Bring it, Memphis

Even though the European journey is over, shortly I'll start a journey of a different kind. A journey to become the best math teacher in Memphis... the best math teacher in the world. This goal is unattianable I believe. Sure even if I was to become one of the greatest teachers ever, there's probably not an objective way to determine who at any single moment is the best math teacher in the world. 

So the purpose and result of giving myself that goal is this: I know I have no choice but to never stop trying to get better. Every year, every day, every class. 

I'm motivated by these words of MLK:

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

and these too:

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.

and these words of John Wooden:

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what other think you are.

and these stats about the current state of Memphis education:

-the average ACT score in Memphis city schools is 16.6, for private schools it's 28.3

-A 2007 survey showed 90% of 7th and 8th graders believed they would one day go to college. In 2008 8% of Memphis residents age 18-24 and 22% of residents age 25 or older actually had a college degree.

-89% of 7th and 8th graders perform math at a lower level than the grade they're in

-Approximately 5,000 young men and women turn 19 every year in Memphis without a High School diploma

and by the documentary "Waiting for Superman" which you should go watch right now

and by great teachers like Rosemarie Brenneman and Tim Encinosa and Steve Smith and Chapman Greer and William Worden.

I could go on, but the point is made: The current state of urban education in Memphis, and in America as a whole, needs radical change. There's serious work to do.

Bring it, Memphis.

Finding [...] Myself [...]

So its officially over. I'm back home in Tampa. And before I was in Tampa, I was either in an airport or on an airplane for about 36 straight hours. Plenty of time to reflect. Here's some stuff I thought about...

Before I left on this trip, a thought I heard more than once was that this would be a great opportunity to find myself. Yeaa, find myself. I thought. But then I ran into a problem. I didn't really know what that meant. Sure, I've heard that cliche thrown around before, but what does it actually mean? So starting out, immediately I had two goals... 1) figure out what "finding myself" means and 2) do it

I think I was successful in both of those goals. Over the past 3 months I've come to realize that there are some unwritten, but assumed words in the phrase "finding myself". The full version is--Finding [stuff out about] Myself [that I hadn't previously realized or fully appreciated]. You see, it makes more sense with the brackets. Heres some ways I found myself:

-Walking--not as overrated as I used to think. I've come to enjoy it, You can see and notice much more when you're walking than when you're in a car going 40mph. I plan on encorporating going on walks into my normal life back in the states.

-Being without a cell phone--really not so bad. I actually started to like it. In fact, there were only a handful of times at which i thought, Oh man it'd be really nice to have a cell phone right now. I'm back but I'm not going to reconnect my phone right away and when I do, I will make sure to be without my it at times. Also, I'll text less.

-Wearing a scarf--not just for females and metro/homo sexuals. I can do it, and not feel feminine. So booyah.

-Taking photos--I have a whole new appreciation for photography. There's so much beauty in the world (see: Jessica Alba) and its cool trying to capture it and your experiences in a single picture.

-In the "having friends and family who love and support you as much as possible" category of life--I'm pretty blessed. Seriously, I couldn't ask for more.

-Playing guitar--I find it really fun, and not too hard to pick up on if you have the time. I had multiple lessons from different people at the hostel and now I really want to buy one. Soon I'll be able to romantically serenade a girl... playing a drum solo for her just doesn't have the same effect.

-Sleeping on couches--Any couch. Any time. Seriously, this is more of a warning to you because I already knew this about myself. But if I'm ever at your place and you leave me alone on the couch, I will most likely end up sprawled out and asleep. And sometimes I take my shirt off in my sleep. You've been warned.
.

-Writing--starting to like it a little. Sure, I still think math is a beautiful thing (I'm a nerd at heart, I know) but I've enjoyed doing this blog.

-Life in gerneral--I've learned that theres a fine line between irresponsibility and spontanaity. I probably walked that line during this trip, but I'd like to think I stayed more on the spontaneous side. Through the times when I wasn't sure where I was going to stay or what I was going to eat, I definitely learned a lot about manning up and living with the consequences of decisions I made. And at the end of the day, I'd do it all again if I could.

