I had never been inside such a big church. The level of detail in every piece of the church is fantastic and amazing. I find it amazing how dedicated some people are to honoring their religion, and it is truly showcased in St. Paul’s Cathedral. I had read about the building of a cathedral in a book called “The Pillars of the Earth,” which was fictional, but still detailed every step of building a cathedral. From that book, I had known that cathedrals were built in the shape of a cross, but I had never actually seen it before. To be honest, I think it makes the building look a little awkward, but it doesn’t detract from the grandeur of the cathedral. There are also a lot of people in the tombs underneath the cathedral, which was kinda creepy, but every single one of them had a story attached. Many were veterans who died in one war or another. All in all, I will never forget touring St. Paul’s.

Among Dutch architect, Aldo Van Eyck’s, work lies the Amsterdam Orphanage that was built in the year 1960. Aldo Van Eyck once said “a house must be like a small city if it is to be a real house.” This work was representative of just that. It consists of a complex design incorporating outdoor and indoor spaces collectively. It has the capability of housing 125 children of all ages with inclusion of the varying size of spaces. The Amsterdam Orphanage was Van Eyck’s take on modern architectural ideas. This work represents meaning getting put into architecture as Van Eyck worked to create a small world within a large one for these kids.

The Tower of London was much smaller than I thought it was going to be. It’s not exactly small by any means, but I expected it to be bigger and grander than it was, especially after seeing Buckingham Palace. It was still an amazing experience. When you walk around in there, you’re walking the grounds the monarchs of Great Britain walked for hundreds of years. It’s a little creepy thinking about King Henry VIII, given his penchant for executing his wives. It was cool to see where people got executed though. It makes it more real. The crown jewels were also amazing. At the same time, it made me feel really poor looking at the amount of gold, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and more precious metals. The throne was disappointing though. There’s a picture of it below. The amount of history in that one small area is truly amazing though. I learned a lot about the English monarchy history while there. We didn’t pay for an official tour, just entry, and it was great. There are little signs with stories and descriptions of buildings and areas of buildings. There’s also an armory in there.

Venetian hotel in Las Vegas is a huge luxury hotel that many people likes to stay. When it first opened in 1999, it was considered as the most expensive resort in Vegas. Just like its name, the hotel used Venice, Italy, as its design inspiration so it features a lot of architectural replicas of Venetian landmarks. I have stayed in this hotel last year for a few days and made good memories. I never saw a hotel this big and long. The entrance was so beautiful at night, it made me feel excited when I first checked in. It felt like a casino, shopping mall and a hotel all combined. There were so many places to look around, I remember walking for a long time just in the hotel. They even had an indoor man made Venetian river! The hotel offered high quality surroundings, so I felt like I had to dress up nicely. If I have another chance to visit Vegas, I will definitely stay in the Venetian hotel again!

The Western Wall also known as The Kotel is located in Jerusalem, Israel. The Western Wall is over 2,000 years old and is known as one of the holiest places that Jews can pray at. Having been there three times , its significance increased in my eyes as I grew older. The experience is a bit overwhelming as you see hundreds, even thousands of people praying along the wall, with the men and women divided into two sections. It’s astounding to see the magnitude of the wall and to see everybody overcome with emotions from crying, to laughing, to being memorized by the experience. Being able to write a note and place it in the cracks of the wall meant a lot to me and my family because it was a spiritual moment that not everybody gets to experience in their lifetime. One of my favorite memories of visiting the wall was getting to go on a tour of the tunnels under the wall. I was able to see the different excavation sites and the raw framework of what was holding everything up . Visiting the Western Wall is definitely something I plan to do again in my future.

The Tiger Safari in Tuttle Oklahoma means so many different things to me. When I was growing up it was the place to go to in Tuttle and my friends and I would always have a good time there. Then, my girlfriend started working there as a live in position, so we moved in Tiger Safari. That led to the wildest couple of months in my life, which you would expect living in a zoo. Because of this place is how I got my start in radio, because when you live in a zoo you have stories to tell and people love to hear stories that aren’t like everybody else.

Phillips Arena is located in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia and is the home of the Atlanta Hawks, Dream, and former home of the Atlanta Thrashers. As a kid, I visited this arena many times to watch the Hawks or the Thrashers and I have very fond memories of watching Hockey games pressed up against the glass or Joe Johnson hitting game winning three pointers. The arena is now named State Farm Arena but when I was a child, Phillips Arena was like a second home. I even was lucky enough to play a game on the court in High School.

The arches pictured above are very unique and impressive, as you can see they spell out “ATLANTA.” As a child, I always thought this was the coolest thing and would take pictures in front of these arches to send to my Grandma back home. Phillips arena holds a special place in my heart because of all the exciting games I have seen there and the memories of being with family and friends in between those walls.

This building is where I first got to be a true journalist. Going to post practice interviews, being able to sit down with some players and talk to them, and learn about the in’s and out’s of a professional sports organization. I was super nervous asking questions in front of established journalists, and of course to professional athletes. By now however, I feel comfortable at the facility and comfortable around the athletes, because they all just want you to treat them like any other person on the planet and not some folk hero.

I was sixteen when I went to a Dallas Stars game for the first time. I had always liked watching hockey, but it wasn’t until I actually went that I really got into hockey. I’m much more invested in hockey that I am soccer these days. And I watched English Premier League religiously on the weekends. Last year, I didn’t miss a single Stars game. Even when I was doing homework, I had the game up on one of my spare devices. I was lucky to be able to watch the games because I wasn’t actually in the right time zone where I should have been able to. The Fox Sports app on my phone just somehow still thought I was still in Texas (despite being in East Tennessee) and I just went with it and didn’t try to fix it.

The atmosphere at the arena during games is fantastic. Everyone there is into the game and fans just like you. Even though (as you can see in the picture) we sat up in the nose-bleed section, it’s still amazing. You know that everyone else in the arena is just as dedicated and excited as you are. It’s completely different than sitting in your dorm watching it and yelling and probably annoying your neighbors when someone on the other team hooks one of your guys or when you score.