Location: Neuschwanstein, Germany

After Stephani's high school graduation (congrats to her) we headed down to Bavaria, yeah, Bavaria is not that great... hehe, have you been there?

First stop, Stuttgart to get Cody of course. While there we had to wait for mom and dad to get gas in their car so we had a LITTLE fun with picking on Steph and her bear. It's not our fault. Don't make such a big deal about it and we won't torment you so. We made him ride outside the car... don't worry, he still made it to Garmisch with us! (Dont' judge me!)

Onward to Garmisch, pitstopping in Neuschwanstein, aka, Cinderella's castle. So it's my second time going, it is pretty cool, I mean the drive is nice, but you can't take pictures inside the castle... or can you??? Ask my dad whether or not you can... this is his pride and joy... he was being a little bit of a rebel and took a picture inside, funny thing is he did it without looking through the eye piece, without focusing it, without even aiming and he got a good picture. Too bad it flashed and he got a little embarassed about that...So Neuschwanstein was cool, but we were all a little tired and needing some sleep, it was later in the afternoon and we still needed to check into our hotel... OH OH, while at Neuschwanstein my dad got a little timed phot happy and made us take about 20 family pictures... quite literally we were taking family portraits every 10 feet or something. Probably my favorite:It was a good first day, with so many more to come.

Where in the world is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know (late, but you still know!)

Location: Way far away, Germany; High school graduation

Alright, so I'm playing MAJOR catch up, forgive me, but someday I'll be able to balance school, traveling, blogging and hopefully working.

So it was a crazy day when I graduated, but not 4 years (almost to the day) later I'm headed down to some German city out in the middle of nowhere near Pirmasens... yes, it was a drive and even then we were still limited to seats. Still a touchy subject for our family; anyhow!

So we get to this little theater, it was nice, definitely more grand than most stages for high school graduates and we wait in the hot back side of the theater for that oh familiar (in my eyes overplayed) song of Pomp and Circumstance. The crowd rises and in walk the grads, you can imagien my surprise when I realize that her graduating class was much bigger than mine. We take our seats and let the LONG program begin.

I loved living in Germany, really I did. But I HATED having to do things for TWO countries. For example, at the beginning of the ceremony a senior sang the American national anthem, yay, we can sit, Oh wait, no, not yet, listen to the German national anthem. Oh, now you want to sit? Just kidding, time for the invocation (which makes me wonder, if there's an invocation why do most places NOT do a benediction? I know, spoiled Mormon over here), after the invocation, ok, now you can sit.

Welcome to the Kaiserslautern American High School graduation of 2009! Cheers errupt, but oh wait, what is that in the background? The same thing... in GERMAN! Are we going to do this for everything? I know we are in Germany, but it's an AMERICAN high school. You just said that!

**Side note... when I graduated from a foreign country I don't think we translated the welcoming. Granted it might have been way too hot, but still!!**

So we go through this whole speach done in english and then we have to listen to it in German (yes I can speak German, but I don't think ANYONE needed to hear it in German!). So imagine the fear when I thought that we would be there for 17 hours listening to people say one thing in English and then in German. I was hoping they wouldn't need to translate the names of the graduates... How dumb would that be? Ezekiel Graham... Azikehl G(rolling r)ahaaaam... I'd be pissed!

So we watch as the pool of red, seniors, await for their turn to stand, walk to the side, wait in line for their name to be called, receive their diploma, pose for pictures, return to their seats and sit. Was my graduation that bad? NO! it wasn't, I will tell you why!!!

At this graduation they would say, Ezekiel Graham (was that even a real person? I don't know...) and then, Ezekiel's favorite memory is blah blah blah blah blah blah blah he is headed to such and such school to study blah blah blah blah blah where he hopes to persue blah blah blah blah blah... cheers... Next... can you see why it took about an hour and a half to get through 100 kids???

Needless to say when Stephani's turn came I waited for it to get quiet then yelled at the top of my lungs, LOVE YOU ANI! Did she hear? NO! What a waste of breath that could have been saved for my death bed Steph!

Lucky for us because R is towards the end of the alphabet after watching Steph walk we were near the end. I feel bad for the Valedictorian or Salutatrian or even anyone whose last name is Adams! They see their kid walk and then it's like... BORING! Yawn fest over here!

After they all walked they did the hat toss, Steph did NOT throw her hat... good ole Ray tradition (I wonder what would happen if nobody threw their hat.. what a lame picture...)

We made our way out the doors and through the hoards of masses that thought it would be a good idea to mingle IN the foyer instead of in the courtyard just outside the building and finally found Steph, not easy when looking for a midget! It's almost like it'd be easier to lay on the ground and look for her between people's legs.
What a happy day, welcome to the real world Steph... and don't worry, I won't post pictures of you and Erik holding hands at the Ice cream parlor we all went to after ya'lls graduation. ;)

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

Location: London, England (Day 3: London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Tower of London)

Alright, so after Wicked and a full day of Bike Touring the last day was already upon us.

Phew, what a day! What a way to end the weekend. So we started off at a museum, for FREE! It was funny, we walked around that museum for like ten minutes trying to find the ticket booth and finally we asked the guy where the ticket counter was and he told us there are no tickets because "it's free..." Yeah, we laughed at ourselves too.
We then walked out to the London Bridge and we were not impressed... AT ALL!
But then we walked a little further down the Thames (?) and found the Tower Bridge. Yes, I think if I was going to buy any bridge the Tower Bridge would be the one I would want.
The Tower of London was closed by the time we got to it. So we could only do outside shots.
All in all the weekend was tremendously amazing. I don't think I could have asked for more with a weekend out of Germany, good people, great fun, amazing times that will only come for a few more months.

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

Location: London, England (Day 2: Bike Tour, Big Ben, London Eye and Lloyds Bldg)

Day 2: Bike Tour, Big Ben, Eye of London and Lloyds Bldg So after Wicked the next day was full of fun and adventures. It started off with a bike tour, really one of the best tours I've been on in all of Europe and grateful we did this the first full day we were there.

This Bike Tour, the Fat Tire, had us on cruisers and we hit up all the major sights crossing the majority of the things off the list of must sees.

A TON of pictures. I took nearly 400 pictures over 4 days; so forgive me if I don't post them all.
English Brandenberg Gate anyone? This gate is in the "War Park" where it has numerous monuments from all the wars England has ever been involved in.
WWII I do believe...
Buckingham Palace; this was as close as we got. They were running dress rehearsal for the Queen's bday so we couldn't get closer.
And of course, if the city has a fountain I will find it! This one was made so the spout moved so persons standing near would get wet hahaha!
Lion in the square with Big Ben in the background.
This building is actually the Naval offices of London, can you see how it is shaped after a ship? Kinda sorta? the two towers have wires that attach to each other, much like that of the masts of a ship.
London is to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, this plot of land right here is going to play host to beach volleyball with the Eye of London in the background. Westminster is only a short hop skip and jump away as well as Big Ben.
Westminster Abbey, rather grand is it not? Our tour guide told us horror stories about traitors who were tortured and made public.
A view one more time of the Eye. We did not go on it, but it was wonderful to see, it just didn't make sense to pay 30 GBP for a ride where you would have to stand and be in with about 30 other people... eh, no thanks!
This over crowded fountain is actually a memorial to Princess Diana. They wanted something besides a statue.
Throughout the fountain, it's circular, there are different 'areas'. Some are a little more calm like this one.
Others more rough...
And then others more rough and shallow. All depicting different times of her life.

That was the end of our bike tour. But not the end of our day.
A picture of the eye in it's entirety.
Hey look kids, Big Ben!
What movie was that line from?
Just so everyone knows I was there, here's a pic of me.
Did you see that sunburn?
Then we have the Lloyds Building. It's a building essentially where the inside is outside. the stairs, elevator, air ducts, etc.
And I couldn't help taking this one picture of the tree outside the building. Love how it is lit at night.

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

Location: London, England (Day 1: Wicked)

Eric, you are falling behind!!!

Broken up day by day...

Alright, so I went to London, yeah, I went about two weeks ago now, but OOPS, I get busy traveling the world ok?

So let's get started. it's so awesome being able to fly up to London for $30, including the taxes.

Day 1: Wicked! The whole reason for this weekend really was to go to a play, Wicked, and everything else was just for fun :)

Wicked is the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West (OZ) got to be wicked. I had heard so many amazing things from other people I wasn't sure how it was going to hold up to its reputation. It was still good, and truly funny! The good witch really made the show though, what a ditz. I know I'm blonde and should take offense but I couldn't help but laugh. She is insane.We weren't allowed to take pictures of the play, obviously, but I did get some of the stage setup as you can see.
After the play we walked around the city a little; it was a really nice night with a moon that was an amazing brightness. But that ended the day for us. What a way to start the weekend.

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

Location: Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg

Alright, so Memorial Day! Eric, update my map! ;)

Yep, I'm an Army brat, so of course I have grown to love this holiday. This year I decided I'd actually do something and go to Luxembourg to visit the American WWII cemetery there. Why I had not gone in previous years I know not. It is only 90 miles away and makes for a really simple day trip.This is the view out into the cemetery. We couldn't decide which way the tombstones face, though I think they face West representing them facing home.
They have a nice small chapel there that you can go inside and even pray if you so wish. They have really done a good job at helping to remember the memory of all those who are buried there.
The alter in the chapel is inlaid with golden letters and surrounded by two American flags. It really is a nice chapel.The ceiling is painted with some grand art.
Luxembourg's American cemetery is the known burial site of General George S. Patton, Jr.
He got a lot of love this very special day.
Seeing his grave site made me want to research him and know everything about him. I will have to do that.
There are two flags that over look the graves with Gen Patton's grave in between them.
There were so many graves; I was astonished. Over 5,000 including one of a female Army nurse and 22 sets of brothers buried side by side.
Each grave was given two flags for the day, one American and one from Luxembourg.
Each of these crosses bears the name of the person buried there.
There were numerous Jewish-Americans buried there and for them they were given a star of David.
This is one of the many. The white stone on top of it shows that a family member visited the site recently. It has to do with old tradition of placing stones on the grave sites.
There are four fountains in the cemetery. Yes, each of them is the same with dolphins and a turtle.
Thanks to the handy-dandy brochure we know that the dolphins represent resurrection.
The turtle represents eternal life; since they live for YEARS!!!
Now, I don't know the CORRECT name for these and I'm sure my father will scold me for that later.
But they were so much fun to take pictures of.
This seal is actually on the side of the chapel on the grounds but I didn't post it up there... OOPS.
But these were taken on our way out, it is the gate to the cemetery. Notice how the stars directly under the two eagles form a star of David? YES, they DOOOOOO! Look at them!
And one final shot of the cemetery. Words cannot describe the feelings of today. It was a fun trip, but more importantly it was a trip to remember why it is that I only have to work 4 days this week (actually 3.5, going to London on Friday!!!).

It was a trip to realize the lives lost for freedom, as cliche as that sounds it's true. Luxembourg holds over 5,000 deceased soldiers, it is not even CLOSE to being one of the bigger ones around the world.

What a day, what a trip!

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