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Destinations

Stonehenge – Pourquoi faut-il toujours tout expliquer

Quand son père est décédé en 1982, l’artiste Jim Reinders a pris la décision de construire une réplique de Stonehenge pour lui rendre hommage. Aidé de cinq des membres de sa famille, il a érigé une réplique de Stonehenge dans la campagne du Nebraska en formant un cercle de 39 voitures reproduisant la forme du célèbre monument du Royaume-Uni. Baptisée Carhenge, l’œuvre fait plus de 29 mètres de diamètre et c’est une Cadillac 1962 qui a l’honneur d’incarner la Heel Stone. Reinders a d’abord été rejeté par Wikipedia lorsqu’il a voulu inscrire son œuvre dans l’encyclopédie, car on lui reprochait de ne pas avoir suffisamment d’explications à fournir. Sa réponse a été : « Pourquoi devoir toujours tout expliquer? ». Les différentes théories sur Stonehenge À sa plus simple expression, Stonehenge peut être décrit ainsi: un cercle de pierres dans la campagne du sud de l’Angleterre. Et si c’est tout ce que vous y voyez lorsque vous le visiterez, vous serez vite ennuyés! Lors de ma visite du site classé au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO, j’ai tenté de me faire ma propre idée sur le monument. Site d’enterrements lors de la période néolithique? Lieu de culte au soleil ou piste d’atterrissage d’extraterrestres? Les […]

par Annie Anywhere

Gent, Flanders, Belgium | Annie Anywhere

Belgium, Destinations, Europe

How I Feel at Home Abroad

Would you live here? It’s a question I always ask my travel partner after a couple of days in a new destination. Would you deliberately leave all your belongings behind, pack the irreplaceable, choose the most important souvenirs, and let go of everything else? Does this new place here worth it? How do we choose if a place is worthy of us living there? Belgium made me think about it more than any other destinations. My Own Little Chaos I realized that to feel home, I need a place I can find in the same state I left it. Nothing annoyed me much than room attendants making my bed every morning and putting everything in well-organized piles. It kills creativity and personality. I like to create my own little chaos. I guess that’s a reason why I always choose friend’s apartments and Airbnb over hotel rooms. I cannot recommend any hotels in Brussels, since I had a friend generous enough to host me during my whole trip. Honestly, I felt like I was living in an apartment in Montreal. Same kind of divisions, same kind of decor, everything at the place where I left it. Our Common Conflicts It may sound […]

par Annie Anywhere

Belgium, Destinations, Europe

Treasure Hunt in Brussels, Capital of Comic Strips

– Do you think the font on the station signs look like they’re from a comic book?, I asked Claude as soon as we arrived in Brussels. – Yeah, maybe a little. – Hum, maybe I think about it just because I know I’m in the Comic Strips Capital. Like many of you, I thought of beers and chocolate at first when planning my trip to Belgium, and it is fun indeed to taste so many different beers and shop in chocolate factories that look like jewelry store. But to have been in Brussels for a week, I noticed there are more than food and drinks standing out in the city. If you look wisely, you’ll see all the characters hidden at every corner, giving the city its unique soul. We then had a goal: to discover the comic strips in Brussels. Comic strip trail The best way to discover a town is by walking down its streets and wander around. In Brussels, the tourism board created a map locating the comic strip frescoes around town, and that takes walking to another level. During my first day in Brussels, I had the pleasure to have Pascale from the blog Scouich (in French) and […]

par Annie Anywhere

Best Road Trip Songs for a Road Trip in California

Amériques, Destinations, United States

Best Road Trip Songs to Drive Down Pacific Highway

No road trip would be perfect without carefully selected songs. With summer coming, I think a lot about my road trip in California and thought it would be a good start in your planning to give you ideas of the best songs to put on your playlist to drive down Pacific Highway. I looked in my personal favorites, checked out the playlist shared on Pinterest, asked my DJ friends and searched in my parents libraries to give you the best of the best! Daylight by Matt & Kim Beverly Hills by Weezer Road Trippin’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers San Francisco by The Mowgli’s Big Sur by The Thrills Another Travellin’ Song by Bright Eyes California Waiting by Kings of Leon West Coast by Coconut Records California Love by 2Pac feat. Dr.Dre Alive by New Ivory California by Phantom Planet Haha Love Will Travel by The Sonics The Only Place by Best Coast L.A. Woman by The Doors Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers California Gurls by Katy Perry Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads The Distance by Cake California Girls by The Beach Boys Green Onions by Booker T & the M G’s The Way by Fastball Life is […]

par Annie Anywhere

Belgium, Destinations, Europe

Annoncing My Next Destination: Belgium!

I announced it on Facebook and Twitter a long time ago so probably a lot of you already know that I’m going to Belgium with my travel partner Claude! Reading my blog, you may have noticed that I sometimes “write with an accent”, and if you have read my About Page, you know I’m a French Canadian. It will be my first trip in a French speaking country and I must say that I can’t wait to speak my native language with people there. It will be a short one week trip in Belgium, but I think this country is perfect for this length. Just enough time to explore more than Brussels, and not too much time to gain 10 lbs eating all the chocolate. Ahah! Here’s the list of towns I’ll explore in Belgium: 1. Brussels Brussels will be my base camp since I have a friend who live there and he’s kind enough to let us stay at his apartment in exchange of maple sirop, caramel grenache and Tim Bits. Yeah, that’s what he’s missing from Quebec! So, no need to find accommodations, which is a huge budget relief. Of course, I’ll visit the Grande Place, the Atomium and the Manneken […]

par Annie Anywhere

Amériques, Destinations, United States

Best USA Road Trips According to Thelma, Louise & Friends

We may* not have killed anybody or steal anything, but it seems that we are a few women who like to hit the road like Thelma & Louise! *I say “may” because I don’t closely know the other bloggers who contributed to this post so I can’t really be sure… and accuracy is something I take seriously on my blog, you know. So I asked women who attended the Women in Travel Summit last March what was their best road trips. I didn’t ask for any destinations in particular, but all of them shout USA in unison. It seems like America keeps its reputation! Wonder what are the 3 USA road trips that came out the most? Read these 3 short stories. Because road trips are not just for men. I included the Lonely Planet to help you plan every of these three road trips ideas. Pacific Coast Highway People say that oceans are storytellers. Since I’m a kid, I hear stories from the Atlantic, between road trips in the East of Canada or down to Maine, but the moment I touched the Pacific Ocean, I knew I was writing a different story. From San Francisco down to Los Angeles, sun, salty air […]

par Annie Anywhere

Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden – I Just Don’t Get Plants… Or Do I?

They’re two things I never do: spending a week in the same town while traveling, and visiting a Botanical Garden. In fact, that’s a lie. There’s a lot of things I never do, such as eating alive octopus. I never do that. (Why in hell, from all the possible examples, is it the alive octopus thing that came out first?!) The reason why I never stay in the same town for a week is just because I feel like I’ll miss something. A part of me focus on productivity and standing still is not an option. Yet, I passed a whole week in Rio de Janeiro in March. The reason why I never visit a Botanical Garden is because I just don’t get plants. I judge them by their colors. Does that make me racist? So I was there, walking in Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, completely wet because of the Waters of March Jobim talked about. I read somewhere that if you run through the rain, you’ll probably be as wet as if you walk. Despite that scientific fact, we pretty much always run. That day, I walked. Plants don’t run. They do micro movements, follow the sun, and grow. They even grow without us […]

par Annie Anywhere

Skydiving for the wuss at SkyVenture Montreal

Amériques, Canada, Destinations

Skydiving For the Wuss – A day With SkyVenture

I’ve always wanted to try skydiving, and one day I will. The problem is that I’m a total wuss and the idea of jumping from a plane never comes to my mind. I have no problem diving, rafting, hiking… but skydiving is just a little too scary for me. Fortunately, there’s an alternative for us, wuss of the world, and it’s called SkyVenture (or iFLY), and they are in Canada, United States, UK and Asia! What is it? The concept is simple: you fly in an indoor free fall simulator. It’s exactly the same feeling as skydiving, but you don’t have the odd part of jumping from 12 000 feet. (Yay!) After a short class with an instructor, you just have to gear up and you’re ready to go into the cylinder. You’ll learn how to position your body and to communicate. Once inside the cylinder, you cannot hear anything but the wind, so you’ll use the signs to communicate with the instructor. The wind blows at a speed of 175 km/h approximately, and it is enough to lift you of the floor. How does it feel like? “I’m flyiiiinnngggggg!!!!!!” Despite what you may think, it is really smooth. It is almost like […]

