The West Texas Experience : From the Big Bend National Park to Houston

Mountains of the Big Bend Ranch State Park in sight

     After some time spent in Sanderson, looking for a local restaurant but only finding a cafe whose manager was extremely rude and crazy, we left this town and continued our journey to the Big Bend Park. We drove for a couple of hours through arid hills until the small village of Marathon, and headed South on the US Route 385. We passed a US Border Patrol checkpoint which was controlling the cars on the other side of the road. A couple of minutes later, we were in the complete wilderness of Texas.

The West Texas Experience : From Baton Rouge to Terrell County

Old US Highway 90, Kinney County, Texas

     One thousand nine hundred and twenty two miles in four days, I think that is a new record. We didn’t drive for the sake of driving but it was even. We drove all over the place, trying to get as much out of Texas as we could in half a week. We probably achieved this goal, except the fact that one would normally need weeks to properly visit this state. Besides San Antonio, Austin and Houston, we stopped by many other towns such as Del Rio, Fredericksburg, Sanderson, Ozona. The main interest of our trip was however the Big Bend National Park, vast protected area located in the Chihuahuan Desert next to the Mexican border. 

A Couple of Days in Wroclaw, Poland

Market Square, Wroclaw.

     I feel like writing tonight, and I feel like writing about my first experience in Eastern Europe. It was only a 3 days stay in the great city of Wroclaw, Poland, but I’ve learned a lot from it. I discovered I had more prejudices than I thought, and that they were completely wrong. It is a good lesson for the rest of my life.

A Good Week In Louisiana

     I’ve been in Louisiana for almost two months now, and it still seems pretty crazy to be here. But I won’t complain, because Louisiana is a great great place, as great as when I used to live in Italy I think. Its culture, its food, its nature, all of this makes it a very special destination that surprises me everyday.

A Day in the Mamores with the Strathclyde Uni Mountaineering Club, Scotland

    The hike was almost as good as the crazy sauna party we had the previous day in our hotel. It was very strange because last summer, I had already more or less done the route we were now doing. The landscape, so green in early September, was now barely recognizable. The slopes of the mountains were all white and grey. It accentuated the feeling of loneliness and remoteness from civilization.

The Five Sisters of Kintail : Mysterious Scottish Wilderness

   Despite the exhausting 11 hour mountaineering session we had on Saturday on the A’ Ghlas-bheinn mountain, some of us were eager to try something harder on Sunday. Nothing could have been better than the famous 5 mile long ridge of the Five Sisters of Kintail.

Crazy Spring Break Trip in the Pyrenees, France

     Once upon a time, a friend called and told me we should do something for Spring Break. I was under high pressure with the thesis I had to write for graduation. A few days away wouldn’t be of any harm. So, we organized a four day trip to the Pyrenees, in an area right next to the border to Spain. We were five people : two Czech friends, one Moroccan, one German and I.

An Unforgettable Day on the Isle of Skye, Scotland

     After a pretty rainy Saturday on the Cuillin ridge, only a few of us wanted to go climbing again on Sunday. The forecast wasn’t positive, but we wanted to fully enjoy our trip on the Isle of Skye. We left the inn in the early morning, and with the mini van of the Strathclyde University Mountaineering Club we drove to the South of the island. We separated into two groups. One group was going hiking along the shore in the Strathaird area, while the other one was going to climb the mountain of Bla Bheinn (982m/3045ft). I was on the second team, with my two mates from France, and my friends from Czech Republic and Greece.

Vive la France ! The Country of Baguettes Seen by a Romanian Girl

Ladies and gents, let me please introduce you a Romanian friend who wrote this brilliant article on her experience in France. Orel.

     As I am slowly but steadily approaching the end of my stay in France, I’ve decided to write something about my experience in here in order to treasure this memory in another way than just in my head and my heart

I’m a Romanian Erasmus student in Nantes, France, and I only came here for the second semester, so that left me with 4 months of constantly struggling to keep up with everything that goes on, with all of the changes in my life.

Backpacking in Europe : Oslo

The harbor of Oslo at night from the fortress.

     Oslo was a great adventure. The journey is memorable, because we almost didn’t make it to the airport. The city was nice and the people welcoming. The weather was ideal although it was already cold in October. Surviving three days in the most expensive city on Earth was a hell of a challenge, but an interesting experience!

From Canada to the United States of America

     I am in Montreal, Quebec. It’s a Saturday, it’s 8pm, and it’s crazy hot outside. There’s a big festival in town and the streets are packed. My brother and I arrive at the station, which looks more like a nightclub right now. The music coming from the scene set up in the park nearby fills the air and the melody invades every corner of the station. It’s hard to think that we’ll be so far away from this place in a few hours. Around us people are chilling and dancing and laughing. Everybody’s having a good time and so are we. But something weird is happening to me. My body is here, but my mind’s already gone. And I also have this feeling, which I like, of having nothing but my daypack in my possession. I feel free, and at the same time very vulnerable. It’s just awesome.

Paragliding Anecdote, French Alps

     We were in the minivan, driving up the mountain to the launching site. The group was enthusiastic and we were hoping that the incoming darkish clouds would go away.