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This is the new sarcophagus being built to cover Reactor 4 which exploded in an experiment gone bad in 1986. The nearby town of Pripyat became a ghost town overnight as people were ordered to evacuate. Once completed in 2017, it'll entomb the former reactor and the original building will be gone forever. Not many people have photos like this :) (at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant)

I'm always fascinated by this part in history. After the explosion at Chernobyl, many young Soviet soldiers were called upon to heave the extremely radioactive material back into the core. Even to this day, when I arrived here, the officials told me not to put my camera bag on the ground because the radioactivity is still smoldering. This photo of the administrative offices is one of the first ones I took at Chernobyl, the nuclear reactors are to the left outside of the frame. (at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant)

I traveled to a 16th century convent to take this Burton-esque photo. Here I have "Bride on Display", where the women that lived here centuries ago put aside their dreams of getting married and vowed celibacy. #2015highlights (at Convento de Santa Catalina)

#2015highlights

"They fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation." -Admiral Chester Nimitz. Stars representing our brave soldiers who fought in World War II. (at World War II National Monument)

Went strolling in Washington DC today with Josh. The memorials are really great, I always love coming here :) (at Lincoln Monument Washington DC)

One of my aerial photos of the bell tower and St. Sophia Cathedral in wintery Kiev :) I was really fascinated with Kiev and Ukraine in general because of its Soviet history. Delving deep into what used to be the Iron Curtain was quite an interesting learning experience. (at Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev)

Yesterday I was talking with my sister and the topic of dinosaurs came up. We both have visited this remote place called Querulpa in Peru where the fossils of a number of dinosaur tracks were found. Looks like some giant chickens were walking about but no, those are Plintosaurus footprints. And there's probably a lot more to be discovered since it's a pretty remote area. This was my second time here and I remember it even before they had a fence around it. On my first time around, the villagers that lived there let me hold a fossilized dino egg and some dino bones :) (at Parque Jurásico - Querulpa)

This was pretty interesting. About 150 yards from the entrance to climb up to see the dinosaur prints is a house. Knock on the door and politely ask the person if they can show you the drawings. They'll say sure, come in, guide you through their house go out the back and start climbing the huge, desert mountain behind their property. There's no real path, but just follow the guy and soon you'll get to this place. At first glance it looks like a big rock formation on the side of the mountain but then he starts to point out various things on the rock. It's actually covered in ancient drawings and patterns. Some depict a snake, others a lizard (or a devil is what the guy told me) hunters, and tapestry patterns. Then inside a narrow cave, the whole wall is carved out in drawings just like what you might find in some cool archeological dig. The farmer speculated that this was created by the Nazca or pre-Nazca civilization. It's so much fun finding these kinds of things. I suppose some scientists should check it out and figure out what it all means! (at Querulpa)

There's something really peaceful about the sound of the crashing waves :)

I remember arriving on a cold December night. And I couldn't understand any Ukrainian so when the crowd around me started to chant 'Shaghta, shaghta, shaghta!' I cheered right along with them. Yea, go Shaghta!! After all, the entire stadium covered in blue and yellow, the Ukrainian national colors, was cheering them on. The team I later learned was Shakhtar from Donetsk, whose city was in the front lines at the height of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. (at Екскурсії Арена Львів / Stadium Tour Arena Lviv)

#christmaslights (at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens)

#christmaslights

at Josef Samuel Photography

New :)

When I think of Black Friday, a whole different thing comes to mind. (at Auschwitz-Birkenau)

Visiting the melted nuclear reactor number 4 (top) of the Chernobyl power plant was a dream come true. It was pretty high on my bucket list, now I can check it off :) We were given a tour and also documented the progress of the new sarcophagus currently under construction. Once complete in 2017, it'll enclose the whole site and the original structure will be gone forever. (at Pripyat - Chernobyl, Ukraine)

Working up a Basilica wedding :) (at University of Notre Dame)

Some aerials from my stay in Vienna, Austria. I loved the museums, especially the Ephesus museum and the Museum of Medieval Armor and Weaponry. And of course I loved biking around the city and also visiting Kahlenberg, a nearby village on a hill where you could see all of Vienna. It was my second time around, so I only stayed a few days. In that short time though, I met a couple nice Germans, lots of Brazilians, a few Australians, a cool South Korean guy, and a very strange Romanian :) (at Vienna, Austria)

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