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 Strasbourg, it'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

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

#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

Family , Fun and America // Maryland, USA

Last month my family and I took our annual 9 hour road trip down to Bowie, Maryland to visit family and friends for American Thanksgiving.

Usually we spend 2 or 3 days and then hustle back home for work and school, but this time we decided to spend 4 days, and you could feel the difference. since we spent a longer time, we were able to relax a lot more and had more time with friends and family.

Because of all the extra time we had, all us kids decided we wanted to go out, so we headed to Skate Zone in Crofton, MD. Skate Zone is an indoor roller skating rink. It was my first time going to a roller skating rink, and I would have to say Skate Zone had everything I envisioned, there was an arcade if you decided you didn't want to skate and there was food and music playing to that you could dance too.

Shanese skating and doing way better then me

Being a Canadian you would think I would know how to skate, since we are known for being the best hockey players in the world,but to be honest, I've never been ice skating before, let alone put on a pair of skates. Even though roller blades and ice skates are different, I've never been skating period, so this was an interesting first experience. 

Let me say, skating is not something that you can just pick up on the first try, well not for me, and I won't promise I won't try it again, but practice certainly means perfect, and I need all I can get.

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure