The Colosseum was the next spot I visited while I was in Europe. I found it to be very fascinating with the design. It was cool, but I guess I didn’t find it too interesting because of the tour we were given. I probably would have been able to enjoy it more if I was able to look at it more on my own. The history of the Colosseum was very cool and I did enjoy it overall.

The Vatican was such an amazing place to see. The whole atmosphere was so amazing. The structures in the Vatican were so cool and detailed. This was my first sight seeing spot that I came to when I visited Europe for the first time last year. The whole experience was cool because of everything we got to see. Especially St. Peter’s Basilica and all the other buildings that were in the city.

This was such a cool place for me to go whenever I first came here. I first came here when I was 12 years old for my first ever Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game. The environment in the court was so amazing and cool. This is a really special place to me because I had a really good time here for my first basketball game with my dad and sister. The whole experience was very fun and I enjoyed it.

This past summer I studied abroad in Spain and Morocco and was fortunate enough to live in Seville and get to see this marvel of architecture almost every day. Much like the Cathedral in Barcelona that we mentioned in class, I was in awe of the Catedral de Sevilla from the moment I saw it. while Catedral was immens,  measuring roughly 124,000 square feet, it was full of incredible detail that was both artful as well as awe inspiring from an engineering perspective. As I began to learn the winding streets of the thousand year old city of Seville, the Catedral was always my way home as you could see it from almost anywhere in the city even when you may feel utterly lost. The inside the of the Catedral also showcased an unending appearance with massive pillars extending into beautiful stained glass portraits that the sun shone through near the ceiling. In between the ceiling and the floor there were beautiful murals like the one pictured above for places of worship. The Catedral was immense and a giant, but upon entering, I remember the incredibly serene feeling that the architecture generated as everyone was in a state of reverence of the church. The Catedral was quite an unforgettable building and an unforgettable experience!

-Jack Stroup

The Cotton Bowl is host to the most important college football game in the universe. I first went there when I was about 10 years old, and we had seats on the highest row directly on the 50 yard line. I was not prepared for that level of trash talk as a 10 year old. The original capacity could hold about 45,000 people. As of today, the stadium record attendance is 96,009. If it were in Oklahoma, it would be the 5th largest population center in the state on game days. The stadium was built in 1930, but did nothing important until becoming the host of the Red River Shootout in 1932. OU has been annihilating inferior opposition on that field ever since.

I transferred to OU from UCO. The first college building I ever walked into was Old North at UCO. Opening in 1893, it is the oldest building of higher education in the state. It has had a reputation for being old and unstable; the building was first closed for safety issues in 1911, but it was renovated for continued use. In 2001, the building was closed for the same issues again. It was renovated during a $40 million project beginning in 2011 and officially reopened for classes again in 2017. I can’t find any updated interior pictures, but the style is very modern and mixes well with the design of the building.

The Baseball Hall of Fame located in Cooperstown, NY is one of the most surreal experiences I have ever been in. None of that has to do with the architecture as it looks as if its an old colonial style building back in the time of the American Revolution. However, as soon as I walked through those front doors, I almost felt connected with the entire history of baseball. Walking through the first hallway after the short introduction video you see things such as, Ty Cobb’s sliding shorts made of complete wool, and even one of Babe Ruth’s contracts that he is signed. Throughout the entire museum you feel more connected with the sport than ever before. Once you get to the final room with all the plaques you are truly breath taken as you can walk down the aisle and eventually you will get to the first ever Hall of Fame class. This building more than any other one I have been in has felt like its actually taken me and put me in the greatest times of the sport of baseball.

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. One thing I can say for sure about this place compared to any other I have been too, is that I have never seen the architecture of a building play into a sporting event so much in my life. Opened in August of 1975, the design of the dome was to help develop a home-field advantage for the hometown saints, and it has helped with just that. I visited when my favorite team the San Francisco 49ers were playing the Saints in a regular season matchup. To that day I have yet to be in a sports environment that loud, and that had so much fun together. The Superdome is unlike any other stadium I have ever been to.

Grand Central Station is one of New York City’s most know landmarks within the giant concrete jungle. Built by French architects the station opened 1913. When I visited the station back in 2010 I actually was pretty underwhelmed with what I was walking into. Yes, the building itself was very nice, but I don’t remember spending more than 20 minutes there, because after all even though it is one of NYC’s most visited tourists attractions, at the end of the day it is still just a train station for commuters.

I have been to the Oakland Coliseum many times in my life growing up in the area, and with all the great moment I have shared their it has become like a second home for me. The stadium is located in the East side of Oakland, CA and opened up in September of 1966. Home of both the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders, it is no known as the last professional multi-sport stadium used by both the NFL and MLB. Although the concourses aren’t much more than old cracked concrete, and the plumbing situation that has been reoccurring the memories of walk-off home runs, and division-clinching victories will always make this a special place for me.