London Week 2
London Week 1
Big Ben stands out in the London sky at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. The tower was completed in 1858, and is one of the largest four-faced chiming clocks in the world.
Londoners wait at the Paddington Underground station for an arriving train on the Bakerloo Line.
Small canal boats sit docked among tall office buildings and narrow canals in Little Venice, London.
Two men walk across an overhead walkway towards Paddington station in Little Venice.
An older couple dances to big band music played by a market stand selling old records and sound systems in Greenwich, London.
An elderly couple exits a center courtyard at Hampton Court Palace during closing time on Friday afternoon.
A group of tourists listening to an audio guide stare at the beautiful tapestries that drape the walls of Great Hall in Hampton Court Palace.
A woman acting as a servant in Hampton Court Palace plays her part in a guided tour of the former home of Henry VIII.
Lizzie's Wedding Reception
New Orleans Road Trip
Shortly after the school year ended, my girlfriend and I embarked on quite the epic journey down south, with our final destination being New Orleans. Our first stop was in Connecticut to go apartment hunting for Emily. She got an amazing job working for Unilever and we ended up finding her a really nice place in Milford, CT, a cute little town right by the water.
Our next spot was my home. We drove down to Silver Spring and stayed there for a few days and did all the things that tourists do when visiting the nation's capital. We went to all the monuments and had a blast in DC before continuing on southbound.
It was finally time to hit the road and head South. We didn't want to drive all 19 hours in one crazy day, so we split up our trip down to New Orleans into two days, stopping in beautiful rural Tennessee to camp at Rock Island state park and eat some of the best Jambalaya and steak we had ever had at a nearby restaurant tucked away in the woods, high up on a hill and next to a beautiful river. We rinsed off in a waterfall the next morning as the sun rose, and then hopped back on the road to head down to New Orleans.
My experiences with Emily were incredible, and quite memorable. I couldn't be more thankful for her love and companionship, and I can't wait to continue our journey around the world. Exploring the French Quarter and day drinking daiquiris on Bourbon Street, cruising down the Mississippi on the ferry and visiting the battlegrounds of the Battle of New Orleans (1814), enjoying coffee and beignets every morning and eating amazing food all around Louisiana, touring the swamps and bayous of Louisiana with wild hogs and alligators, dancing in the rain at the Bayou Bugaloo festival, and learning about the historic Oak Alley Plantation were some of the highlights of our trip, and it would be hard for a set of photos to accurately portray our experiences. We had some bumbs in the road, but getting over them truly made me appreciate all of the wonderful experiences we were having. Even sleeping in the car in a parking lot next to Arby's for a night on our way back home.
The photos I'm going to share are from some of the more memorable spots from our trip.
I definitely hope to make it back to New Orleans one day.
"Fever" Short Film Promo
Some of my friends have been working on a short film called "Fever" all semester long. The film is about a veteran with PTSD, and it dives into the associated effects of PTSD and trying to reintegrate with society.
Landmark Theater
Professor Peace
Last week I met a very inspiring man named William Peace, who teaches bio-ethics and disability rights at Syracuse.
Peace was diagnosed with a rare disease when he was young, slowly becoming paralyzed over the series of multiple years until he was completely disabled at the age of 18. Peace told me that between the ages of 10 and 18, he was in the hospital about 60% of the time, and didn't get the opportunity experience secondary school. At a young age, he took up studying the college coursework of his older siblings whenever he could during his lengthy time in the hospital. Peace has used his knowledge and experience over the years to fight for disability rights, and has succeeded in helping change the public transit systems around the country with the creation of wheelchair accessibility features on busses. Peace continues to work to increase awareness about issues in disability services while teaching at Syracuse, and it was a pleasure speaking with him.
The following photos are an addition to the wheelchair accessibility story I have been working on with Audrey Morgan for Jerk Magazine.
Toggenburg Pond Skim
On Sunday, I attended a pretty ridiculous event at the nearby ski slopes as a part of the semester long project I have been working on with my friend Michael, captain of the SU Ski Team. The event runs annually, and is known as Pond Skim. It consists of a giant pool dug in the ground at the base of the center slope at Toggenburg, around 5 feet deep, 12 feet wide, and 30 feet long, and around 70 wide-eyed, happy and initially dry skiers...
The aftermath is only what one could expect with 70 people going one by one, trying to skim across 30 feet of frigid water in costume. Absolutely brilliant mayhem.
Wheelchair Accessibility Story: Michael Roberts Profile
On Saturday afternoon, I got to meet an incredibly strong man, and fellow student here at Syracuse University. Michael Roberts is a law student at SU, and has been in a wheelchair since he was 14 years old. Michael lives with his beautiful service dog, and talking with him about wheelchair accessibility was a very touching experience. Our conversation made me incredibly thankful for all that I have been blessed with. It also illuminated an issue that I was relatively unaware of, yet one that was clearly having a significant effect on Michael and many others throughout the campus.