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I still have some pictures  I want to put up and maybe a couple more things about my travels I can share so don't worry, the blog isn't officially over yet.

Stay classy San Diego.

i AMsterdam

Amsterdam

House boats

Taken whilst riding a bike

sunset over a canal

so much water in amsterdam

a canal with lots of boats

night shot of a canal//looks way better in real life

nice water reflections

nighttime canal again

 

he had to have been 3... no training wheels like a champ

Tilburg

We visited a museum that used to be a concentration camp. I haven´t taken a world history course in a while. It´s like some of this stuff I forgot actually happened.

 

where they burned dead bodies

240 people. one room. tiny beds.

All 240 people were allowed to shower once every 10 days for 30 minutes... as in, in 30 minutes, everyone had to be done.

this memorial was the shooting wall. It has all the names of the people who died there

  

Not all of Tlburg was so bleak though

typical tilburg street

bart and evert... at hiking machu piccu they´re great. at playing pool, they´re less great

Evert´s parents had a small farm. The lamb was about a week old. I wonder when he´ll suspect he´s adopted (the lamb, not Evert)

Surely theres a joke here somewhere

Tim Duncan´s favorite store

we went to some sand dunes. it was like a beach with no water

 

Southern hospitality, cheap wine, bama football, and a really nice gay guy

Still haven't had acces to a computer that I can upload my pics onto yet so you'll have to read more ramblings for right now.

I was thinking last night about my trip and all the fun experiences along the way and about how its bittersweet that I'll be home soon... and I figured I'd share some of the smaller stories from my trip that didn't deserve a full blog entry but were still enjoyable/memorable... the ones that didn't make the cut.

----In Amsterdam I had this conversation with a lady on a crowded tram:

Me: (realizing there were no more seats) Oh , would you like to have my seat?
Lady: You're not from here are you?
Me: Umm, no.
Lady: Well no thanks I'm okay. Men in Amsterdam never ask women if they want their seat. Where are you from?
Me: I'm from the states... and a part of the states where men open doors and pull out seats for ladies and do it all with a smile... It's called southern hospitality.
Lady: *confused look*
Me: Florida. I'm from Florida.

**Note: I was actually refering to Alabama, but I don't consider myself from there, thus why I said Florida.

----I was in a park enjoying a nice sunny day in Amsterdam (these are rare) when a man who was extremely drunk/high started talking to me. He had a big bag of food and beer and wine but wanted me to give him money so he could buy more beer. Ha it was really entertaining. We talked for about 15 minutes.

He was perisitent too... I think mostly because he was so far gone that he would ask me the same questions not remembering that he'd just asked the same thing 2 minutes ago. Long story short, he offered to sell me a bottle of wine for 2 euros. The future math teacher side of me came out as I did some calculations in my head "Surely the amount of alcohol or whatever he can aquire for 2 euros is less than what is contained in a bottle of wine. So by making this purchase, I'm really doing him a favor," I thought.

I left the park 2 euros poorer and a bottle of wine richer.

----One of my favorite comedians, Brian Regan, has a bit about how he fantasizes about being one of the few men who have been on our moon so whenever some "me monster" starts yapping away about how awesome he is, he can automatically trump any story by saying "I walked on the moon..." It's funny I promise.

Anyway, I think I may have experienced that a couple times in a England and The Netherlands. Whenever I would get in a discussion about sports it would inevitably lead to a discussion about what we call football and what everyone else in the world calls football.

I would smile in my head when I heard stuff like "Yea the fans are insane, travelling from city to city just to go to the away games... And the stadiums, 50,000 screaming fans in one place..." I would just let them keep going "Oh man the atmosphere is intense!... We barely even sit down!" I'd smile because I knew I had the ultimate trump card: Bryant-Denny Stadium.

