No, I haven't traveled to any far off lands full of adventure, late nights, getting lost or sick lately. But as I was driving home tonight I realized something; there is truly no place like home.
With the MAJORITY of my trips at the end of them I could NOT wait to get back to my house, see my family smiling, enjoy my bed and sometimes even go back to work. Now does this mean I didn't have enjoyable trips or perhaps that I was gone for too long? No, it does not mean that at all. All it means is that while traveling and seeing this amazing world there is still something special about 'home' whether it's in Germany, Arizona, Denmark, Utah, Texas, California, Egypt, Spain or Italy, it doesn't matter. Home is a good place to be.
Now there have been times when I did not want to go home, Venice, Berlin, Brugges, but I love being HOME.
I will miss traveling as much as I do right now, but I will still take my weekend trips, maybe it'll only be to the Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu or the White Mountains (Mexico is out because of the Swine Flu) but I will still find ways to keep you guessing:
Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Alright, so if you ever ask me if I liked my trip to Denmark my response will simply be: I've been three times...
So this last time I went up to hang out with a friend of mine that I met at EFY last summer. We were co-counselors and we kicked trash. Seriously, we did, kicked a bottle from one end of the field to the other because the two of us were too lazy to bend down and pick it up...
That's Troels; the amazing Co-counselor. We saved each other that week haha... 
Then we have his 'brother' Peter. For some reason the two of them like to call me SaraRay, just like everyone else. I dunno, it sounds cool, but I told him I'd have to call him his full name and he didn't so much like that. 
These two think they are the Viking Rulers of the Free world. Does that even make sense to anyone? Not me!! I had to take a lot of on the fly pictures because everytime I went to take a picture of them while they were looking I got something like the above. 
They were awesome tour guides though, letting me see what I wanted to again and taking me around the city. I got a few pics of them looking bored beyond words but such good sports they are!
And of course, our shoes!!! I used to have this thing with taking a picture of my shoes in every city I go to, but I stopped doing that. The above is one of our feet dangling off the side of a wall that is on the water's edge.
Then this one is a picture of our feet inside the movie theater. We went to watch the fourth Fast and the Furious. Big booms in the movie haha!
So Denmark is notriously known for being attacked by just about EVERYONE... except America haha! This picture there is a cannon ball stuck in the wall and a plaque beneath it stating the year: 1807. Troels said the Danes say they just left it in there to remind them of battles fought; but he believes they just couldn't get it out and so they just left it there. This wall is part of one of the buildings surrounding the place where the royal jewels are kept which is seen in the next picture.
Some of these places I had seen on Copenhagen I and II; but with a new light to them.
We then went to the Round Tower, which I don't know if I can believe Troels and Peter on this one, but they said it's round and has no stairs because the king at that time, I believe Charles IV didn't want to have to climb the stairs so he made it so that his hourse carriage could go up it. 
These are all just pictures from inside and on top of the tower. 
That land that you can barely see in the background is Sweden.
Building with the jewels.
Really interesting iron work, I'm not sure why, but this was the only key and hammer in the gate.
Then of course the beautiful Mermaid. 
These are the feet/fins... DUH!
I found out that she used to be on a rock a little further out in the sea. Not too much further; just enough to where she would have actually had water running on her at one time. I think that would have been a better place to keep her because then it's like she really is part of the sea. Not up to me though I suppose. 
The Danish national bird... did you know it can break your arm? Apparently that's what parents tell their kids so their kids won't try to get too close to them. At least that's what Troels and Pete told me... again, not sure I can trust either of them.
For example, they told me this is Bill Churchill, Winston Churchill brother's, chapel. Apparently he is the one who saved the Danes from the Nazis in WWII.
I do not know why they lie to me.
Then the fountain I was so fond of last time, didn't have water this time of year, but still pretty sharp looking. 
This woman is said to be the mother of Denmark and the four bull like animals, minotaurs hahaha!, are her brothers. 
Yeah, don't know if I should believe that one either. I have friends that like to lie to me!
One last church. This was either the marble church or the grandmother church. Don't ask me how I get them confused. I just do. 
These flowers were all over one field and some guy told a couple of tourists to stay off the grass so the flowers could bloom and the tourists went OFF on him. I mean seriously. My only response to Troels and Peter, well they aren't American, so that's a good thing :)
And of course, 7/11. Denmark worships these things... I saw I dunno, 6 while I was there and 4 were all on the same street. Crazy huh?
Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, Now you know.
So this last time I went up to hang out with a friend of mine that I met at EFY last summer. We were co-counselors and we kicked trash. Seriously, we did, kicked a bottle from one end of the field to the other because the two of us were too lazy to bend down and pick it up...
That's Troels; the amazing Co-counselor. We saved each other that week haha... 
Then we have his 'brother' Peter. For some reason the two of them like to call me SaraRay, just like everyone else. I dunno, it sounds cool, but I told him I'd have to call him his full name and he didn't so much like that. 
These two think they are the Viking Rulers of the Free world. Does that even make sense to anyone? Not me!! I had to take a lot of on the fly pictures because everytime I went to take a picture of them while they were looking I got something like the above. 
They were awesome tour guides though, letting me see what I wanted to again and taking me around the city. I got a few pics of them looking bored beyond words but such good sports they are!
And of course, our shoes!!! I used to have this thing with taking a picture of my shoes in every city I go to, but I stopped doing that. The above is one of our feet dangling off the side of a wall that is on the water's edge.
Then this one is a picture of our feet inside the movie theater. We went to watch the fourth Fast and the Furious. Big booms in the movie haha!
So Denmark is notriously known for being attacked by just about EVERYONE... except America haha! This picture there is a cannon ball stuck in the wall and a plaque beneath it stating the year: 1807. Troels said the Danes say they just left it in there to remind them of battles fought; but he believes they just couldn't get it out and so they just left it there. This wall is part of one of the buildings surrounding the place where the royal jewels are kept which is seen in the next picture.
Some of these places I had seen on Copenhagen I and II; but with a new light to them. 
We then went to the Round Tower, which I don't know if I can believe Troels and Peter on this one, but they said it's round and has no stairs because the king at that time, I believe Charles IV didn't want to have to climb the stairs so he made it so that his hourse carriage could go up it. 
These are all just pictures from inside and on top of the tower. 
That land that you can barely see in the background is Sweden.
Building with the jewels.
Really interesting iron work, I'm not sure why, but this was the only key and hammer in the gate.
Then of course the beautiful Mermaid. 
These are the feet/fins... DUH!
I found out that she used to be on a rock a little further out in the sea. Not too much further; just enough to where she would have actually had water running on her at one time. I think that would have been a better place to keep her because then it's like she really is part of the sea. Not up to me though I suppose. 
The Danish national bird... did you know it can break your arm? Apparently that's what parents tell their kids so their kids won't try to get too close to them. At least that's what Troels and Pete told me... again, not sure I can trust either of them.
For example, they told me this is Bill Churchill, Winston Churchill brother's, chapel. Apparently he is the one who saved the Danes from the Nazis in WWII.
I do not know why they lie to me.
Then the fountain I was so fond of last time, didn't have water this time of year, but still pretty sharp looking. 
This woman is said to be the mother of Denmark and the four bull like animals, minotaurs hahaha!, are her brothers. 
Yeah, don't know if I should believe that one either. I have friends that like to lie to me!
One last church. This was either the marble church or the grandmother church. Don't ask me how I get them confused. I just do. 
These flowers were all over one field and some guy told a couple of tourists to stay off the grass so the flowers could bloom and the tourists went OFF on him. I mean seriously. My only response to Troels and Peter, well they aren't American, so that's a good thing :)
And of course, 7/11. Denmark worships these things... I saw I dunno, 6 while I was there and 4 were all on the same street. Crazy huh?Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, Now you know.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Location: Quincy, Washington
So I have this awesome friend. Say Hi to Eric, "Hi Eric", good. (You know he's going to kill me for posting this picture so you should probably say bye to me...)
Anyhow, so Eric is awesome because whenever I ask him to do something either via email or blog or phone convo he does it. No matter how far away or how big of a pain it might be.
Not many of you might have noticed, but the map at the top of my blog changed, can you see Ireland now a nice Irish green? No, ok, it's more 'forest green' but whatever huh?
So at the beginning of my Ireland blog I made mention to Eric he needed to update my map. That was all I ever said to him. Tonight I got a nice new map for my blog. How sweet huh?
Am I blessed with good friends or what? Now get the heck out of Washington and come see me in Arizona!!!
Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, not in Washington.
Anyhow, so Eric is awesome because whenever I ask him to do something either via email or blog or phone convo he does it. No matter how far away or how big of a pain it might be.Not many of you might have noticed, but the map at the top of my blog changed, can you see Ireland now a nice Irish green? No, ok, it's more 'forest green' but whatever huh?
So at the beginning of my Ireland blog I made mention to Eric he needed to update my map. That was all I ever said to him. Tonight I got a nice new map for my blog. How sweet huh?
Am I blessed with good friends or what? Now get the heck out of Washington and come see me in Arizona!!!
Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, not in Washington.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Ok, Eric, I need you to color in Ireland for me on my map. Check that country off the list of must sees, I've been there, done that!
Ok, so it was only for 20 hours, but that was all the time I needed when I don't drink and am going to the ALE capital of the WORLD!
It all started off a bit rocky, the person I was going with called me the night before to tell me that he had to brief the commander at 0700 and our plane left at 1000. So that give us 2.5 hours from the time the brief STARTS to get up and checked in. The trip is usually about 1.5 hours long. So I'm a little nervous about all of this thinking that perhaps it's not meant to be; but luckily we made it up there with time to spare and all in all it was a good weekend.
It was a chilly day, but not colder than Germany I'm sure with just a hint of wind that was enough to almost blow me over a few times. A day in Dublin really was enough to suffice me; but really all I wanted to do was get the HECK out of K-town.
It was scary at first; notice those cars are facing the wrong direction and the steering wheels are on the wrong side of the car too! Seriously, I almost got hit 5 times because I LOOKED the WRONG way!
20 hours, 190 pictures, so lets see if we got anything good.
Look at those KEGS!!!! They are half the size of that man... Ok, so he might be a leprechaun and they not be that big, but seriously, they were HUGE!
St. Paul's Cathedral across the Liffey (main river of Ireland).
Again not sure which chapel this is, but it's still used so we weren't able to go into it for pictures.
Alright, so funny story with this next one. We were walking around looking for Christ Church and all we could find was the Dublinia, a history exhibition in the city. So we walked here and there and everywhere looking for that ONE church we could not seem to find. Along the way I took pictures of other buildings.
This one in particular caught my eye. It's actually attached to the Dublinia with a nice semi gothic feel to it.
After we found the Dublin Castle I realized that this building I had been taking pictures of was actually Christ's church. In side they have the heart of St. Paul locked up and hung on the wall. I wasn't able to get pictures of the inside though; but that's kind of creepy don't ya think?
So then we got to Dublin's castle which we spent a little more time at.
This had a lot of fun arches, statues and buildings to take in.
I actually like this last picture,I don't know why I took it, but I just leaned over the wall and snapped a picture. It really was a decent day for pictures and walking around Dublin. After the Dublin Castle we meandered around the city some more until we finally decided that we didn't know where we wanted to go but we followed the crowd to the Trinity College.
I loved this sign. Apparently you aren't allowed to ride your bikes on campus grounds. It's against the law hehe!
I then took off to O'Connel street and if you've ever seen an outdoor mall this is precisely that. Store after store after store of shopping and restaurants. I think we saw 3 Burger Kings and 3 McDonalds usually within close proximity of each other. In the middle of the street there was this HUGE metal pole that we couldn't figure out what it was all about. Apparently it's a monument to light.
At night they light the top up and with the wind it was really hard for me to get steady enough to get a nice clean shot. I did the best I could but these are the only things I got. 
Yep, that's how crazy the wind was blowing, I couldn't even hold myself steady for 2 seconds to get a good night shot.
There is a district in Dublin called Temple Bar square that is full of restaurants, pubs and good music scenes. The following are pictures of said square. At night it really came to life.
That clock at night...
After Temple Bar we headed down the river to see if we could get close to the docks. We were unsuccessful; we got all the way down there and found that it was a dead end, but had we gone on the other side of the river... :(
When I saw this I HAD to take a picture! In case you can't read it says, "PLEASE do not vandalize this lifesaving device. It may be needed to save YOUR life someday." I got a good giggle at that and the fact that someone had grafitied on the box and it was a bit beat up hehe! I guess they don't want to be saved!
Look at that sky!!! Ireland's weather changed so quickly! It would rain for 5 mins hard and then two seconds later it was sunny. Then the grey sky would roll back in and it would happen all over again haha! Seriously, make up your mind Ireland!
Ah, Pirate ship!!!! I don't know what's up with European countries and pirate ships... honestly!
I love the above picture! Yes, I toot my own horn! I love the sky and then the boater just truckin away out to the open sea following the sky... like he's got a mission. 
I'm not sure what country this battle ship is from. I would imagine Ireland but it wasn't flying any colors. Perhaps it's only a retired ship used for decor on the river Liffey. 
Coast Guard???
Water ferry from one side of the Liffey to the other. 
I'm sure somewhere in the Irish law books there is a law that states it is mandatory for there to be at least one Rainbow per day. You know, a status quo. We saw probably 2 or 3 that day. I was looking for the end to capture me a leprechaun and take his gold. If the leprechaun had an accent like the accents I heard I'd be completely happy! Honestly they have cool accents!
Then I was so blessed to walk and take the above picture when right at the edge of the water was a beautiful swan. 
Cleaning itself, feeding on the algae, posing for me etc. 
They sure are pretty as long as you don't piss them off and they come after you. 
Then I got lucky and got the typical swan picture with the 's' neck :) YES!
This is the backside of the Custom House in Ireland. I am not a fan of the art in Dublin for the most part but I like fountains. Wind did not help make the picture look good. 
This picture (below) is of the National bank in Ireland just across the Liffey from the Custom's house but it reminds me of the buildings generally seen in the batman movies, do you not agree? 
And what good is this building without a night shot?? What a sky!
Again right across the Liffey from the bank building is the Custom's house. At night it really looks ten times better than it does during the day. 
Does it remind you of any white building in America perhaps? 
And of course I love the life preserves. Yes, I used flash with this picture but I liked how this one turned out the most. 
The Liffey, not the dirtiest river in Europe, but at night it sure does look nicer. Again, look at that sky! 
The bridges in Ireland rivaled the bridges in Venice, Italy, but I still enjoyed Venice bridges more. 
The bridges in Venice just seemed more grand; of course they were, cars didn't have to use them, just people.
And of course, what's a trip to Ireland without a shot of the greenery of Ireland. Not much that's for dang sure. Rainbows and greenery is what Ireland is all about.
Now I couldn't help but to snap this last picture while in the airport. My family might not appreciate it, but I just thought it funny to see beer glasses stacked up like paper cups used for water. 
Stay tuned, the month of April has a lot of running around in the mix for me including, Denmark, Spain, Munich and Amsterdam... Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.
Ok, so it was only for 20 hours, but that was all the time I needed when I don't drink and am going to the ALE capital of the WORLD!It all started off a bit rocky, the person I was going with called me the night before to tell me that he had to brief the commander at 0700 and our plane left at 1000. So that give us 2.5 hours from the time the brief STARTS to get up and checked in. The trip is usually about 1.5 hours long. So I'm a little nervous about all of this thinking that perhaps it's not meant to be; but luckily we made it up there with time to spare and all in all it was a good weekend.
It was a chilly day, but not colder than Germany I'm sure with just a hint of wind that was enough to almost blow me over a few times. A day in Dublin really was enough to suffice me; but really all I wanted to do was get the HECK out of K-town.
It was scary at first; notice those cars are facing the wrong direction and the steering wheels are on the wrong side of the car too! Seriously, I almost got hit 5 times because I LOOKED the WRONG way!20 hours, 190 pictures, so lets see if we got anything good.
Look at those KEGS!!!! They are half the size of that man... Ok, so he might be a leprechaun and they not be that big, but seriously, they were HUGE!
St. Paul's Cathedral across the Liffey (main river of Ireland).
Again not sure which chapel this is, but it's still used so we weren't able to go into it for pictures.
Alright, so funny story with this next one. We were walking around looking for Christ Church and all we could find was the Dublinia, a history exhibition in the city. So we walked here and there and everywhere looking for that ONE church we could not seem to find. Along the way I took pictures of other buildings.
This one in particular caught my eye. It's actually attached to the Dublinia with a nice semi gothic feel to it. 
After we found the Dublin Castle I realized that this building I had been taking pictures of was actually Christ's church. In side they have the heart of St. Paul locked up and hung on the wall. I wasn't able to get pictures of the inside though; but that's kind of creepy don't ya think?So then we got to Dublin's castle which we spent a little more time at.
