased bank manager and the prospect of a weekend at home, alone watching the footy!

However, for the more creative amongst us there are other options available. These might not seem quite so obvious but they are there nonetheless if you know where to look. I am talking of course of finding somewhere for a weekend on a budget.

For the more creative amongst us there are a number of locations throughout the United Kingdom where you could enjoy a weekend and not break the bank. No that this does not mean touring the UK from one YMCA to another (not wishing to denigrate the YMCA who serve an extremely useful and brilliant purpose) but somewhere more imaginative.

Have you ever thought of a low-cost weekend in somewhere like Bristol for example? From about £36 per person per night you could have your choice of ready furnished one and two bedroom city centre apartments by the Temple Gardens and on the waterfront overlooking the Floating Harbour. These apartments come with fully fitted out kitchens, lounge areas and a selection of all sorts of digital recreational facilities (DVD Players, Broadband Internet Access etc) and are well worth an investigation. If you fancy this sort of weekend then contact Saco Apartments at 0845 122 0405 (sacoappartments.co.uk).

If Bristol doesn’t take your fancy how about a couple of nights in Brighton?

For prices as low as £40 you could get a bed for the night at the George IV guesthouse in Regency Square, with sea views and in one of Brighton’s finest squares.

If neither Bristol nor Brighton takes your fancy how about the weekend in Belfast based at Arnie’s Backpackers just round the back of Queens University where cosiness is guaranteed?

It’s cute it’s cosy, guests are offered a free cup of tea on arrival, you get to chill out around real coal fires (probably burning peat rather than coal) and if you’re a nice they’ll let you stroke the two resident dogs. Prices start at £9 per person per night.

The above suggestions are just for starters and it is easy to see how things can actually work if you are creative enough.

Plan carefully and she’s happy and the bank managers is happy too!

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as American Airline Flights and Cheap Cruises. A keen exponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of Great Days Out available.

BMW 3-Series Voted Britain’s Safest Car

BMW and Citroen apparently manufacture the safest family cars according to a recent study published in the United Kingdom recently. The study which apparently covered all major automobile manufacturers was carried out by the magazine Auto Express and Euro NCAP, an independent automobile safety institute.

The particular cars in question were the BMW 3 - series and the Citroen C4.

This was a major study and involved hundreds of cars which were put through a massive series of passenger and pedestrian protection tests.

There were a whole series of accident avoidance procedures that were looked at and there were nine overall categories of vehicle from which the top three cars in each category were chosen.

A rating system of stars was used and each winning car was awarded up to a maximum of 14 stars.

The BMW three series scored 10 styles and was the best, in the large family car section. It was commended for its protection for child passengers and scored well in head on collision tests.

Matt Johnson of the joint sponsors of the study Auto Express said “if the worst does occur to count on the road, you’ll want to be in the homework will protect you and your family.” Makes sense to me.

“Cars have got significantly safer over recent years thanks to these independent crash tests. A models safety rating is a major factor people consider when choosing a new car.”

“Many cars now score a full five stars [in eight categories]. But within this band some do better than others and our list separates out the very top performing cars.”

“These are the ones which Euro NCAP reckons offers the very highest level of safety for their class and is something car buyers should be aware of.”

As was mentioned before there were nine categories of Britain’s safest cars. The first category was the “super minis”. Winners here included the Peugeot 207, the Fiat Punto and the Toyota Yaris.

The second category was small family cars; winners here included the Citroen C4, Ford focus, Mercedes A- class. Next came the large family cars in which the BMW three series Volvo S-40 and Volkswagen Passat came out as winners. The Lexus GS300 triumphed in the executive Cars, the Honda S2000 won the roadsters section. The Volkswagen Touareg was voted best large off roader and the Land Rover Freelander was the best small off roader.

The best small and MPVS wants the Toyota Corolla Verso and the Ford Galaxy was voted best large MPVS.

As had been discussed in the media, both sponsors of this study were concerned that safety is now of such paramount concern that it is essential that as many prospective buyers of cars are aware of safety issues overall.

Stephen Morgan writes about a number of Automobile based issues such as
Automobile Technology and
used cars for sale and all sorts of general matters relating to Car Dealers.

Bulgaria, a former communist country is one of the new and rapidly developing economies and new democracies within Eastern Europe Bulgaria is now a fully fledged member of the European Union having gone through the full process of admission in the so- called latest “in-take.” Economically Bulgaria like a lot of the former communist countries of Eastern Europe has seen good times and bad times and at the moment things appear to be on the good side.

Well Kerry and an experienced what could be described as a macro economic stability and strong growth since the major economic downturn in 1996 led to the downfall of the then socialist government. As the result of political upheaval the ensuing government became committed to economic reform planning and more importantly responsible fiscal planning.

Traditional economic interests and industries are important still in Bulgaria and basic minerals including coal, copper and zinc etc. play an important part in Bulgarian industry.

Economically Bulgaria things took a major turn in 1997 when the foundling macro economic stability was reinforced by the imposition of a fixed rate of exchange against the German D-mark and the negotiation of a standby agreement gave the International Monetary Fund the so called IMF.

Subsequent to this steady progress on proposed structural reforms coupled with low inflation have improved a business environment; and as such Bulgaria has managed to average around 4 % growth since 2000 and has at last managed to attract significant amounts of foreign direct investment.

Though the political and economic climate has improved in all areas there are still problem areas such it is best to try and avoid. Alongside any of the other former communist regime’s corruption in public administration involved area have delayed reforms this coupled with the week judiciary and the presence off organized crime are probably combined to make the largest challenges this fledgling Democracy has had to face.

Though not technically regarded as one of the many industries in Bulgaria, the property market has now started to come of age. Property prices involved in Bulgaria rank amongst some of the cheapest in Europe. Matt having said since Bulgaria joined the European Union price is on property and real estate on now rising.

Unlike other countries it is expected to see a surge in property values in Bulgaria continue.

It was argued at the time by the international Herald entry. But they reckoned it was impossible to make losing investments in Bulgaria’s real estate sector.

Again like some of the other former communist countries of Eastern Europe Bulgaria is playing fairly serious catch up on the economic front.

In one year in the late 90s residential property allegedly went up 36.6% and it is forecast that property prices though still much lower than the rest of the Central and Eastern European countries like Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are still likely to remain buoyant.

Real Estate has turned out to be one of Bulgaria’s fasted growing economic sectors data from the National Property Association shows. International analysts said however that it is not the influx of foreign capital as the driving force that is keeping the Bulgarian market buoyant rather the growth in the Domestic Economy played an important role also.

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as
Real Estate Investment and
Real Estate Marketing.

By Scott James

Without wishing to stretch the imagination Turkey for those who don’t know it is a huge country located in south Eastern Europe. Of course this is a moot point because technically the Bosporus is where Europe meets Asia

Turkey borders the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Georgia. Turkey also borders the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Syria

This makes Turkey slightly larger than the state of Texas (this last point is added for the sake of our American friends). With a landmass extending to some 780,580 km² in total area, 9,820 km² of which is water. Turkey has 7,200 km of coastline and what can be described as a temperate climate with hot dry summers and mild wet winters.

Turkey occupies a strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits, (the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles) which link the black and Aegean seas; Mount Ararat, a location extremely well known to most biblical scholars or Sunday school pupils is of course the legendary landing place of Noah’s Ark and is in the far eastern part of the country.

Turkey’s dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce, which along with the traditional agricultural sector still accounts for more than 35% of all unemployment in the country. Turkey has a strong and rapidly growing private sector yet it is the state that still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport and communications sectors.

Within the Turkish economy the largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing and this sector accounts for more than one third of industrial employment in Turkey but it faces stiff competition in international markets with what is called the end of the global quota system.

One of the key reasons for taking a look at Turkey at the moment is primarily to examine its full potential for property investment. According to experts the future prospects for Turkey are very positive indeed and this has had a knock on effect directly through to the Turkish property market, where investor interest has apparently surged throughout 2005/6 and where property prices are apparently beginning to creep up fast.

Though property prices in Turkey may lag about 10 years behind those in Spain this trend is starting to change and the gap is starting to close. Turkish properties have surged in both interest and value particularly along the Riviera region in southern Turkey.

What has acted of course as a catalyst to the Turkish property market was the announcement that Turkey is now in line for full EU membership and since this announcement, investor confidence in Turkey has reached record proportions.

One of the most crucial foreign currency earners for Turkey is its revenue from tourism. This rose 14% in 2005 to 18.15 billion US dollars just beating the government official target.

Because the Turkish tourism Board is spending a lot of money promoting the resorts along Turkeys Riviera coast the result is that second home, holiday home and retirement home interest in these parts of Turkey has surged. For those looking to invest in the economy this is highly encouraging.

If you know where to look, there are bargains to be had with the Turkish Property Market

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as Real Estate Investment and Real Estate Marketing. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of online services available.

It is said that addiction can be defined in a great many ways and examples. Perhaps the most obvious one being the view that addiction is an unhealthy dependency on any substance or form of activity, behaviour that has a potentially negative or destructive consequence that could cause considerable distress for the person or persons involved.

Phew what a mouthful eh?

I bet everyone has their own picture or image in their mind of what a drug addict is? Possibly it is the classic image of the junkie scratching around to get his or her latest fix of heroin. The really sad thing about this is that although this does actually happen, as an image of the typical drug addict, it is way of the mark as far as the majority of drug users are concerned. The vast majority of addicts do not conform to this generalisation in any way shape or form.

The bottom line is that addiction can strike and affect anyone out there and let’s be honest there has never been a better time possibly to be an addict with such a range of mind altering substances available.

Though not freely available to the general public it is certainly the case that if you know what you are doing then these substances can certainly be procured.

As I mentioned, addiction can affect anyone and can be as a result of the use or over use of many a legitimate product such as tranquilisers and sleeping tablets as well as the misuse of illegal substances such as cocaine and cannabis.

What causes an addiction? Well the classic causes are usually if you have a person who is having problems with a relationship or even finding a relationship, work/career problems or some forms of extreme emotional instability for whatever reason.

Let me make one point quite clear at the outset, addictions don’t just happen, they have to have an underlying cause that stimulates the body into seeking some form of artificial stimulation to cater for some inner craving.

The other really sad aspect and bizarre element to the whole problem with addiction is that by and large, depending on why the person is reacting in this manner, the chances are that one of the reasons for addiction was that at the outset the activity that caused the addiction was probably pleasurable in some form or another.

It is a chemical reaction within the brain that associates pleasure (certainly in the first instance) with the consumption of drugs at the outset and only when these feelings begin to wane does the need for replacement begin to cause problems. The sad and dangerous aspect to all of this certainly with regards to drug abuse is that by and large to start with it was probably a social event that caused the whole problem to start in the first place.

One last point to consider in this brief introduction to substance abuse and addiction is the effect it has on the families and friends of the dependent person.

Those families and friends who watch their loved ones sink ever more into some form of dependency or another suffer terribly both mentally and

Scott James writes about a number of internet based social issues such as Substance Abuse and Drug Rehabilitation. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of online services available at http://www.addictionsearch.com

By Scott James

There’s nothing quite as safe as houses – or so they say, but in this climate of the various stock exchanges going up and down is this totally true? Sure, the news about surging housing prices and rising interest rates is never out of the news.

Loads of Home and Property programmes swamp our daytime (and our night time) viewing on the TV schedules and where does this all lead us?

Well it’s a well known fact that most of us have thought that we can all climb onto the property ladder at some time or improve our bricks and mortar assets to realise those ridiculous price levels that seem to be occurring time and time again.

Now they say it’s official. Property is now more reliable than our pension provision (though with the performance of a certain Mr G Brown at 11 Downing street this does not say much) and apparently it is also more reliable than Gold and yes we all knew this last fact that it can be more profitable than working for a living if you are lucky.

The trouble with all of this massive growth in the domestic market for refurbishment and spiralling prices of reselling homes etc is it any wonder that the intelligent and smart property investor is starting to look elsewhere other than good old Britain to make smart gains and returns. But where?

Well there are a whole plethora of reports that say that house prices and property in places like Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia and even Hungary are returning vast sums of profits for property developers so it would appear that the smart investor is indeed spoilt for choice.

Well if we take a look at how the global property market performed in 2006 we can see where it would appear to be safe making an investment and where it might be unwise.

In 2006 the country that lead the way in the growth of domestic property prices was Denmark with an average appreciation of 23.61% throughout the year. The worst performer was Japan where property prices stagnated and overall the market shrank by 3.88%.

In between the leading contenders for growth prices in Europe were Ireland and France on 15.54% and 14.31% respectively. Elsewhere, in the southern hemisphere, South Africa has lost part of its shine as the growth in the property market slowed slightly to 13.54% (down from 20.62% the year before) whilst Australia and New Zealand had a growth rate of 7.18% and 12.28% respectively.

In Asia, Singapore lead the way with 6.08% growth whilst Hong Kong saw its property surge crash from a growth rate of 23.9% in 2005 to a decline of 3.73% in 2006.

As far as the western economies are concerned the “sleeping elephant in the room that no one wishes to acknowledge” so to speak is the USA. In the USA, where the housing market has been on a “bull run” since 1995 the market is starting to soften and how this affects the rest of us remains to be seen.

So to sum up it would appear that yes there are bargains and profits to be made still in property but you need to know where to look and when to move.

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as Real Estate Investment and Real Estate Marketing. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of online services available.