Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Location: Western European Countries

The end of my stay has come in reference to Europe; it's been a good three years but it's time to move on. I've been thinking and reflecting a lot on all the things I've done since being here; school, traveling, work etc. I am amazed at how many things I've been able to see while traveling and living the life that most college kids can only DREAM about. The green countries are the countries I've been to including: Spain, Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, The Czech Republic, Sweden and of COURSE Germany.

I want to reminisce about some of these trips starting with the VERY first real trip (outside of Germany), Madrid, Spain.
As I said in my original Madrid blog, I LOVE Don Quixote de La Mancha! When I saw this statue of him I was in awe!!The first 3-4 days in Madrid I was by myself enjoying the temple and city trecking it by myself; what better way is there to see major cities of Europe?
I actually like this picture of me. You will probably see that it's the ONLY picture of me in any of my traveling pictures. I am usually BEHIND the camera; not in front of it!While in Madrid I took a couple day excursion to the surrounding cities. The above picture was taken in Toledo with a good day of overcast.Then of course, El Escorial! This palace was absolutely HUGE! It took us four hours to walk through HALF of it.

My next trip was not necessarily the next one I went on, but it is one that I loved, BELGIUM!
Brugges, Belgium, was an amazing trip I took over Valentines weekend last year; also President's day Weekend. The weather wasn't ideal for me, I froze the whole first day, but the company was great and the city was absolutely picturesque! I don't know if I could have asked for a better day the second day we were there it was amazing and not cold! Thank heavens! The scenery all around the city was amazing and it was a really nice city to be in for holiday.
I think from this point the trips only got better.

Copenhagen, Denmark, wasn't really a trip for me; rather a trip governed by the church for EFY.
Denmark was a beautiful country; I HAD to visit it twice!
Yep, the man who created the Christus was Danish and this church houses the original done by him.
And then of course the Copenhagen temple. It used to be their old Stake building I do believe and nestled right in the middle of the city it surprises me still how quiet the grounds are being in the middle of everything.

I don't want to post all of my Germany trips; because well, there are just too many of them. I will, however, post this one picture which is probably one of my favorites of them all!
Cologne, Germany, at night. As far as I can tell this picture is in focus; I HOPE IT IS otherwise I'm sure I might hear from Leslie about what I could do to make it better.

Ok, so one more Germany trip, Berlin; because well, so much history!

The Berlin Wall. I got so turned around I really don't know which side I was on, but I think we were on the East side.
The art work that was all over that wall was absolutely amazing and I wish we had time to go up and down both sides of the East Side Gallery but there was too much to really handle.

My last trip so far, Venice, Italy. This trip was BY FAR the MOST fun. A weekend in Venice with the best company ever, what more could a girl ask for?
Ah, the Venician lion! GRRRRRR! I couldn't help but post this picture, I enjoy it.
Ah, a Venician traffic jam. There are no roads in Venice, so um, yeah, this is as close as it gets.
And of course one last picture to top it off; playing in the confetti! I think that sums up my thoughts of the past few years... AMAZING and FUN! Enjoyable of course, what better way to end this chapter of my life?

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, Now you know.

No comments: