‘The Liebster, which means “dearest” in German, is a nomination for up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.’ This was the first I heard of it when Beyond the 813 sent me a nomination! Thanks!

Here are my answers for the Liebster Award. ENJOY!

1. How many stamps do you have in your passport and where are they from?

I have been to London, Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Italy, Greece, and Germany. I probably have around 6 stamps in my current passport (I had to mail it to the Russian embassy for my visa application so I cannot check right now for the exact number).

2. Do you consider yourself a backpacker or flashpacker?

Probably more of a flashpacker.

3. If you won tickets to anywhere in the world, where would you go? You can only choose 1 place

Egypt – who doesn’t want to look at pyramids and mummies? I keep hoping things calm down there so I can visit. I’m hoping 2015….

4. What countries have you been to, this year?

I haven’t gone anywhere this year; just stayed in Canada. Next year I have some big travel plans.

5. Do you have any trips plans for next year? If so, where?

I have a very big trip planned for February – going to visit Moscow and Sochi in Russia plus Prague, Czech Republic. I have attended the last two Olympics (London and Vancouver) and will be adding Sochi to the list. I decided to visit Moscow and Prague as well. I have tickets to 15 events which range from the men’s downhill to men’s figure skating to women’s hockey and of course men’s hockey. I am a Russian historian so I am VERY excited to finally visit Russia. 🙂

I also plan on taking my very first non-European vacation later in the year. Time to visit somewhere tropical for a relaxing vacation.

6. Name 3 things, you always have to take with you on your trip.

Camera, journal and ipad. I like to take pictures, of course, write in a journal and have an ipad filled with movies/tv shows to pass the time on flights or trains.

7. Do you normally overpack or underpack? 

I am usually an overpacker. So far, this hasn’t been a problem. I do try to take less when I go to Europe. It’s hard but I’ve managed.

8. When does your passport expire?

2015

9. If you could go on a trip with anyone, who would it be?

I would love for my mom to go on a trip with me to Germany or take my dad to Ireland. Both hate planes so that is never ever going to happen. Lame! 🙂

10. How far in advance, do you plan your trips?

For my Olympic trips, you need to plan well in advance. I would say I started planning years in advance (to make sure I got event tickets) but for hotel/plane bookings, at least six months in advance minimum. For my other trips to Europe, it’s probably closer to three months. I swear one of these days, I’m going to take a trip where I do not plan a thing and just hop on a plane. Someday! 🙂

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back up to his/her blog.
2. Answer the 10 (or 11!) questions which are given to you by the nominator.
3. Nominate other bloggers for the award who have less than 200 followers.
4. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer
5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

Beyond the 813

Don’t Squeeze the Peaches

Angela Travels

Travel It Girl

Innocent Nomad

Here are your questions:

1. How many languages do you speak or do you ever learn some of the language of the country you are visiting?

2. How many countries have you visited?

3. What is on your travel bucket list (if you have one)?

4. Have you ever travelled solo?

5. Do you prefer hostels or hotels?

6. What is your best or favourite travel tip?

7. If you could visit only one country, which would it be and why?

8. What type of camera do you use?

9. Have you ever been scammed in a foreign country? If not, how do you avoid scammers?

10. Name your top three favourite blogs!

Keep the sharing going and have fun! Can’t wait to read your answers!

Thank you to Aryn from Driftwood and Daydreams for tagging me in Capture the Colour 2013 Contest from Travel Supermarket. This was quite a few weeks ago so I have procrastinated long enough. Time to start digging through my pictures and selecting the top picture in the following colours: yellow, blue, red, white and green. This is one of those times I dread digging through the thousands upon thousands of photos I have taken during my travels (mostly to Europe) but this was a lot of fun. Here is my entry into Capture the Colour 2013!

YELLOW

Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany

This is one of my favourite travel pictures – the Berlin Wall. At the time, I was simply snapping pictures of the Berlin Wall. I was in awe of the Wall. The fact that the beautiful yellow tree is in the picture and looks so gorgeous beside the Wall is an accident. Germany was absolutely breathtaking in October. Go, enjoy and drink beer.

WHITE

Venus de Milo, Louvre, Paris

One of the most important pieces of Greek art – the Venus de Milo (Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty or Venus to the Roman).  Created around 100 BC, it was discovered in 1820 on the island of Milos in the Aegean Sea. It rests in the Louvre in Paris now which is home to quite a few famous pieces of art (hello Mona Lisa); however this marble sculpture is equally impressive.

GREEN

Stonehenge, England

A beautiful sunny day in England on my first overseas trip saw me stopping at Stonehenge for an afternoon. Impressive is really the only word that does justice to this picture. Impressive! I listed this on my London Top 10 list Part 2 simply because you could not be that close to Stonehenge and not visit.

RED

Vancouver 2010 Olympics – Gold for Men’s Hockey

I was lucky enough to snag tickets to the hockey gold medal game at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Canada. I held onto that ticket for over a year, hoping that Canada would make it to the gold medal game. They had a very rough preliminaries, had to go through a qualifying game against Russia (which I attended as well and enjoyed a significant and one-sided victory for Canada), checking the scores each night hoping they had won the quarterfinal and semifinal games. They did and I was there for the gold medal game – Sidney Crosby, the best hockey player in the world right now, scored the overtime goal (THE GOLDEN GOAL) and in this picture, he is waving our national’s flag. There is no better RED than the Maple Leaf in our flag!!

BLUE

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

I have been incredibly lucky during my travels for great and sunny weather. I have hundreds upon hundreds of photos I could use for this but I will select the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Why? I have no idea but I do remember that day – it was my first time seeing and touching the ocean (hello Atlantic Ocean) and I was thrilled. It was just a great day. This photo has a slight filter on it but seriously, the photo came out almost perfectly. Oh and the Irish have awesome accents. 🙂

There is my entry into the Capture the Colour 2013 Competition. I nominate the following people whose sites I stop by quite often (not sure if they’ve been nominated yet or done one up; I think this contest closes tomorrow) – Miss Adventure; Roadtrip Girl; Off the Path; Vagabonette; and Traveling Canucks!