Friday 30 January 2015

Snow? But Why!?

On our long journey to Rothaus, Germany, I woke up thinking I was back home in Canada. Driving up the mountain of Black Forest, there was at least 5cm of snow covering the ground, and I was not dressed for this type of weather.

It wasn't our first time in Baden Germany, so I was very surprised when I opened my eyes and all I saw was snow upon snow for miles and miles, I couldn't believe it.

Even though I wasn't ready (in my Kevin Hart voice) we made the best out of the situation.
You would have thought we weren't a bunch of Canadians and that have never seen snow in our lives from the way we were reacting.

But to show you how Beautiful it was, here are some beautiful Pictures.





To see more pictures,
 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Thursday 29 January 2015

Maison Lissner

If you know anything about France, then you probably know that it's the land of wine and bread, If Jesus made his way here i'm sure it was one of his favourite places to be.
 With that being said, Studying in France means we do a lot of wine and beer tasting, and by a lot I mean at least once a week.

One Winery that has been super nice to us is Maison Lissner. Since the first week of arriving in France, Maison Lissner was the first winery we were able to wine taste. We have also had the the chance to go to their brewery and see how they process the wine from beginning to end.

A reason why I like Maison Lissner compared to the other wineries we visited is that it's a family business and has been in business since the town it's build in has been founded. The owner Bruno is the 8th generation in his family to own the brewery and he hopes to keep up the tradition and pass it on to his son Theo, who helps his run the business.

Maison Lissner is located in Wolxheim, Strasbourg France.
The city of Wolxheim is a city full of wine vineyard owners, and the whole city shares a 20+ acres of land where they grow their grapes. 

Something that makes Maison Lissner different from the other wineries that we have visited is that they still follow the old fashion way of making wine. They still mostly use wooden barrels to put the wine in for fermentation, instead of the metal ones and they don't disturb the natural essence of the wine, they allow it to flow down to the cellar once the grapes are crushed and any tress and unwanted substance is taken out.

We Also like them because they always give us a lot of wine to taste.





To see more pictures,
 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Monday 26 January 2015

Touched Down in London Town

This past weekend I decided to hop over the pond and visit the Royals in beautiful London, England.
This wasn't my first time to England but will be the most memorable one I have. The last time I was about 5 years old and can only remember what the pictures can tell me.

Luckily for me I have family In England so I was able to have someone take me around town and show me all the tourist attractions and do a little shopping with.

The London Eye, looking over the River Thames


Now I know why my mother always jumps at the chance to travel to England, and why all my friends keep saying why they want to move to London once they get a chance. The city is just so magical.

Everything from the beautiful scenic structures of the buildings to riding on their infamous Double Decker buses to their beautiful accents. England just has so much history that they capture so well it the city.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was how busy all the tourist attractions were and it's winter. You would think it was a nice spring summer day from all the people that were at all the tourist attractions, especially on the London Bridge and Oxford Street, were you can do some good shopping. I also went on the Tube, which is like a maze. It's just as crazy or crazier as the New York Train system, but it was a cool experience, What surprised me the most was how small the trains were.



For a fact I know this will not be my last time n London, hopefully sooner then later I'll be back.




To see more pictures,
 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Friday 23 January 2015

European Tour

Since I'm going to be in Europe for 2 months, I've decided I wanted to take some trips to some other countries since i'm so close. 
One thing I love about Europe is that you can easily travel to other countries and it won't make a big dent in your pocket.

Currently, I'm spending 4 days in England with some family and I only spent 86€ which is about $150 CAD, which is amazing because flying to another province in Canada is about $300+ CAD and that is all in the same land mass.
Because of the travel airlines like Easy Jet, people can travel all over Europe for very cheap. 
You can choose just to bring a carry-on which is free or choose to pay a couple more dollars to get a checked bag.

Another example of how easy and cheap it is to travel around Europe, is a couple of  girls who i'm studying with in France and I  decided we want to go to Barcelona, Spain. 
We searched for a good deal and was able to get a flight for 4 day at 137£, i'm sure if we tried looking earlier we would have got a cheaper flight, but that is equivalent to $250 CAD.
That makes two plane ticket for under $400 CAD for two different countries.

