Paris Je t'aime

The last leg of my trip was in Paris where I stayed for two weeks. I felt like I took so many of those photos before so I slacked off quite a bit on the photo taking. Also my camera had an unfortunate accident at the zoo and the focus is all messed up.
I can safely say I spent most of my week eating Croque Monsieurs and walking a LOT. I also attended a Chromeo concert. I was soooooo excited to see them but I forgot to buy a ticket and it was sold out so I was really upset. Then on the day of the concert I found someone willing to sell me their ticket last minute so I got to go. Lead singer touched my hands and I went into fangirl mode (OMG I will never wash this hand).
I visited the famous Shakespeare and Company Bookstore which is known to have been a gathering place for Hemingway and other famous writers in the 1920s. There are actually two stores one which was opened in the 1920s but finally closed in the 1940's due to the German occupation of Paris, and the second which is the one that still stands today which was opened in 1951. I bought the classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child.
We also visited the famous Lovelock bridge at Pont des Arts and added a lock to the huge collection. It was recently reported that some part of the bridge has now collapsed due to the overwhelming amount of locks.
I had unreal amounts of fun in Paris, got to see old friends and meet some new ones but now I'm back to reality in good old Texas. Until my next adventure, I bid you all adieu.

London Town

Over the next couple of days I just tried to be a tourist. I guess I didn't mention before that this is my first time in London so I get a tourist pass. lol. I literally just planted myself in front of as many stereotypically British things as possible. It really was an awesome time. I would say the best time was at the very end when I was reunited with a lot of my friends from school in Nigeria and we had such a great time. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photo with the Bukingham Palace guards because the queen was home so the palace wasn't open to tourists. I had to settle for a pretty jolly police officer. I visited the London eye (our luck had run out with the weather so it rained), Westminsters abbey, a random telephone booth (seriously, the inside of those things are gross). We also went to harrods to have lunch and to see the prada exhibit which was so amazing! It was on the evolution of prada through the years.
I would say my overall feeling about London is that, it was great. Will definitely visit again soon. Sorry for the photo overload. Did y'all know you could click on one photo and do a slideshow thing instead of scrolling down? You may just not be able to see the little captions for some photos.

Day at the Park


So guys, I barely made it on my train to London because the UK border control wanted to play 20 questions. Anyways, after pulling an Usain Bolt, I got to my train with 1 minute to spare and arrived in London to meet with my best friend.
Milton Keynes is kind of like the suburbs and I stayed there for the first couple of days because I needed that peace and quiet for just a bit.
First thing I did when I arrived in London though was meet up with a group of friends and going to Hyde Park. We then spent a good chunk of the day on a paddle boat and just enjoying that rare good London weather. We ate some questionably delicious cakes and were almost attacked by a flock of birds because SOMEONE decided to feed the birds....
Below are pics of our day at the lake. More London pics to come shortly.

I Gent Forget about Brussels

    

Hi hi! So this past week I visited the picture perfect country of Belgium. Specifically, I went to Brussels and Gent (pronounced Get but with an N, not Gent as in Gentleman).
I stayed with another friend of mine that I met while I stayed in Paris many years ago called Evi. She was so great at showing me around and she had actually bought all these maps and circled everything I needed to know on there (little did she know I am useless with maps).
     Belgium is known for its chocolates, fries, beers, and waffles amongst other things so I tried to explore as many of these as I could. I took a day to visit the main attractions in the city like Le Grand Place and the Manneken Pis (literally a little boy peeing...i don't get it) which I later found out has a sister sculpture called the Jeanekke Pis (yep, you guessed it, a peeing girl...oh Belgium). This sister statue was actually created by the owner of a bar called Delirum which is known as the bar with the most beer selection in the world with over 2000 choices of beer!! I had to visit if only to see for myself. So you will find pictures of some of the beers ordered by my friends throughout the trip for those interested. 
     The city of Gent was very picturesque so I included some photos of that. In one of the bars I visited, I met a skinhead that actually turned out to be amazingly nice which is not exactly how they are portrayed on TV. I also met a Freemason and man dressed as a priest. Sadly I didn't have enough time to visit the Atomium so i'll definitely have to visit again. I was just so tired from all the walking. Now im in London so I will post on that shortly.
Click on "read more" to see more pics or just click on the blog post title.

Rotter-Damn!

Hey guys! So I've been trying to find time to make a post and the search for Wi-Fi is real out here so I just kind of took a lot of photos and will post them all at once on here. Also, I can't always find someone to take photos of me and my friend together so its either me or my friends in the photo and the ones of us together are all selfies so bear with me.
I arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday and then took a 30-40 minute train to Rotterdam the same day. I stayed with a dear friend of mine called Dora (or Dora the Explorer as she is often called)who you will see in several photos. She was a gracious host and took me everywhere I needed to see in Rotterdam and cooked for me everyday! (Wifey Material). Ps: My Brothers already offered bride price for her. hahaha.
We walked around Kralingse Bos which is the huge forest/hiking trail you see in the photos. In the forest, there is a deer park, a pancake house, a petting zoo, a climbing forest, a golf course, a jogging track and a beach area. It was really an amazing place. I would make that hike everyday if I could.
I also got to meet up with an old friend of mine called Ramona who I remembered stayed in Rotterdam as well. I hadn't seen her in about 10 years so it was really exciting. Ramona and I went to Amsterdam to act like tourists for a bit. It was truly a great day despite the weather.
I went out a lot, made new friends and had a great time and finally I moved on to the next country. It was really sad to leave not knowing when ill be back to see my friends again but I hope we will see each other soon enough. Below are some photos of where I stayed, and a few people I met on the way. Now im in Belgium so I will have photos of that soon.
Click on the title to see photos. You can also click read more!

And the Countdown Begins

First of all let me say, I am THE most inconsistent blogger ever. I wouldn't even call myself a blogger, just person who feels like posting randomly so forgive me for my couple of years long hibernation. I've pretty much been finishing up with school and working and all that fun stuff.
So, in about 11 days, ill be jetting off on a month long vacation to a few places in Europe and as always I'll be using this blog as an outlet for posting my photos, videos etc. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks and hope to keep it as entertaining as possible.

Brazilian night

My friends and i went to Favela Chic, an awesome Brazilian restaurant. We enjoyed the food a lot and had a great time with each other. Click read more for pix ;) 

A Lille bit of Bruges

Last weekend i visited Lille, France and Bruges, Belgium. Lille was so great, i have been in Paris my whole time here and i haven't really moved around within France so it was nice to see another part of the country. While in Lille, we did a lot of sight seeing. Christmas is everywhere you turn here so there were lots of lights and festive people. Later, me and the group of students i went with went to a restaurant called Omnia which turned out to arguably my best meal so far. I don't know if it was the food or the general good mood but i had a blast. Saying i was tired at the time would be an understatement. i could barely move after this meal but i managed to carry myself to a club called Network which is a popular club out there. The next day we visited Bruges for half a day which to me was way too short.I've looked forward to going to Bruges since watching the Colin Farrell Movie "In Bruges". Typical, i know. We saw the sights and indulged in some Belgian waffles and chocolates, visited the chocolate museum. While walking around we found this little mall with a chair you sit on and it spins like a spinning top so my friends and we had a moment of being kids. After this, i was supposed to join the group to tour a beer factory but since that was not really my cup of tea, i decided to hang out with a friend who lives in Bruges instead. He took me on this awesome tour around his town called Damme and i had such a great time just chilling. After my trip i felt amazingly relaxed and ready to take on the world.

Midnight in Paris

After all the stress from school work, i decided it was time for some rest and relaxation. My friend got a room at a hotel called Le Grand Hotel. It's situated right across the Academie National de Musique, a.k.a the phantom of the opera's living quarters.We ate, laughed, stayed up late and indulged in the over priced mini bar (1 Toblerone = 7 Euros,Gasp!).  The view was amazing!It was really therapeutic for me. Now i feel rejuvenated and ready to take on my last month in Paris. The photos are pretty much in order of when i arrive till i go to bed. I know everyone is feeling the stress of final exams now so take a day off or a few hours off and treat yourself to some rest and relaxation.

Indian Night

We've recently been having these nights out which we dedicate to eating cuisines from different countries. This time it was Indian and we had such a blast. We ate at a restaurant called Angheethi.  Here's a list of some of the stuff we ate: 

Starter: Mango & Rose Lassi, Paneer Pakora, Samosa Legumes, and a grill mix of chicken & lamb.

Main course: Cheese Nan, Garlic Nan, Poulet Karahi, Panner Tikka Masala.

Desert: Kulfi, gulab jamun

I got some pictures of the food but not all, too busy chowing down what turned out to be some really delicious food. But i encourage people to try out new foods, keeps your stomach guessing. lol 

Next week is Brazilian! 

Nneka Concert!

For those who do not know who Nneka is, "y'all better ask somebody". She is a half Nigerian, half German neo soul singer. She started her musical career in Germany after getting influenced by artists such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Bob Marley. Her first major breakthrough song was heartbeat but she has many more amazing songs (read about her here).
So we went to her concert and it was sooooooo live!The openning band was really good too. i forgot their name. i was really interested in seeing how she would communicate with the french crowd being that she has a pretty thick Nigerian accent and to my surprise, she spoke like she always does and for the most part she was understood. Even my friend Natasha was speaking pidgin and didn't know it. I have two clips of her performing "Walking" and "V.I.P" (vagabonds in power). I wasn't allowed to take my camera into the concert but my friend was allowed to so all these pics and videos are courtesy of her. Excuse the blurriness in some photos, we were having too much fun to focus on the camera.

I Amsterdam!

I went to Amsterdam (city of bikes) recently for a weekend with about 55 ERASMUS students. It was crazy but fun. We traveled by bus so it was about a 6 hours drive but we stopped often to eat so it took us 8 hours. Less than 2 hours after we arrived in Amsterdam, i already had some random guy trying to sell me Extacy and Coke. Welcome to Amsterdam!  After this we walked around, it was really cold,you will notice in all the photos i was very covered up. It was even colder than Paris! we took pictures in a giant clog, ate some Chinese with a blowup doll and visited the Van Gogh Museum. Then some of my friends proceeded to visit a coffee shop. Was a very interesting first night. oh and did i mention we stayed on a boat? 
The next day we visited Anne Frank's House. It was an amazing but sad experience. We literally got to walk in Anne Frank's footsteps. After reading the story several times over, it was unreal to actually see the place where she and her family hid behind the bookcase, and her room where she stayed. There were still posters that she hung up stuck to the wall. It was just amazing. My friend Keenan and i signed the Anne Frank house book. After, we just did some exploring, visited the sex museum. Don't judge me, it was actually on the program for the trip. After we visited shops found the best stores all over Amsterdam. There was a particular coat store which i totally live for right now, found the most amazing winter jacket there. 
There was also an Occupy rally going on "Occupy Amsterdam". And towards the very end of the trip there was a parade for St Nicholas. I found it quite strange because the dutch actually believe that St Nicholas a.k.a  Father Christmas a.k.a Santa clause did not have little elves but he had black helpers. No seriously, the helpers in the parade wore black face and had kinky hair, red lips and gold hoop earrings. I still don't know how to feel about all that. I also failed to mention that i visited the red light district but i was told pictures are not allowed there so just Google it. Anyways, Amsterdam was full of surprises and was everything i expected and more. I will be visiting again for sure.

Château de Versailles

Last weekend, i went with a couple of friends to Château de Versailles and i have to say, it was such an amazing experience! The château was so beautiful but the garden was what really took my breath away. It was like another world. I still can't believe the royal family had all that to themselves, its beyond huge. There was so much history i had to learn about while touring the château for example i took a picture of two doors which you will notice below. The open one is the door which Marie Antoinette used to escape the rioting crowds. she used it to run into the kings chamber, but as we all know she was caught and killed by guillotine! 
I didn't walk all through the garden, i sort of got tired after seeing how much longer i had to go. I had the option of renting a bike or renting a golf cart to finish the garden but i was too tired to do either. But i took a billion pictures and boiled it down to about forty something pictures which are in chronological order. Oh and we had random leaf fights throughout the garden. Its autumn so here a bunch of leaves just sitting around. I lost a shoe in the process. It was pretty much buried in leaves. Guess i can check leaf fight in Versailles off my to-do list. Enjoy <3 

Musee du Louvre

This week in class, the french teacher told us to describe our experience at an museum exhibition and that was when i realized I've been in Paris for 2 months and i haven't visited any museums. So i set out to the Louvre to see all the beautiful art and sculptures. When i got there, i was blown away by the beautiful architecture,the pyramids, the fountains, everything was just awesome. I waited in the longest line of my life as you will see in the photos but it was totally worth it. Students get in free so that was cool. I went to so many exhibits, i'm not too learned in the arts so there was a lot to take in and my head hurt afterwards. Lots of biblical and mythological references in the Italian art section. I took photos of some that i really liked. A worthwhile experience. 

Just another day in French land

Yesterday, i had a really busy day walking around Paris visiting and revisiting certain locations. Went out with friends, stuffed myself with crepes twice in one day, dinners, lunches, brunches, brides, bubbles, boats....see that doesn't even make any sense. I can't quite describe what i did in a short post so i just took lots of pictures so you can see Paris as i see it everyday. Enjoy <3 

Street Style: Paris Fashion week Pt2

Street style: Paris Fashion Week

Hey guys, sorry it has taken me so long to post, I've been rather busy with school. This past week was fashion week. I wasn't really able to attend because i have classes most of the time but i was able to do a street style sort of thing before the Valentino show. I took a TON of photos so i think i have to divide this out into two posts. Lots of people showed up like Jessica Biel, Diane Von Furstenberg, Ciara, Susie Bubble, Carine Roitfeld, Natalia Vodianova, Kate Lamphear and more! It was hard to get some photos because there were some paparazzi everywhere and i also got stepped on by several photographers in an their attempt to photograph Jessica Biel. so i have some battle scars. Even i couldn't get a good photo, got an over head shot. All in all, it was very fun and it was a great experience. 

Petit Chalet!!

My friends and i went to this amazing party on an island. I was really an amazing night out. Actually it was yesterday night. There was this really HUGE line because we had to get there by boat. Before i got there though, i took a taxi with my friend and left my phone in the taxi. Epic fail. Then i called my phone to see if the taxi driver can come back and he was all like "No, i cannot now because i have a customer but i will put it in the lost and found" Thankfully its a really crappy phone so i don't think he'd want to steal it anyway. But back to the party, it was actually kind of pricey. For females its 35 Euros and for guys its 50 Euros so i was counting on it being great. They also give you ten ticket stubs which you can use for food and drinks all night. They actually had a hot dog stand. I used all my ten stubs for Twix bars. I just went up to the guy and said "Dix twix sil vous plait" and he thought i was crazy but yea, i will be on a sugar high for a couple of days. Enjoy the photos! 

Home Sweet Home

I finally found the perfect place in Paris. As some of you know, i had a bit of a hard time getting accommodation when i arrived. I initially stayed at a hostel and then at a friends place, so I decided to just shell out a couple more hundreds to an agency that guaranteed me a place in a short time and they definitely delivered on that promise and I moved in last Monday! It is nice and cozy apartment located in the 19eme Arrondissement right next to a really beautiful park called Parc de Buttes Chaumant and It is very close to my school. It had everything i needed when i moved in, a Full-length mirror, a French-English dictionary and a big enough closet. I can't really take photos of the house being that its a family home but i can take a picture of my room. I also took a picture of a view outside one of the windows that i really love at night. Its a lit up street that to me looks so nice and calm when i look out the window at night, especially when it rains. Oh and don't ask me why i keep my Uncle Ben's rice on the desk in my room, it just felt....right.  I live with a really nice couple that own one dog and one cat. The cat is extremely scared of me so it took a couple of hours to get this shot of the cat, it actually tried to hide behind a chair leg......Cats.....but the dog is a sweetheart. Well, here are the photos of my space. 

Gallarie Lafayette and Live sit-ins

Yesterday i had a great time at Gallarie Lafayette which is a shopping center. Its quite huge and very beautifully constructed. I actually got to go to the roof where there is a beautiful view of Paris and the Eiffel tower. There is also a restaurant on the roof. Its mostly a tourist shopping center though so everything is expensive. I was with a friend of mine looking for shoes when a guy came up to us and invited us to sit in as part of a studio audience for a show on Canal + called "Salut Les Terriens". We thought it would be an interesting experience so we agreed to go. Also he said there would be food so that motivated me a bit more. well food turned out to be a small piece of cake and a bottle of water. The old "there will be food" trick, i should have known better. The show is a talk show hosted by a man called Thierry Ardisson with a lot of political mumbo jumbo and it was 4 hours of taping! so when we got there and were told that they had over booked people, i was so happy and ready to go because i was tired from shopping anyway but they said we should go over to another studio to sit in  on another show called "Les guignols de l'info". This show is actually way more popular and actually funnier than the other show. The best part was that it was live and we also only had to be there for about 15 minutes. It is a puppet show with a lot of political characters. It was funny even though i only understood every other word. I actually got a little video clip which can be found all the way at the bottom of the page. So, yea I had fun, and made new friends. Also the show gave us free tickets to see a play next Thursday. It was definitely a worthwhile experience.