Andy Warhol Invades Toronto

A couple days ago, a good friend and myself decided to go visit the Andy Warhol exhibit in Toronto.

Andy Warhol: Revisited is a Warhol exhibition in Toronto that provides an engaging and educational walk through of the development of Warhol 's artistic language and it's greater effect on culture.  The exhibition brought Warhol 's most recognized pieces to he city.

This was my first time ever going to an art exhibit, so this was a new experience for me. The price to get into the exhibit is $10 but if your a student, like myself all you have to do is show your student ID and you pay $5.

To be totally honest with you, I recently discovered who Andy Warhol is. I knew he was a famous artist, but through my school course that I'm doing I learned he had/ still has a very big impact in the art world and also pop culture.

Out of all the amazing painting a and prints that were on display at the museum, I would have to say that the Energy Power painting was my favourite. Something about the painting caught my attention compared to all the others, especially when I read the little article that went wit it. 

" The painting portrays a hand cradling a symbol of a nuclear war which was a looming anxiety shared by the Americans at the time. The quick gestural lines along with the stark black and white contrasting colors serve to convoy a sense of visual and further highlight the anxiety at the time."

You have until December 31st to come and see the exhibit. If you live in the Toronto area or will be visiting soon, I recommend you go and check it out. 

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Roaming Reims

Our last stop before Paris was Reims.

Just like how Beaune is in the Burgundy regions and they have the largest wineries, Reims is in the Champagne region of France. 

Reims is a small city that holds a lot of history.

Out of all the Cathedral's I've visted in Europe I have to sat the Notre Dame in Reims was one of my favourite.
The architecture and the attention to detail was amazing.

Another historical landmark in Reims is the La Potre de Mars, whcih is the widest arch in the Roman World.

And of course you know I couldn't go all the way to the Champagne region and not taste any champagne.
So We headed to Taittinger to learn about their strong history of wine and champagne making, and we also go to go down to their sellar where they have champagne bottles dated back to the 1700's.

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Beautiful Barcelona! Part 2

On our second day of being in Barcelona, we decided to  try and find the beach. Even though it was to cool to go swimming in the ocean, as a Canadian being able to go to a beach in the middle of February is a huge thing so we headed out and started walking.

While heading to the beach we stumbled onto so many things.

Luckily for us, we were in Barcelona during their Barcelona Light Festival 2015. during the day they have Fiesta de Santa Eulalia, which is Barcelona's biggest festival for children where they have plays with life size puppets that take up to 5 people for it to work.  Saint Eulalia is a patron of  Barcelona.

As soon as night fall happens, a new parade is started called Firework Small Devils, where little children walk in parades holding fire crackers at an end of a stick parading throw the streets of Barcelona to the sound of bands beating their drums.

It was an experience to watch all of this especially because it was a surprise to us, since we didn't know what was happening.

 Along with being able to see the amazing festivities in Barcelona, we stumbled upon the cities beautiful cathedral, Catedral de Barcelona 

And then we finally made it to the beach!!

It was amazing a beautiful and also weird to be on a beach in the middle of February in Barcelona, Spain in 10 degree weather. IT WAS AWSOME!

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure 

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