So when they'd finally slow down, I suppose expecting a "Wow thats incredible!" from me, I'd instead begin to tell them about how I went to a university in a city with a population of 90,000 but an on campus stadium that holds 100,000. I'd tell them how one time over 90,000 people showed up... to watch a practice. I'd tell them about the rivalries and how the color orange makes me do that thing where you throw up in your mouth just a little bit. I'd tell them about on multiple occasions riding long distances, one time 30 hours, with people I had met the day before just to get to a game. And then having to sneak in when I did get there. I'd tell them about "Roll tide" and how two words could mean, "thanks", or "hey man", or "amen", or "cheers" or "i don't really know you, but I see you're a bama fan" or a plethora of other things. I'd tell them about Alabama football. And then the conversation would be over.

----In London I'm pretty sure I got hit on by a gay guy.

I was staying at a hostel and there was a bar downstairs... a nice little place to hang out. I was there one night talking to the bartender who was also American and staying at the hostel so I knew her a little. Anyway, at one point she got busy and a guy comes and sits next to me...

Possibly gay guy: Hey man I saw you at the library today.
Me: Oh cool. Yea, I was there today.
Possibly gay guy: I'm Anthony (I dont remember his real name)
Me: I'm Austin (we shake hands)

Over the next 20 minutes or so we chat and he's very nice. Too nice maybe. He also is very touchy and expressive. I remember thinking, It's cool that you live alone and work in the fashion industry, but do you really need to lean over and put your hand on my back or shoulder while teling me this? And then it hit me. It all made sense.

Oooo, you're gay, I thought. And maybe think I'm cute? Ha, it all makes so much sense now.

He was a talker so I had time to plan my next move while he went on about what he was doing to the inside of his apartment and how it was going to look fa-bu-lous.

I decided to just say something like "Man I haven't had any luck with the ladies lately" at some point in the conversation just so he knew where my loyalties rested, and then just keep talking. I mean, he was nice, interesting, entertaining... I just prefer people who are more... female.

My dichotomy of desires

Dichotomy is another one of those words that makes me sound smarter than I am. Also plethora. I like throwing that one out there from time to time.

Anyway, some of you, whoever "you" is, may know my trip's story and others may not. Here's the short version:

-set off on my big Euro-trip with big plans to see lots of places.
-planned on using a student loan to fund this trip.
-found out last second that the money wasnt coming.
-survived using a mix of generosity and hospitality of friends, family and people I didn't know with a dash of my own survival skills and whole lot of God's provision

And that's where I am today. Well technically I'm in Tilburg, but I'll get to that next time. Emotionally, for lack of a better word, where I am is in a state of having two basic desires:

1) to stay in Europe as long as possible and continue exploring, making friends, seeing new places
2) to not starve

Unfortunately these two desires get closer and closer to being mutually exclusive everyday... a dichotomy of desires, if you will. You see, there will come a point when the funds completely run dry and I can stay and not eat, or return and eat. Hopefully that time doesn't come before March 30 because on that day, I'm coming home. That's right, I officially have a ticket back. I can't decide if I liked it better when I didn't know when the end was coming or now that I know exactly how much time I have left. Whatever the case, I've had a great time and hope to soak up these last few weeks.

And when I do come back--Applebees on Hillsborough when simon gets off work.

Pictures of Amsterdam and Tilburg coming soon...

Brief digression II... CS Lewis was right!

I just realized that instead of brief digressions, I could've called these segments detours. And then it would go with the whole "on the road" theme. And then I would seem more clever. But alas, 'tis too late. I suppose I'll have to stick to using words like alas and 'tis to make myself feel smart.

So why was CS Lewis right, you may ask. Well he said this (and I'll paraphrase)

"Christianity is a statement that, if true, is of infinite importance and if not true, is of no importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."

I thought about that the other day and I think its kinda like if someone were to say to me "Austin, theres a bomb in the refrigerator that's going to explode in 2 minutes." If what this person said was true, its definitely pretty important to me--my life is on the line. If it's not, then his words are irrelevant to me. Either way I do know two things:

1) His statement is definitely not of medium importance. It's either true or not. I'm either 2 minutes away from dying or I'm safe.
2) I know I'm not going to keep on eating pancakes or doing whatever I'm doing without at least investigating (i.e. taking a peek in the refrigerator).

This metaphor is probably a stretch but you can see where I'm trying to go with this...

Jesus said some pretty radical, crazy things. He said he was God. He said believing in him leads to eternal life. He even had the audacity to claim to be the one and only way. The nerve, right? But either all this stuff is true, and infinitely (literally) important, or he was a liar or a lunatic and should be completely ignored.

When I say I'm a Christian, what I mean is that I just simply fall into the category of people who find all that crazy stuff Jesus said to be true, and thus infinitely important. And so I hope my life reflects that.

Kinda like the "there's a bomb we gotta go" line is one that's worth attention, Jesus's words and life, no matter what your beliefs, are at the very least worth some attention/investigation. Sure it'll be harder than looking into a refrigerator, but the search for truth is worth the journey.

A day in the life of "the machine"

9:00--wake up

9:15--wake up

9:30--seriously, wake up
Marcel, another cleaner that sleeps above me, is my alarm clock. He's very patient.

9:40--make decision to eat breakfast or shower
Current score: Food 15 Hygiene 0

9:45--eat breakfast
It's either pancakes, french toast or fried egg and toast. Pancake day  is obviously my favorite. On fried egg days I usually get granola and yogurt. Something about eating the yolk of an egg weirds me out.

10:00--shift starts
It's either clean the small downstairs bathroom, tidy up outside, or sweep and mop the stairs. There's 3 cleaners so we each get one task. I guess I prefer outside but all are relatively easy.

10:30--Short Bible discussion
Led by the day's CS (cleaner supervisor). I like this time of our day. We chat and drink hot chocolate. It's fun and usually entertaining and not super serious... true of the CS's as well.

11:00--time to work
Spend the next 2 1/2 hours making beds, cleaning sinks and mirros, vacuuming and mopping. Or if you're on bathroom duty (every cleaner gets a 10-day bathroom stint) you do that the whole time. Neither job is particulary hard. I think prefer bathrooms.

13:30--lunch time
We eat unlimited toasted sandwiches and leftover breakfast and leftover dinner from the night before. I've gained the nickname "the machine" and I'm proud.

14:15ish--finish up working
Either vacuum and mop the reception area by yourself or tag team the cafe with another cleaner. Pretty easy.

14:45ish--spend the next 4 hours doing some kind of combination of the following:

• napping
• playing chess
• hanging out with staff
• playing football (the kind you play with your feet)
• snacking
• meeting and talking to guests
• walking/biking around town
• surfing the (painfully slow) internet
• going to a jazz bar

18:30ish--eat dinner.
The food is great! Tonight was sweet and sour chicken and rice with banana-chocolate cake and pudding for dessert. Yum.

18:50ish--eat another portion of dinner

19:30--spend next 6 hours doing some kind of combination of the aforementioned activities

1:30ish--go upstairs
I always stay up pretty late, The 18-bed room I sleep in often has weird smells and loud snorers. So its either beat the snorers to bed or go to bed when I'm so tired I'll fall asleep nevermind the smells or noises.

1:35--make decision whether to sleep or shower, seeing as though I didn't shower in the morning.
Current score: Sleep 8 Hygiene 7
Yes, that means there are days I dont shower. Judge me, I not ashamed. I don't think I'm the only one who takes less showers in the winter.

2:00--Fall asleep (hopefully)

4:00--Dream of watching Sportscenter or going back to Cuba or eating chick-fil-a or being one of the 15,000 in Coleman Coliseum or Ashley Jackson...

9:00--repeat

White-washing picket fences

This is normally the point where I'd say "Why's it gotta be white?" to try to create an awkward racial moment... But I'll refrain.

I've been here a week now and I'm starting to become a pretty quick bed maker. I can take out the trash, spray down windows and sinks, and vacuum and mop floors with the best of them. (Don't tell my mom)

The weird thing is I'm enjoying it. It's like I'm one of those kids who was convinced by that one guy that white washing picket fences is fun.