Taking a plane isn't the only way to travel and get around Europe. A lot of my fellow classmates decided to take the bus, rent cars and also take the EuroRail train to travel to different countries in Europe, and all at a reasonable price.

This is something I wish the Canadian government would do, and consider. If it was cheaper to travel to different provinces in the country i'm sure a lot more people would travel out to those places, just as they do in Europe.

Thursday 22 January 2015

The Transition of Studying Abroad

If you have kids I highly recommend that you allow then to study or just travel abroad.
Even if its for a week, trust me when I tell you it will be the best memory and life experience they will ever have.
They will learn so much about the countries that they visit and also learn a lot about themselves.

Being on this study abroad trip has taught me so much about myself, and discovering the different countries we've traveled to has open my eyes to how people in different countries live and how their way of life is different then the regular North American.

So far I've been to France, Germany and England, and it's cool to see how people react and conduct themselves in public. For example I never realized how loud North Americans were until getting on public transportation in France and seeing how everyone sits quietly on the bus talking to their friend if they are talking, in a quiet in-door type of voice, while us North Americans have a loud almost yelling type of voice. 

Another thing your child will learn while they study abroad is how to live without having their security blanket (parents/family) with them. Since your not working and only spending, you have to learn how to budget your money properly, the last thing you want is to be flat broke before it's time to get back home.
Also, because your living on your own, that means you have to cook, do your own laundry, and grocery shopping, pretty much EVERYTHING your parents (if you were living at home) do but now all by yourself. Which in the end will benefit you more in the end.

Another reason you should allow your child to study or travel abroad is after they get into real adulthood, they may never get the chance to travel like this again. Now at the point in your life where you don't really have bills to pay and you can save all your money to travel before it starts to go to paying for bills and rent.

Friday 16 January 2015

Alsatian Classic

For a Travel, Food and Community blog, I sure talk a lot about Travel and Community, so it's about time I start talking about Food. 

Being that i'm staying in the Alsatian region of France, means I've came across a lot of their local Traditional food.
One in particular is their famous Tarte Flambée.

Traditional Tarte Flambée

Tarte Flambée is bread dough rolled out really thin, (or you can buy it from a local store) covered in Fromage Blanc (white cheese) which is like a cream cheese consistency, followed by sliced onions and shredded cheese on top of everything and then place it in a wood fire for 1-2 mins.
You place the Tarte Flambée in a wood stove instead of a conventional oven because the aroma of the wood burning will go into the dough to give it a unique flavour.
This is their traditional way of making Tarte Flambée. You can add anything you want to the dough and make your own type of Tarte Flambée.

We even made a dessert Tarte Flambée, made with the same dough, but with a different Fromage Blanc that wasn't as salty as the original one, it was a bit sweeter. Then we placed apple slices all over the dough, and once it was done baking which takes 1-2 mins we sprinkled cinnamon over it. 

Dessert Tarte Flambée with Apple slices


I've eaten 3 different traditional Tarte Flambée's (including these) from 3 different restaurant/ people who have made them, and I have to say that all of the tasted different. Not one of them tasted like the last and that's the thing I love about France, you can go to 4 different restaurants and have the same thing but get 4 different experiences and taste with the food.

If you every come to the Alsatian Region of France make sure you order a traditional Tarte Flambée at whichever restaurant you go to, you won't regret it.




To see more pictures,
 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure


Monday 12 January 2015

Accueillir à Strasbourg, France// Wecome to Strasbourg, France

So I've landed in Strasbourg France, where i'll be staying for majority of my study abroad program.

If you've ever been to Strasbourg, then you know why I love this city so much already, and if you haven't been here yet, come, it is so worth the time, money and energy

For those of you who don't know where or what is Strasbourg, " Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany..." (Wikipedia)
Strasbourg is a beautiful city that's had it's ups and downs being so close to the border of Germany during the wars, so it has a big French/German influence all throughout the city, from the local language to the architecture.

When you come to Strasbourg, you have to stay at the Château de Pourtalès, not just because i'm staying here, because you get to stay in a beautiful 18th century Castle , where historian like Napoleon III and the First Lady Grand Duchess Stephanie of Baden have graced the presence of the Chateau during it's lifetime.

Château de Pourtalès

The one thing you HAVE to do when you come to Strasbourg is visit the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourgit's a beautiful church with most of it's original work still in place after going through two world wars. You can check out it the Astronomical Clock, that was made in the 1800 by Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué. Also if you want a beautiful view of the whole city of Strasbourg you should climb the tower of the cathedral, it's a steep walk but it's all worth it once you get to the top.


The top of Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg overlooking the City of Strasbourg



To see more pictures,
 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Tuesday 6 January 2015

There's a First Time for Everything

So I've finally made it!
14 Hours later and I've finally made it to Frankfurt, Germany.

As you can start to tell, a lot of my post are about first time experiences, and there will be a lot more post like those coming, especially now that I'll be spending 2 months in Europe for a Study Abroad program with my school.

So let me give you a run-down of my last 14 Hours, where at least 6 of those hours I spent going through Toronto Pearson International Airport twice, even though I never left the country. 
My original flight itinerary was to fly from Toronto to Detroit, and then Detroit to Frankfurt, Germany.

Well because of the typical Canadian weather, my flight to Detroit got cancelled and I had to find a new way to get to Frankfurt. Thank God for Air Canada's wonderful customer service because, they were able to find me a direct flight but, I was on standby so that meant I didn't have a seat.

Since my bags were being directed to Detroit, I had to go find them and then check them back in to go to Frankfurt. Because I went through U.S Customs I was technically in the U.S while in Toronto Pearson International Airport, so I had to go through Canadian customs like I was leaving the airport and go to baggage claim to see if they could find my bag.

Once they found my bag and gave it to me I had an hour to go through the whole check-in my baggage and security process again. Since my flight was booked last minute I didn't have an assigned seat, I had to stand at the gate and wait patiently to see I got a seat. But Thank God I was able to get one.

And I should probably tell you that this is the first time I've EVER flown alone, especially so far away from my family, so I was super proud of myself of dealing with this all by myself without calling my parents crying.

One thing that made the 8 Hour plane ride comfortable was listening to Prince's new album Art Official Age, If you every get a chance to listen to it, do it, it's an amazing album, and it puts you in a good mood.

He's a link to the album on Spoify.

https://play.spotify.com/user/12169742864/playlist/0JLOl3eg71D8jXeGMNPmX0

Thursday 1 January 2015

#TBT Throwback Thursday// The Internet, SZA, Jhene Aiko

It's Thursday and you know what that means, it's Throwback Thursday.


This Thursday i'm throwing it back to Jhene Aiko's Enter the Void Tour at Sound Acadmy with The Internet and SZA as her opening acts.

It was my first time going to a all general admission venue in the winter and to be honest it might be my last, cause it was freezing outside waiting for the doors to open, but besides that the concert was amazing.

The concert started with The Internet opening the show. If you don't know who The Internet are they are their own group part of the  Odd Future clan. Their lead singer Syd the kyd, is the sister of Taco, Tyler the Creators right hand man and she is also one of Odd Futures producers.

I would say that The Internet's music is more of a jazzy blues sound, if you listen you most of the Odd Future artist music beside Frank Ocean, they are the total opposite.
Besides that they set a good vibe to the opening of the concert.

here's a little video I took of them performing.


After The Internet's performence, the beautiful first lady of Top Dawg SZA came out.
If you haven't heard of SZA, I would say start listening, she's blowing up BIG.

If you've been to a SZA concert then you know she is full of life and is constantly moving on stage, i've seen Instagram videos and Youtube videos of her performing, and the Turn up is real with her.


I even caught a video of her singing and dancing to COCO


She sang some songs off her S EP and also her See.SZA.Run EP, with hits like Advil, Babylon, Castles and Teen Spirit, the crowd didn't want her to leave.

And then the lady of the night came out, looking oh so beautiful.
Jhene Aiko looks as pretty in person as she does in all her photos, and you could tell she is so down to earth.

She performed everything, from her Souled Out album to her Sailing Souls EP.
She even took a female audience members phone while performing Lying King and sang to their ex-boyfriend on the phone.





Jhene Aiko is a real artist and she sound the same live as she does on her records, I would soo pay to watch her perform again, especially if she has this line up again.




To see more pictures,
 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure