Category Archives: Travel

Mittelalterliches Burggrabenfest in Nürnberg

While roaming the city of Nuremberg, Germany, we stumbled upon three people dressed up in medieval clothing. When we asked if we could take a photo of them and asked why they were dressed that way, they told us that they were headed to the Medieval festival by the Nuremberg castle. Since we didn’t have a schedule for that day, we headed off to check out the festival.

It was really hard to find the entrance to the fest and had to ask around. When we came upon the entrance point, we realized that it was €6 per person just for admission. We thought it was pricey, but thought what other times would I have to opportunity to check out an authentic medieval festival, right at the castle? So we decided to go in.

Admission:
0-3 years old are free
4-12 years old €3
13-100 years old €6
Family (2 adults, 2 child) €15

This year was the 10th year of the festival, taking place from Sept 12th-14th. The festival is separated into 3 sections;

Kids’ world: lots of games and shows to keep the little ones entertained
Magic world: performances such as fire circus, musical entertainment and flags
Arena: battle performances, bird shows

If you want to experience some authentic Bavarian festival, go check this festival out.

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Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden

The Festival of Lights usually run from mid December to early January at Van Dusen Botanical Garden, every evening from 4:30pm to 9:00pm,  during the holiday season except on Christmas day (December 25).
Friends, couples and families can enjoy dancing light shows on Livingstone Lake every half an hour, meet Santa, watch performances and see over a million twinkling lights to get you into the holiday spirits.

Admission is $14.25 for one adult (prices are subject to change from year to year, please check their official site for current admission prices). It can get pretty chilly, so bundle up and take lots of photos :D

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Entertaining:carrotcarrotcarrot    Cost for Admission/Food: N/A

Atmosphere: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot    Location: carrotcarrotcarrot

Britannia Museum in Squamish

idearabbit-britiannamuseum9Yay! Trip to the mountains :)

We got our tickets for the noon tour. It was partly sunny, but the winds were bone-chilling. I knew from their website to dress warmly as the tour would be taking place inside the mine where it was going to be dark, cold and damp. I suggested to my friend to get his coat that he left in the car. I’m sure he was glad he did.

The actual tour seemed a bit short for $25 (compared to the Underground Tour in Seattle), though it was neat to see everything. The rest is self guided, and there is a gold panning area where kids and adults can try and pan out some gold. Sheepie got so into it that he spent so much time freezing his hands off to get some gems and gold looking stones while his friend and I went to the cafe to have some hot tea and coffee with chips. The cafe isn’t really a real cafe. Something you’d expect out in the middle of nowhere…with simple table and chairs set up, and a few snacks with coffee brewing in the coffee pot. Very simple and low key. But the tea is nice to warm up with! And for those that doesn’t want to freeze their hands off panning, you can buy the gems in the souvenir shop :P

idearabbit-britiannamuseum7Mockup Model

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The real thing idearabbit-britiannamuseum5

Our tour guideidearabbit-britiannamuseum4

Little train we ride to get deep into the mineidearabbit-britiannamuseum6

So, with the actual guided tour part, you ride on a small train into the mines. The guide will show how they use to mine with facts that made the Britianna Mine so special and important back then. The train may be fun, but for the rest, it may not be suitable for infants. The machines are super loud as the guide turns them on to demonstrate how they used to dig back then. The little ones on our tour got scared or were restless as they got bored.

Overall, it’s a nice half day trip to Squamish from Vancouver. It’s a nice museum, but $25 for admission is pretty expensive. Students get discount, so don’t forget to bring your student ID if you are one!