I think there's two reasons I'm enjoying being a cleaner in this hostel:

1) The location. Amsterdam is a beautiful city. When the lights reflect off the canals at night it's particularly nice. (I'll try to do pics soon)

When I first arrived in Cuba last year, every little thing I did seemed exciting because it was a new place. So when I played basketball or shopped at a market, it wasn't just playing basketball and shopping. It was playing basketbal and shopping... IN CUBA! Or when I went to Peru a couple years ago and volunteered at a local school, in my mind it wasn't helping out at a school everyday. It was being at TA... IN PERU!

Get what I'm trying to say? The mundane things, for me, become exciting when I'm in a new place.

2) The people. The staff here is composed of mostly college aged volunteers from around the world. Seeing as though it's a Christian hostel, they're all Christians but obviously the same isn't true of all the guests. It's been cool to talk and hear different people's (staff and guests) beliefs and stories about how they ended up in Amsterdam.

One week in and I'm already a little sad I'll only be here another 3 weeks. I'm starting to realize that when I travel I think I'd rather be in one place for a while and really get to know it rather than see a lot of places for short amounts of time. Plus I feel like I'm "part of the family" already. Everyone's been super nice and fun to hang out with.

The point of all this I guess is that when you're white washing fences in a new and beautiful city with a bunch of cool, interesting new frineds, life isn't so bad.

Naked girl, naked girl... Christian hostel.

Well, not completely naked. But they weren't wearing much, that's for sure. This was my first night in Amsterdam and the shameless prostituion in the well known Red Light District was hard to miss.

I was heading to the hostel I was staying at for the night--a Christian hostel, I had been told, where there was a possibility I could work and stay there for free. But as I was walking, I got the feeling I was heading the wrong way as the number of barely dressed women increased. Naked girl, naked girl... Christian hostel--I turned a corner and there it was. One hour in and I knew Amsterdam would be an interesting city.

Here are some things I've noticed over the past few days:

-Everyone bikes. Everyone. I guess most Americans (myself included) have this type of attitude towards bikes: "As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists" But here it's normal, almost essential, to cycle most places. Parking is hard to find and super expensive when you do find it.

-The term "coffeeshop" does not reefer (intentially spelled wrong) to a cafe type restaurant in which one may go to ejnoy a nice cup of joe. Well, maybe you can get a good cup of coffee, but that isn't their main item of interest. I don't know, I guess "Weedshop" or "Marijuanashop" don't have the same ring to it.

-Almost everyone speaks a decent amount of English. This is probably because the Netherlands and northern Belgium are the only places where the people speak Dutch (I think) so it's necessary to learn English. This fact has ben very helpful... especially when I'm lost. It'd be tough to be in a country where I dont understand anyone and no one understands me.

-"Hi my name is Amsterdam..." All other cities attending meeting "Hiii Amsterdam." Amsterdam continues, "...and I'm a sex addict" Seriously, this place really loves their sex. Sex museums, sex shops, sex for sale, live sex shows. It's crazy and impossible to miss.

I hope to find out more about the city as I'm here. I'm gonna do the work and live for free thing at the hostel for the next four weeks so I'll be here a while. Yea, I guess that's all for now.

[Insert short, possibly witty sentence to end blog entry here]

Belgium: Call me Colin Farrell...

...because I'm ______.

Any guesses? Anybody?

Back in my days as a multi-talented, drive-thru specialist Chick-fil-A employee, when the clock would strike 9:59 (I was usually off at 10:00), I would often say this line: "Call me Nicolas Cage because I'm... (pause for dramatic effect and resist urge to say "a horrible actor") Gone in 60 seconds." It got a laugh exactly one time.

Seriously though, did anyone ever see that insanely horrible movie Ghost Rider? If I ever see Mr. Cage in person I will punch him in the face for stealing 2 hours of my life. It's painfully bad.

Anyway no more stalling. In Bruges was the answer I was looking for--a movie shot in Bruges that Colin Farrell did a couple years ago.  I was also in Gent and in Brussels, but I don't think those are movies.

Ok enough small talk, on with the pictures... (clicking on them makes them bigger and better)

Bruges and Gent

(the cities looked similar and I couldn't remember which pics were taken where)



I like the look of the buildings





Leaning trees--I feel like a clever person could come up with a funny caption for this picture.
"Paul Bunyon sneezed" was the best I could do.



