Many will say I might be biased to make this statement as I was born in Quebec City, and it does sound like a justified comment. But anyone who has visited the beautiful old town of Quebec City will testify of the beauty of its “New France” architecture and the European feel that its Fortified walls and narrow streets give. It has been 3 years that I haven’t been to my home Country while circling the worlds most beautiful cities, and every time I come back to Quebec I am always blown away by its beauty. Even though I have studied for years in the Old Quebec at high school at the Petit Seminaire de Quebec, the oldest French speaking seminary in the Americas, whenever I am back in the city, I try to put myself in the skin of a tourist and visit some corners of my beloved city as if I was a First comer or a tourist. This year, as it is the 150th […]
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How the Story of Otto Warmbier in North Korea Could Have Been Mine, Yours, or Anyone of Us Present at the Wrong Time…
I’m usually the one saying to people “don’t believe too much what you see on the news, it’s not what it seems over there”… While I do believe that most people are definitely too paranoid as a result of all the negative news about some countries on TV, it’s true that for some destinations, extra caution is required… I was in North Korea in December 2015, exactly one month before Otto went on the same trip, with the same tour company, at the same hotel I was. He basically booked the same tour as I did from a company called Young Pioneers, which is one of the few tour companies that are licensed to organize such tours in North Korea. There are about 20 of them, but they all redirecting people to one single government-run company in North Korea. On arrival, all tourists are joined together in one tour bus and escorted to the same hotel in the middle of an island in the middle […]
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Thank You So Much to Everybody for all the Support
It’s been an incredible Weekend with the publishing of the Article about my travels in “ Le Journal de Montreal” and “Le Journal de Quebec”, Canada’s second most read newspaper. Thanks to Antoine Lacroix for the great interview, reserving a whole page on Page 5 of the Sunday issue! I couldn’t expect a better result, and sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful support you have sent me! I received hundreds of messages, comments, likes even pokes from people from all over the country who has been inspired by my story. I never expected this article to have such a great impact, but trust me, this is really what keeps me going, I really feel I’m not alone in this adventure! Thanks again!
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Berlin: eclectic, underground, crazy…
You might have heard by now about Berlin’s reputation being a crazy city. I’ve been here a couple times, but this stay I made the effort to live it in the essence of what it stands for. I was here for the affiliate marketing conference AWE and out of my week here, I pretty much tried one or two different bar or club every night. The variety is impressive, for every taste, between rooftop bars to crazy eclectic small bars that have hidden underground sections only accessible from a small hole in a book shelve! The winner of all craziness venue was a place called Kater, a nightclub where the mixture of people and the way they dress makes you question what year it is today if we’re back in the 50s or warped through the 2100s. Overall we agreed with a friend of mine, Berlin is not by any means a beautiful city, it is plain, gray, lacking historical old quarters that are […]
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Prague: as Grandiose as Paris or Rome
I just finished a really nice 2 weeks in the Czech Republic. Seems like Prague has been forgotten for too long on the list of the most beautiful cities in the world where cities like Paris, London, Rome or New York take most of the attention. I think Prague is pretty much heel to heel with Paris in terms of being a Grandiose Capital! Gone are those years where Prague was just a gray communist city, it now proudly stands as what I believe one of the most impressive old towns in Europe! Tourism has also picked up quite a bit since last time I was here in 2006 with a couple friends. Its just as packed as Paris with tons of tourist buses and guided groups of 50 walking all over the place, making it hard to navigate normally in the streets. One recommendation I would suggest doing is to visit the city by night. On the first day of my week in the […]
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Brno in the Czech Republic is definitely undervalued in favour of Prague!
I was really surprised when I got here. This little city, still the second in the Czech Republic, is very nice! The old town is vibrant and moving a lot, tons of people everywhere yet now overloaded with cars. Its the Capital of Moravia Region, and used to be a suburb of Vienna (the flag of Brno is almost identical to the Austrian Flag, which one could easily confuse). I love Young cities, and this place is known as a university town, so it qualifies really well! nice little castle to visit up on top of a hill, which is where this shot has been taken. Pin to Pinterest Enjoyed this guide? Help others find it too! Share the following Pinterest pin to your Pinterest account, by simply clicking on the top left corner. And Remember: Sharing is Caring 😉
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A Night at the Vienna National Opera
Interesting experience to see a Ballet, I’ve seen a couple operas around the world, in Riga, and in Bucharest, but a Ballet in this amazing and historical building makes it even more interesting. Coming to the Opera in Vienna is a must, even for those not interesting in seeing the performance, as this Chinese guy next to me left after just 5 minutes into the show… The hallways and courtrooms are breathtaking! I’ll be adding some pictures in emporiostudio.com very soon. For those interested in assisting to the show but don’t want to have to pay for a 60 euros ticket, there is a special standing ticket available for 3 euros, which is definitely worth it. You just need to line up about 10 minutes prior the show at a special back door in the Opera. At that price, you can’t beat it!
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Budapest… I changed my mind!
I’ve been last in Budapest over 10 years ago and after 3 days, I left unimpressed about it. It just wasn’t to the level of the other East European cities around it, Prague, Krakow, Bratislava, Vienna just to name a few. Even a train change in 2010 didn’t make me want to stay longer. But this time I must admit, Budapest has grown. It now stands to the reputation of modern European capital it looks for! Beautiful city full of green and Cosy bars and cafes! Even Hungarian people which appeared cold to be before now gave me an image of a warm nation! Definitely a success story!
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Timisoara, Romainia. The most liveable city in Romainia
So I spent a month around most of the biggest cities in Romania, 2 weeks in Bucharest, couple days around the Saxon triangle of Transilvania and 1 week in both Cluj Napoca and Timisoara. Definitely, this charming city also called the little Vienna deserves its title! Very nice old town, nice cafes, active Erasmus city, big modern shopping malls. Really felt comfortable in this city and if I had to choose a city to live in Romania, in would be here. It’s on my list of “must come back” cities.
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Meanwhile in the Mountains of Transilvania… Well it’s Winter again…
Made my way through the Mountains of Transilvania, after some time in Bucharest, the Capital. And while we had a nice and comfortable 30 degrees during Easter, its back to Winter over here in Brasov! about 30cm of snow, with these big wet snowflakes we usually get around Christmas in Canada. With all the nice feelings that come with it! I’m setting off to visit Sighisoara and Sibiu, which forms the Saxon Triangle around Transilvania, German decent towns which still holds impressive german architecture!
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