At this point in time, the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl is part of our collective memory. On April 26th 1986 a terrible accident happened with the 4th Reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near the city of Pripyat in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union (present day Ukraine). It was one of…
Odesa and its “Catacombs”, Ukraine
Following on the brief revival of this blog to write about my experience in Ukraine (the first time around, as I also would end up going again for work a year later), we arrived in the early morning in Odesa, on the black sea, after what seemed like a long overnight journey across the country,…
Kyiv, Ukraine
It was only 3 years ago that I was in Ukraine. A country filled with fantastic people, experiences and now synonym of pleasant memories for me. My few Ukrainian friends told me tales of their “back home”, a place in between Western Europe and former Soviet Block where beautiful architecture lives side by side with…
Freeing Myself from the shackles of adobe
I can’t remember when I decided to buy adobe software. But it goes back over 5 years ago. Everyone and their grandma has a dodgy version of photoshop that is blocked in the operating system’s firewall for “privacy” reasons. Clearly for the sole purpose of avoiding telemetry and not for piracy. Aherm! I’m one of…
Balsam & Cobblestone: Riga, Latvia
The inception of the idea to go to Latvia was the invitation of a friend to visit her in Lithuania and many days of research into Estonia when considering the country for grad school. Not being allowed to visit Lithuania without my Lithuanian friend being present and flights to Tallinn being too expensive, a cheap…
Flashback: Greta in NYC, USA
It all started in Montreal. Then we caught up in New York…
Walther and three mobile phones, Berlin
It starts with a woman frantically playing with her three mobile phones on the counter of a local bar in Wrangelkiez. Me and Q are walking along our street, the Falcon Stone street. Pretty bad-ass right? Or is it the Stone Falcon street. The fuck if I know. We pass the Konrad Tönz bar. Easy. It…
Moving to Berlin
3 years after I had first set foot on German soil, I was back. From making the decision, to organizing my departure there was a whole process. The process of deciding I might want to see what’s out there again before just starting to work. The best way to swallow the pill of adulthood was…
Icelandic Road trip
Ashen beaches, sky-scraping waterfalls, towering mountains, glaciers and blasted waterscapes are the promise of Iceland’s nature. A promise that I could not see under-delivered by only spending some time in Reykjavik, as beautiful as it may be. Zoe rounded up the gang together: Her, Kailyn her friend from Australia, Gwyn, from upstate New York and…
Layover: Reykjavik, Iceland
Finally, an update. Having finished my graduate diploma in Montreal and sourced a visa for Germany, I am back on the road (or in the air in this case). Can you truly discover a whole country in less than 5 days? I seriously doubt so. However, nothing stops us from trying. Iceland always had this…
Roadtrippin’ East Quebec Craft Brews
At first, the plan was simple. Very. I was to go to Quebec city a few days with my roomie and our mutual friend visiting from Germany, and then head up north and show my tourists the beautiful region of Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, you know, where people speak funny (ok not so much). But…Roger was in town….
Halifax, or the journey home
26 Hours. That’s how long I waited in Frankfurt for my flight to be arranged. Because all you can wish for after the stupidest of check-ins and waiting in line for hours, is to be told, seconds before you board your plane, that the flight’s cancelled. Fun times Sweet, I’ll get to chill in Frankfurt…
Rügen, Germany
Right after Salzburg, there was a last trip to the agenda before heading back to Canada. It was not Istanbul, Amsterdam, Venice or even just the Black Forest. It was one place we discussed seeing many times with my friend but never got around going there despite me regularly visiting her in Berlin, more than…
Salzburg, Austria
There is this strong feeling of inadequacy when you spent a lot of time somewhere and have yet to discover the surroundings with the imminence of your return looming. I, like many, felt compelled to travel even more knowing that soon I would be on a plane bound to Canada, not really sure when I…
Ulm, Germany
It started too early on a Saturday morning. Like most I-Club activities. Early morning at the Hauptbahnoff. We were supposed to visit Ulm, a city located to the West of Munich, halfway on the road to Stuttgart. Directly on the river Danube, it is known as a tiny scenic place. Today Ulm is a tiny…
Business in London, UK
And so I was invited by my employer to fly with the rest of the Munich office for two days in the United Kingdom’s capital. At the beautiful office located in no other place than the famed “City of London” district. Also widely known as “The Square Mile”, widely considered as the world’s financial district…
Partnachklamm, Germany
We did not get to sleep as much as we would have liked to. Nonetheless we got up to the buzzing sound of my old HTC cell phone’s alarm, recycled as an clock, because of its terribly annoying ringer. We packed in a haste our backpacks. My friend with a tiny sling bag smaller than…
Praha, Czech Republic
I was patiently waiting for him at the airport bus drop off, near the station named Nordfriedhof (North Cemetery). Holding tight my little piece of cardboard written “Vince of wood” on it. My friend Vincent was coming to visit me in Munich. Over 6,000 kilometres away from home and ten months after leaving. I was…
Day of the Bavarian Beer
Last April 23rd was the “Tag des Bayerischen Bieres“, the day where Bavarians and Bavarian brewers celebrate one of the oldest laws still in use ! – The original “Reinheitsgebot“, or German Beer Purity Law, officially started being in use in the duchy of Bavaria when, on 23 April 1516 it was endorsed officilly by…
Traditions (Saint-Patrick’s Day)
Travel. . . Routine. Two words that don’t work very well together. I am not a big fan of routine, or traditions. I do have very few. But I do, however, hold one very dear. Saint-Patricks Day in Montréal. The first year in some that I am not there. – – …
Vanished Elsewhere 