Action shot--this is Bruges, I think

One of many Cathedrals

A castle from the 15th (?) century





A less artistic shot of the same castle

Olivia and Annabelle: wonderful guides (and salsa dancers)

I'm a sucker for water reflecticious photos

None of us had any idea where to go when we arrived in Gent.
Guess which way we went

Again with the water reflections






My first Belgian waffle. That's whipped cream, ice cream, powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. Yum



Brussels

A classic case of no picture I took coming close to doing this view of the city justice

"Manneken Pis" (Little Man Piss) This is a pretty well know statue.
Legend has it he pissed on a fire and saved Brussels a long time ago--
either it was a small fire or he had been holding it in far too long.

Belgian flags

Can't remember what this building is. Cathedral is always a safe bet here.

Olivia: "Austin if you're not in any of the pictures no one will believe you're really here."
Exhibit A.



  

Goodbye England. Hellooo waffles.

"You know, if you perform you get in free."

This changed everything. My debate whether I should spend £4 (a significant amount of money to me these days) to go to Catweazle, an open mic type event that sounded really interesting, was instantly settled. I'd just perform... But what?

Unless you've been the recipient of one, you might not know that occasionally I write poems. Nothing sappy or deep or lovey, so hopefully I dont lose any man cards for the fact, usually just a light hearted, 20ish line rhyming poem.

Sorted, as they'd say here--I'd write a poem. We get back to the house and I have an hour to whip up a poem and eat. I tell myself I´m not gonna eat until the poem is done which is plenty enough motivation to write fast.

Performers had to arrive an hour early so I get dropped off at the place and go in, put my name on the list and wait. An hour later the show starts and it's pretty good. There were stories read, poems recited, songs sang, etc. It was really cool actually.

Anyway after about an hour and a half, it was my turn.

"Ok next up, joining us for the first time, please welcome Austin to the stage"

The crowd roars... or more like purrs.

I uncrinkle my little piece of paper I had evidently been nervously folding and rolling in my hand for the past hour and a half, clear my throat, give a quick 10 second introduction, and dive in:

Welcome to Manchester, the pilot finally said

I'm here. I've arrived. I thought in my head

I stepped off the plane--let the adventures begin

The started sooner that I expected, customs wouldn't let me in

I know I dont have a return ticket and have only 30 pounds

But I just wanna travel, not work, as unbelievable as it sounds

After a 30 minute struggle she finally lets me through

Good morning England--How do you do?

Two days into travelling and I get some bad news

The student loan I was expecting won't be available to use

But I decide not to worry that my plans now have a glitch

Because I've learned something about life--sometimes she's a witch

In going place to place I've slept on beds couches and floors

People have been so happy to open their doors

I've seen different cities: York Manchester Newcastle

Everyone's been so nice. I haven't met one "astle"

It's warmer right now in Florida, we see a bit more of the sun

But I'll "warm up" to the weather soon--excuse the bad pun

I really like it here, as different as it may be

I'm starting to rather enjoy my morning cup of tea

The sport you call football you actually play with your feet

And I've noticed that every single person drives on the wrong side of the street

Anyway as I continue my travels, embracing the unforeseen

I'll leave you with a "cheers mate" and a "God save the queen!"

They applaud. I return to my seat, exhale and enjoy the rest of the free entertainment--my favorite kind.

Tomorrow, my time in England comes to an end. I went from Manchester to Newcastle to York to London to Oxford and enjoyed every minute. In just a few hours I´ll get on a bus to Brussels, Belgium. 

Goodbye, England. Hellooo waffles.

24,087 words

Most of which are in the form of pictures...


Manchester

Park in Manchester

Just in case you were wondering where the old one is

Roll Tide

Rammer Jammer

Newcastle

Millennium Arch

Millennium Arch again

 River Tyne

Millennium Arch one more time

Bridges that cross River Tyne

York

The white horse

View from the top

View from the top

View from the top

The Shambles

The Minster

York city walls--this used to be a moat

The Minster at night

London

River Thames (I like the reflection of the buildings)

random road

River Thames

random building

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace