Themes - The Cross

In light of Christmas coming up, I thought it'd be appropriate to reflect on why we celebrate Christmas. Not to help retailers end the year profitably...to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ to earth! Although we generally associate the cross more with Easter, the cross still makes me think of Christ, the beginning of "Christ"mas.

I've only been to one Muslim country ever (Kazakhstan), so I can't say for certain how much of Asia/Africa is, but I doubt crosses are being shown off with the same frequency, or any frequency at all, as in much of Western society. I know the cross is a widely popular and common symbol in much of North/South/Central America and Europe. These continents have been historically Christian nations, whether Catholic, Protestant, or some Orthodox. I've been all over those places and have seen the cross in each one of them. Such as in these places...


Spain is one of those nations with a deep Roman Catholic tradition. These two were taken in Parc Guell in Barcelona, Spain in May 2007. Parc Guell is a public park designed by the famous Gaudi, the man behind much of Barcelona's unique architectural style, including the Sagrada Familia:

Parc Guell overlooking the Barcelona skyline:

This cross below is in Cinque Terre, Italy, with the Mediterannean as the background. Just a posted cross along one of the hiking trails.

This below is in the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. Very interesting that they would have a cross in the Colosseum as early Christians were some of the original "gladiators", those that were used for sport to fight to the death.

On a hill overlooking Dubrovnik, Croatia, just as the sun is setting:

In Prague, Czech Republic, taken from the main bridge.

Luke 1:30-33 - "But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob, forever; his kingdom will never end."

Random but Cool

Most of my posts have a theme or some general idea. However, a lot of my pictures do not fit into any of those themes/ideas. At least not yet. So here is an incredibly eclectic assembing of pictures that I like.

Knoxville. Tennessee Theatre in downtown, on Gay Street. One of our few famous landmarks.

From Rome, Italy. This was taken in Piazza del Popolo. The real scenery of the square is the almost perfectly symmetrical avenue and surrounding streets, but I liked the simplicity of this shot. Life before asphalt. Thanks ancient Rome.

Ever been to Vancouver, Canada, eh? The first picture, on the left, is Inukshuk, the 2010 Olympic mascot, in Sunset Beach. On the right is a shot taken from within the city. Vancouver is a unique city because so many of the skyscrapers are all glass, giving it a very uniform and clean appearance. Once the sun starts going down, the colors really play off the glass buildings.

 
















 

Inside the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Spain. The Sagrada Familia is the most interesting building I have ever been to - both inside and out. It was designed by an architect named Gaudi, who is the inspiration for much of Barcelona's architecural style. Barcelona is one of, if not the most, unique cities I have ever been to. The picture below is of the support beams inside the Sagrada Familia (a large cathedral). Most cathedrals have very bland, non-descript support beams. Not here.

Minnesota and Norway - what do they have in common? Vikings...While visiting family in Norway, I spent part of a day in the Viking Museum in Oslo. It was pretty wild to think that the vikings would go to sea for hundreds of miles in these vessels. They weren't exactly in tropic waters, so how they survived with virtually no covering is amazing. These two are the front of a viking ship - from straight on and from the side.

 




Dead tree in Scottish Highlands. We did some hiking in the southern Scottish Highlands, around Loch Lomond. The area was generally very green, so this dead tree really stood out.

Chimneys in Stirling, Scotland. The town of Stirling is built around a hill. At the very top of the hill is Stirling Castle. I hiked up to the castle, from where you can see a lot of the town below you. In America, most of our homes are stand-alone structures with only one chimney. So I liked how this cluster of homes and chimneys contrasted what I have defined as "normal".

Fisherman on Lake Brienz, near Interlaken, Switzerland. Some friends and I spent one very cold night camping at the base of the Swiss Alps in May 2007. Advice - don't ever camp in May in Switzerland. However, the plus side was that I couldn't sleep because of the cold, got up early as a result, and was rewarded with a clear sky and mountain tops, and very calm water. I also happened to catch a fisherman fishing the shore nearby. Without the fisherman, I probably wouldn't think this photo was very interesting.

Maybe I just like this one below because I have a sister with the name. Most boat owners seem to try to give their boat a special or deeper-meaning name. Like "Morning Glory" or "The Good Life", you name it. This is like the Italian Forrest Gump. Someone's "Jenny". For whatever reason though, I liked this boat a lot. This was in Venice, tied up alongside an otherwise unimportant canal without much traffic.

Other cool scenes from Venice, Italy. Finding something interesting in the ordinary. Its amazing how their front doors open to water or docks. No driveways.

This looks like an eclipse

I've always liked this one of Edinburgh Castle, in Edinbugh, Scotland. 

I like the street signs in this shot below. So foreign to an American. A buddy and I were just wandering the country streets in Slovenia, not exactly sure where we were going. This is somewhere between Podhom and Vintgar Gorge in the Slovenian countryside, with the Julian Alps in the background. 

Rooftops of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Similar to the Stirling chimney shot above, I enjoyed the togetherness of all these homes. That and the rooftops are made of tiles, pretty rare in the southeast US. 

Interesting building in Prague, Czech Republic. 

A unique city block in Vienna, Austria. Vienna is known for being very formal, very serious. That's why its so interesting to find this city block in Vienna, anything but formal and serious. 