par Annie Anywhere

Amériques, Destinations, United States

Boston – The truth About Love and Entrepreneurship

Last weekend, I went to my first Women in Travel Summit in Boston. To be honest, the conference really appealed to me, but I was apprehensive that I might hate being there. I’m an introvert, I’m not good at networking, and I generally lose the “How many countries have you visited?” contest. I didn’t want to have to justify my existence to other more experienced bloggers. I wanted to meet new people, share about our passion for travel and just generally enjoy to be in Boston. Well, this is exactly what happened. Was that some kind of “law of attraction”? …I don’t think so. I now believe that women entrepreneurship is inherent with love. Three speakers catch my attention and gave us tips we can apply not only in our business, but also in our lives. (And I couldn’t resist putting pictures of my highlights in Boston here and there…) 1. Catrice M. Jackson – Cashing in On You Catrice started her conference with a simple-not-so-simple question: “What would you do differently if you knew for sure that the only REAL currency in life is YOU?” If you were in a situation where there’s no money except your personality, your soul, the way you […]

par Annie Anywhere

Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

Ain’t just beans and rice! – Discover Brazilian cuisine

When I announced my trip to Rio de Janeiro, it was very clear that I wanted to discover Brazilian cuisine. Sometimes, I think the most adventurous expats are the best persons to show us a new culture, because they know what is interesting for foreigners. When people ask me what they should eat in Montreal, I never really know what to say… Sure I wrote a guest post about 6 Delicious Food you Have to Eat When You Visit Quebec, but I had to ask around me to be sure that what I suggested was a good choice of Quebec cuisine. On the other hand, I’d have no problem writing about Portuguese cuisine. Meh… So, when I met Tom, a British expat in Rio de Janeiro, and guide for the Eat Rio Food Tour, I knew he would exactly know what we need to taste while visiting Brazil… and it’s not just beans and rice! Update on July 26th, 2015: Note that the Eat Rio Food Tour is is no longer offered on a regular basis. It can be booked in private with the customer support of RDJ4U. Fruits It’s very cliché to talk about fruits when you think about a Southern country, but Brazilians […]

par Annie Anywhere

Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

Getting the Carioca Vibe and Learning Samba in Rio de Janeiro

You know how much I enjoy learning new things. So, it was absolutely impossible for me to go to Brazil without trying to learn Samba in Rio de Janeiro. Since I already dance lindy hop, which is also a partnered dance, I must admit I was a little over-confident in my capacity of dancing Samba. Well, you know what? It didn’t help me at all! Ahah! I think there is definitely something different in the constitution of the hips of North Americans versus South Americans. Seriously, how can you people do that? Fortunately, this is why beginner Samba workshops exist and I had the chance to have the very comprehensive and funny Helio as a teacher. Getting the vibe My Samba class was just the day after I landed in Rio de Janeiro and I couldn’t say how much of a relief it was to move those feet after more than 12 hours of transportation from Montreal. In a yoga studio of Copacabana, Helio welcomed the group and made sure everybody was comfortable. None of the seven people in the group (Guess who was alone?) had experience in Samba. So, if you plan on doing this activity, no need to worry about […]

par Annie Anywhere

Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

First impressions of Rio de Janeiro

It’s been a while since I travelled to South. I don’t know if I was hibernating because of the winter in Montreal, but Rio de Janeiro got me out of my lethargy quite brutally. Getting out of the plane, the air was so thick I could have eaten it. I didn’t remember what it was to inflict 60 degrees of difference to your body in one day. If I was still hibernating after that, the sight of my good friend Igor at the airport sure fixed that. No tropical climate can beat the warm feeling of seeing a friend abroad that you haven’t seen in a while. People are right about traffic in Rio de Janeiro, but it doesn’t beat the one in Los Angeles. The only difference is the perpetual honks and the motorcycles and people passing between cars. Rio is noisy, just as you would expect South America to be. It’s a chaotic blend between Portugal and Central America. It’s broken colorful buildings and occasional azuelos. It’s graffiti everywhere and people sleeping on sidewalks. It’s a ton of fruits markets and juice places. Rio smells either fruits or garbage. Fortunately, more often fruits. Walking on sidewalks is a […]

par Annie Anywhere

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