This had a lot of fun arches, statues and buildings to take in. 
I actually like this last picture,I don't know why I took it, but I just leaned over the wall and snapped a picture. It really was a decent day for pictures and walking around Dublin. After the Dublin Castle we meandered around the city some more until we finally decided that we didn't know where we wanted to go but we followed the crowd to the Trinity College. 
I loved this sign. Apparently you aren't allowed to ride your bikes on campus grounds. It's against the law hehe!I then took off to O'Connel street and if you've ever seen an outdoor mall this is precisely that. Store after store after store of shopping and restaurants. I think we saw 3 Burger Kings and 3 McDonalds usually within close proximity of each other. In the middle of the street there was this HUGE metal pole that we couldn't figure out what it was all about. Apparently it's a monument to light.
At night they light the top up and with the wind it was really hard for me to get steady enough to get a nice clean shot. I did the best I could but these are the only things I got. 
Yep, that's how crazy the wind was blowing, I couldn't even hold myself steady for 2 seconds to get a good night shot. There is a district in Dublin called Temple Bar square that is full of restaurants, pubs and good music scenes. The following are pictures of said square. At night it really came to life.
That clock at night...
After Temple Bar we headed down the river to see if we could get close to the docks. We were unsuccessful; we got all the way down there and found that it was a dead end, but had we gone on the other side of the river... :(
When I saw this I HAD to take a picture! In case you can't read it says, "PLEASE do not vandalize this lifesaving device. It may be needed to save YOUR life someday." I got a good giggle at that and the fact that someone had grafitied on the box and it was a bit beat up hehe! I guess they don't want to be saved!
Look at that sky!!! Ireland's weather changed so quickly! It would rain for 5 mins hard and then two seconds later it was sunny. Then the grey sky would roll back in and it would happen all over again haha! Seriously, make up your mind Ireland!
Ah, Pirate ship!!!! I don't know what's up with European countries and pirate ships... honestly!
I love the above picture! Yes, I toot my own horn! I love the sky and then the boater just truckin away out to the open sea following the sky... like he's got a mission. 
I'm not sure what country this battle ship is from. I would imagine Ireland but it wasn't flying any colors. Perhaps it's only a retired ship used for decor on the river Liffey. 
Coast Guard???
Water ferry from one side of the Liffey to the other. 
I'm sure somewhere in the Irish law books there is a law that states it is mandatory for there to be at least one Rainbow per day. You know, a status quo. We saw probably 2 or 3 that day. I was looking for the end to capture me a leprechaun and take his gold. If the leprechaun had an accent like the accents I heard I'd be completely happy! Honestly they have cool accents!
Then I was so blessed to walk and take the above picture when right at the edge of the water was a beautiful swan. 
Cleaning itself, feeding on the algae, posing for me etc. 
They sure are pretty as long as you don't piss them off and they come after you. 
Then I got lucky and got the typical swan picture with the 's' neck :) YES!
This is the backside of the Custom House in Ireland. I am not a fan of the art in Dublin for the most part but I like fountains. Wind did not help make the picture look good. 
This picture (below) is of the National bank in Ireland just across the Liffey from the Custom's house but it reminds me of the buildings generally seen in the batman movies, do you not agree? 
And what good is this building without a night shot?? What a sky!
Again right across the Liffey from the bank building is the Custom's house. At night it really looks ten times better than it does during the day. 
Does it remind you of any white building in America perhaps? 
And of course I love the life preserves. Yes, I used flash with this picture but I liked how this one turned out the most. 
The Liffey, not the dirtiest river in Europe, but at night it sure does look nicer. Again, look at that sky! 
The bridges in Ireland rivaled the bridges in Venice, Italy, but I still enjoyed Venice bridges more. 
The bridges in Venice just seemed more grand; of course they were, cars didn't have to use them, just people.And of course, what's a trip to Ireland without a shot of the greenery of Ireland. Not much that's for dang sure. Rainbows and greenery is what Ireland is all about.
Now I couldn't help but to snap this last picture while in the airport. My family might not appreciate it, but I just thought it funny to see beer glasses stacked up like paper cups used for water. 
Stay tuned, the month of April has a lot of running around in the mix for me including, Denmark, Spain, Munich and Amsterdam... Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.
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