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

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.

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.

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