 
Not sure why I've chosen this one, but I think I like how the gray building and sky are in complete contrast to the colorful flowerbed and grass right in front of the building. And this is in Zagreb, Croatia, a place that even sounds dreary. The flowers seem to be fighting back.

When I first got my new camera, my first DSLR, I was always trying to mess around with the settings. I liked how these two turned out, pictures taken of the same thing, but with different focal points. 

 

Taken in Las Vegas, during the Bellagio Fountain show. I was fascinated by these shows.

This was taken during the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, Mexico. It's highly unusual that you would find bagpipes playing in Mexico.

A moment of peace and quiet in NYC? From Central Park.

Cool picture of the post office in Madrid, Spain. Most likely the most ornate post office I've ever seen.

Cool clouds along Highway 1 in Big Sur, California. Maybe I just liked Big Sur a lot, but these clouds were pictureworthy.

Baker Beach - near San Francisco. This little rock outcropping looks to be providing shelter from the battering waves, just a few feet further out.

I really do love this photo. My sisters and I were waiting to watch fireworks from Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington. The little kid in front of us started waving a glow stick, the kind vendors are always hawking at fireworks shows. Rather than get upset at the kid having his fun, I got curious how a slow shutter speed exposure would turn out. The Seattle skyline is a little blury, but it captured the waving effect, the city skyline, and Lake Union. Thanks kid!

Utah

Utah is an awesome state if you like nature and national parks. Utah is home to some great skiing, vast deserts, and surprisingly, many mountains. It's home to Arches , Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Each of those parks is fairly unique in and of itself, so I'd recommend a visit to each. But I did pick a few favorites...

Arches National Park is amazing. We don't have anything like it out east. In fact, I don't there is anything like it anywhere in the US. Right near the border with Colorado, you go from large mountains to desert in a matter of miles. Arches is near the town of Moab, Utah - the only thing of relevance for miles and miles. My brother and I camped for a few days in Arches in July 2007. It gets so hot there in July, that one day we simply could not take the heat anymore. We drove 25 miles one way to get to Moab, bought a pint of ice cream, and sat in the shade for an hour. Then we drove 25 miles back to Arches to hang out in the heat again. But if you can get out in the early morning or late afternoon, there is some great hiking and sites to see.

As I mentioned above, you go from Colorado's mountains to Utah's deserts in a matter of miles. I like this picture because it shows the two completely different land formations, right next to each other. Desert arches and mountains in the background. There was a storm coming in over the San Juan Mountains in the background, but I don't think it ever made it to Arches.

I'll do my best to recite the names of all the arches I took pictures of.

I have no idea the name of these formations. I think this was near Devil's Playground.














These two below are of Broken Arch:

 This may also be Devil's Playground.

My brother exploring Sand Dune Arch

 Although I hate that there are other people in the picture, its still a pretty cool photo of Delicate Arch, possibly Utah's most famous (it's on their license plate) with the San Juan Mountains in the background.

Landscape Arch, arguably the other most famous arch. It's longer than a football field.

Double O Arch:

Similar name, different arch. Double Arch:

 And finally, another of Arches' famous landmarks. Balanced Rock. How'd they do that??

Another park close to Arches is Canyonlands National Park. I'm typically a huge advocate of the national parks, but I did not like Canyonlands very much. My brother and I took to calling it "hot, waterless national park" because of the severe heat and the fact that there was no running water in the area of the park we were in. Still, this is one of the more famous outlooks in the park. An arch where you can see a lot of monuments through the arch. I think there have been several much more high-profile pictures taken from the same vantage point.

But just to prove a point, here is what much of Canyonlands looks like.

Bryce Canyon National Park is one of my favorite parks I've ever visited. It was a much needed contrast to the blazing heat of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. BCNP was actually almost cold, in August. It's set at a higher elevation on a plateau in Utah. The scenery is amazing. I've not seen anything else like it in the world.

The spires are remarkable. Its almost unfathomable how these could be created in nature. They look handcrafted.




























Be careful though. We went in August, and the days were nice and warm, but it gets cold at night. Jeans and a fleece were not enough to keep me warm - a fire was needed. It was refreshing though, after Arches and Canyonlands where the heat was inescapable.


Next up was Zion National Park. Zion contends for that special place in my heart known as "the best national park". Zion is very dry and desert-ish, but it also has mountains, valleys, and an awesome river hiking trail.

This spot was probably my brother and I's favorite. The peak to the left is known as Angel's Landing, and has some great views of the Zion Valley from up top.

However, you can't be afraid of heights to reach it. You have to go straight up the spine of this thing (below, left). In several spots, you are only a foot or two from looking straight down that vertical face on the left, 1,000+ feet STRAIGHT down. Yikes.

But once up to the top, you have views like these two. Worth the hair-rising hike, for sure:

Another great spot in Zion National Park is a trail called "the Narrows". This trail goes straight up a river, and you can keep going for miles. It eventually leads to an area called the "subway", which is very remote, but has many popular pictures from it. My brother and I never made it there in our limited time. We hiked upstream for a few miles though, and got deeper and deeper into the canyon.

You're literally walking down the middle of a river that has carved a narrow canyon. As long as there is no flash flood, its a pretty cool experience.















Other cool sights in Zion. From near the main campground.

Utah doesn't just have skiing and a large Mormon temple. The best concentration of national parks in the country is within a few hours drive, all within Utah. Although not in Utah, the Grand Canyon is not too far from Zion. Its worth the road trip.