Vive Le Carnaval!!

This post is coming much later then anticipated. Our internet died earlier this week, and so I am just now playing catch up.

I spent most of this weekend in Brussels. Friday night we discovered a street in Brussels that is packed full of well-priced ethnic restaurants, and indulged in a delicious evening of Thai, followed by a strawberry crumble Mcflurries. Delicious.

Saturday we ventured out to explore the park in Laeken (or Laken, in Dutch). This park is HUGE, and is not the easiest to navigate. After darting across the Belgian version of George Washington parkway we found ourselves face to face with a giant wall, and it took some time to figure out how to actually get into the park. We eventually found the park, and in the process saw the atomium.

Me in front of the Atomium

The Atomium is a large silver atom built for the 1958 World Fair. It sounds strange, but it was pretty cool to see. You can also go inside, but we decided to save that for a day where we might have more visibility, and thus a better view.

We headed into the park, and came across a gorgeous garden. We had the entire garden to ourselves, and had a blast running and jumping around. Celeste and I staged a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style photoshoot on this cool little dock in the middle of a reflecting pool taken by the fabulous Lori Mullins. I'll have to borrow pics from Lori to post later.

The Garden we had all to ourselves!

The weekend overall as great, but Sunday was really fun! We headed to this tiny Belgian town in the countryside of Wallonia (the French speaking part of Belgium) to experience Carnaval Belgian Style.

The town of Binche is quite small, but their Carnaval celebration is acknowledged as being the best in Belgium. When we boarded the train we had no expectations. We weren't sure what was ahead of us, but it ended up being pretty awesome.

We rolled into Binche at about noon and shivered in the drizzle while staring at empty streets. Could this really be the Carnaval we had read so much about? We began walking around town, and a few minutes later we could hear the distant rumble of drums. According to Carnaval tradition in Binche rehearsals for drummers start weeks in advance, and the rumble of drums is a common sound. On Carnaval Sunday the drummers go from house to house gathering together those that are dressing up. We followed the sound of the drums until they led us into the main square of the town.

It was here that we realized why the streets were so empty; everyone in the town was in the main square! People were dressed in bright costumes, and were jumping, dancing, drumming, and throwing confetti around. It was so much fun to watch!

We ducked into a little restuarant to get out of the rain, and I had a hamburger for lunch. This Belgian version of a hamburger was certainly not all ground beef (there was definatley some pork or something in it) and, of course, was not on a bun but was on a crusty roll. It was a different take on a hamburger, but was delicious.

We headed back out in the square and went to buy some carnival accessories. Then we wandered more around town, admiring costumes, and indulging in Belgian fries with andalouse sauce, delicious.

Next it was time for the parade. This was completely different then any parade I've ever been to. Each little group of costumed celebrators is followed by a tiny band. They march about 20 feet to drumbeats, and then the band plays a song and they turn around and face the band and dance. This is so much fun to watch and to take part in, but it is also a very slow-going parade. Once a group finishes dancing they continue thier slow march until the next group comes along. Each band plays the same song, and after about 10 minutes of this we knew every note to the song and were jumping and dancing along. At one point a photograph with an official looking badge around his neck walked up to me, pointed at my mask and said something in french, then stuck his camera about 4 inches from my face and started snapping pictures. I was so surprised and confused that I pulled a Deb and tried to hide from the Camera.

The Parade

Papa Smurf at the Parade. The Smurfs are actually a Belgian Creation. I'm serious, look it up.

When the parade ended we figured that we would go back to the main square where the parade would finish becuase we assume that this would be where the Carnival celebrations would resume. When we got to the square however, it wasn't very full, and we realized that the parade was moving so slowly that the very first marchers wouldn't reach the square for at least another hour and a half. We ducked into a bakery, indulged in delicious treats, and hopped on the train back to Brussels.

All in all, it was a great day. Being the center for the EU and the unofficial Capital of Europe, Brussels is such an international city that sometimes it is difficult to get a true sense of Belgian culture. Going to Binche was a fabulous way to experience something that is central to Belgian culture, and that is the way that they celebrate le Carnaval. Though it was a giant festival, all of the people that we met that day were living in Belgium, and we felt it was a great way to get to know more about Belgian culture. This did have it's drawbacks, and we obviously had more difficulty communicating then we do in Brussels, but it was really a great day.

Other highlights of the week include:
-Having some really interesting stuff to work on at work this week
-Ash Wednesday Mass with some fine people and Confession with a really great priest
- Being a Pirate. In internetless-induced boredom I began playing all of the free trial games that were available on my computer, I prompty became addicted to Tradewinds. Once my free trial was up I downloaded a free trial of Tradewind, Tradewinds 2 and Tradewinds Caravan. Really a great game.
-Finding out my good friends kim and mike were going to come visit me in two weeks! yay!!
-discovering the break room at work that has free coffee for Ind/Dems
-Realizing (from Kim's blog) that the Fall 2009 classes were posted online for Rochester, yay!
-sitting in the 2nd floor stairwell trying to get the neighbor's internet signal
-Celebrating having the house to ourself (the family was in EuroDisney Sunday-Wednesday) by putting on Judith's spinning class mix and dancing around the kitchen.
-Eating a Durrem, mmmm

And now I'm off to shower and then enjoy a weekend with my friend Kiersten who is visiting from London!

Much Love!

Köln!!!

Last weekend was the much anticipated trip to Cologne (Köln). It was fabulous! We left on Friday evening, and made it in about 9:30. Thanks to Lindsey's wonderful German skills we figured out the tram system, and made it to our hostel at around 10:30. Lori and I headed out to get something to eat, and stumbled upon a little Kebab shop where we got some delicious double layered spinach pizza type thing that was delicious. Then we headed back to the hostel, and hung out with the other in the hostel kitchen until late, then headed to bed.

The next morning we woke up to find the sun shining and headed out to see Cologne's major landmark, the Dom. The Dom is this giant beautiful cathedral. Cologne was bombed aggresively in WWII, and many civilians were killed and much of the city was destroyed. One thing that was not destroyed, however, was the Dom.

Since it was so sunny out, we decided to walk, but ran right into a giant protest. We were sure exactly what they were protesting, but the police had completely blocked off the street, so we had to take a very different route to get to the Dom.

When I got to the Dom I was blown away by how gorgeous it was! Every detail of the Cathedral was meticulously sculpted; I couldn't believe the amount of effort put into making everything. When we got inside we saw that mass was going on, so we weren't able to walk around the Cathedral. Instead, we decided to walk to grab tickets and walk to the top of the Belfry.

Compared the Dom, the Belfry in Bruges was a warm up. We walked up over 500 stairs to get to the top, constantly squishing up against walls to let tourists that were climbing down by. It took an incredibly amount of effort, but it was well worth it. The view was wonderful! From the top you can see for miles, and get a good view of the city, and the winding River Rhine.



We headed back down the narrow staircase and since mass was over we were able to wander around the inside of the Cathedral. Again, I was stunned at all the art in the cathedral and all the detail. The stained glass windows were beautiful, and there were beautiful paintings all around. I was really blown away by the Cathedral.

We left the Cathedral and headed to the weekend's main event: A football (soccer) game between FC Köln and Karlsruher SC. It was a total blast. The crowd was so energetic, and was constantly yelling, screaming and waving flags, and everyone was decked out in Red. Our seats were near the Karlsruher cheering section, so we watched as they did all of thier chants and cheers. They were constantly in motion, too, jumping and clapping in unison. The Köln fans near us responded by flipping them off. Sadly the game ended in a tie, and the Koln fans were clearly disapointed. It was a great experience though, and I'm so glad we went. We spent the rest of the night eating delicious food (Doner sandwiches, mmmmm) and just hanging out.



The next day we checked out of our hotel and headed toward the Dom again because the Dom area is basically where everything happens in Cologne. We toured around for a bit, looking at the little squares that have been rebuilt after thier destruction in the war. I parted with the group after a bit to head to noon mass at the Dom.

The Dom has a strict policy about not allowing tours during mass, and the man at the door didn't seem to understand that I actually wanted to go to mass. After a few minutes of confusing discussion, with my making motions like I was praying I was eventually allowed into the Church.

Mass was great, albeit freezing cold. The Dom has no heat, and we were also missing out on the sunlight, so its safe to say that it was the absolute coldest mass I've ever been to, but it was also really nice. I obviously know no German, so I wasn't able to understand a lot of it, but I was able to follow along fairly easily. German is one of those languages that often sounds violent and angry, but as the German hymns were being sung the language sounded quite beautiful.

After mass I met up with the group, and grabbed food. With a little over an hour before we had to be back on the train the group split up to see the last of the sights. Jackson, Lori, and I were walking around when we were entraced by a crowd of people dressed in strange costumes walking. Now Cologne has a giant Carnival celebration, but it wasn't really supposed to be happening until later in the week, and these people looked as if they were going to start Carnival Early. We were intrigued, so we decided to follow.

We followed the strangley dressed throng into a hotel, and found ourselves in the middle of a giant Carnival Party. We were in the middle of a huge crowd dressed strangely, and they were all talking, laughing, drinking and just enjoying themselves. We mingled with the locals, and snapped tons of pictures. It was a real highlight of the trip.



Then we hopped on the train home. All in all it was a great weekend.

Other highlights of this week include getting the most delicious Thai food (followed by a McDonald's strawberry crumble mcflurry) with the roommates, getting a Valentine from Adam, skyping with Alyssa, Raz, and Sohee back at Rochester (I love you girls), getting the news that the fabulous Anna Sklut got into the very prestigious ECHO grad program at Notre Dame (Anna Rocks), and attending a bioethics meeting at the Parliament (yay for respecting the dignity of human embryos!). All in all, it was a great week, and I'm excited for this weekend which should include more exploring of Brussels, and a possible Carnival celebration.

Goodbye for Now!

Em

Ghent!

Last Saturday several quality people and myself set out to see Ghent. Now, most of you have probably only heard of Ghent in relation to the Treaty of Ghent (which ended the war of 1812 between the British and the U.S), and its likely you had no idea it was even in Belgium. That's okay. I honestly was fairly clueless about what Ghent had to offer but let me tell you it was AWESOME.

Ghent is only about half hour away or, at least, it is if you take the fast train. We made the mistake of taking the slow train to Ghent, which took about an hour and a half and stopped in pretty much every little farm town in Belgium. It was actually really cool though, to more of the countryside in Flanders.

When we arrived in Ghent we asked for directions to the city center, and then hopped on a tram toward the center of town. On the tram, we were holding up our maps looking confused when a nice woman approached us, and gave us directions to the city center. One of the lovely things about traveling in Flanders is so many people speak English.

When we arrived in the city I was floored by how beautiful it was! Ghent is a well-kept secret. It is a small town, with cobble stone streets and canals running through it. A tall Belfry towers overhead, and there are several gorgeous churches and a beautiful castle! I was absolutely amazed.

We began wondering around snapping pictures of everything, when we found Sint Baafskathedraal. Of all of the churces I've already been into in Europe I think this is my favorite so far. It was dark, but beautiful statues and carvings were all over the place, and there were gorgeous paintings all over. The famous painting in Sint Baafskathedraal is the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. This large and beautiful painting includes depictions of Adam, Eve, Mary, and John the baptist, and the center of the painting shows a lamb standing on an alter. It has been peirced and is bleeding. I know it sounds gross but it was actually really beautiful.

Another great aspect of the Cathedral was the crypt. We almost didn't go down there because, honesty, who wants to see a crypt? But I'm so glad we did becuase it was a fantastic museum, displaying many paintings and vessels. I was so impressed.

Next we visited another church, St. Niklaaskerk, which was also beautiful. This one was much brighter and more open. It was gorgeous.

At this point we were hungry, so we sat down for lunch at a little cafe, and I enjoyed a "Croque Madame". A Croque is a french dish that is basically some sort of delicious ingrediants all toasted together. Mine was ham and cheese on toasted bread with a friend egg on top. It was delicious.

We headed out and continued to wander around the city. We walked along the canal, strolled through the market, and just enjoyed the beautiful architecture. We did some window shopping and indulged in French Fries before heading over to the castle.

Me standing by the canal

The group wandering through the market

Yes, that's right, Ghent has a Castle, and it's really cool. Her Gravensteen, or "The Castle of the Counts", is a really interesting castle settled on the edge of this canal. This castle was built as a military defense fortress, but eventually ended up being a big jail where lots of people were tortured.

View of the castle from the roof of one of its towers

Despite its rocky past, the castle is beautiful, and steeped in history. We walked through it, reading the signs, and learning more about each room's history. We also enjoyed the breathtaking views from the castles roofs. It was simply perfect. After a long day of touring Ghent, we headed back to the train station and managed to choose the express train this time.

View of Ghent from the top of the Castle. Please note how I am perfectly centered between the flags, and you can see the top of both churches and the Belfry in the background; Well done Lori.

The rest of the week has also been pretty superb. It's committee week in the Parliament, so work has been very very busy, but its also been really enjoyable. I am so glad that I chose to do a program with an internship; it really adds some structure to my day, helps me to learn so much more about the EU and policy formation then I even could have learned in the classroom, and exposes me to some really cool people.

Tuesday night, Olivia (one of the other interns), invited me to take part in a "Human Dignity" party being hosted by one of her friends who was interning with the World Youth Alliance. I was curious, so I decided to go along.

The World Youth Alliance is a large supported of human dignity, as it is essential to loving one another and to respecting human rights. So, as part of thier internship, each World Youth Alliance intern must host a "Dignity Party", illustrating a way to bring out and respect human dignity. The intern that was hosting this time chose to focus her party on art, as art is way of expressing emotion, examining beauty, and discovering humanity. I'm doing a terrible job explaining it now, but it was really neat the way that she tied everything together. Overall, it was a really great night. I got to hang out and eat snacks with some quality people, while discussing art and painting beautiful pictures.

Other highlights of this week include running around the Parliament with my fellow interns in an attempt to find free stuff, enjoying the beautiful weather, and talking to my little bro on skype. It really was a great week.

I love and miss you all!

Em

A Wonderful Day

Now I know that I've been posting a lot recently, but I had such a wonderful day that I simply had to share it.

This morning I woke up (reluctantly) and headed for my 8:30 AM class. Now, you are probably asking yourself "What kind of an idiot goes abroad and signs up for class at 8:30 on a Friday morning?" I was asking myself that same question this morning. I hopped on the tram, made it to school quickly, and hoped the three hour class (that's right, I'm THAT masochistic) would go by quickly.

The class was a pleasant surprise. Titled "Theory and Practice of Diplomatic Negotiations," we spent class last week pouring over the text of the "Banana Project". The project outlined a UN plan that would fund research for discovering ways to fight disease in bananas, and to come up with more varieties of bananas. Though it seemed legit, it turns out that the plan was basically just a cover up for a budget transfer to save the tail of the person that accidentally left a Honduran lab that studies bananas, out of the budget. This week we held a UN simulation where our goal was simple: Be diplomatic, but don't let this "project" through.

I admit I was not excited about today's simulation, but it ended up being a blast. My partner an I chose to be the delegation from the Dominican Republic, and we crafted a beautiful and diplomatic speech about how the project was far too important to implement hastily, and needed to be more carefully considered. The other delegations had their speaking time (the highlight was when someone representing the UK and Northern Ireland actually pulled out a banana to illustrate its importance), and the chairman nearly ended debate before the delegation from Senegal called for the project to be tabled for careful consideration. It was about to be tabled for a week before I jumped in and proposed it be tabled indefinitely. Unfortunately, it appears that my colleagues had forgotten that their objective was to stop the project from passing, and my motion failed, haha. It was a really good way to start the morning.

Lori , Celeste and I decided to take advantage of our Friday afternoon, and we set out to go walk around the Parc de Bruxelles. The weather was gorgeous, and park was sooooo pretty. We walked around, examining the statues and just enjoying the pleasant afternoon. As we were enjoying the park a man with a camera approach us, and ask if any of us would mind posing with a bottle of yogurt for a newspaper article. Celeste posed with the smoothie while Lori and I lauged hysterically. We'll look for the article in tomorrow's issue.

Then we just went for a leisurely stroll (and stopped for a waffle, of course!). We ended up walking past some of the stuff that we saw on our walking tour, but saw a lot of new stuff. We stopped by the Place du Petit Sablon, and were very impressed by the beautiful fountains and statues.

Overall, it was a lovely walk and a great day to be in Brussels. I can't wait for Ghent tomorrow!

Commenting 101 and Other Musings

So I was talking with my parents the other day when they alerted me that there was some confusion surrounding my blog. Several people, my parents included, have expressed confusion about how to comment on this blog. So, for the readers that are unfamiliar with blogging, I thought I would write some instruction on how to leave comments.

First of all, anyone can leave comments. I set this blog up so that even people that are not members of blogspot can leave comments at the end of this blog. Just page down to the end of the entry and look at the text below. In gray and blue writing at the bottom it will say the time I posted and will have the labels that have put on the entry. It will also say "___ Comments" (Any number could be in the ____). If you click on that you can read any comments anyone else has made, and you can also make your own comments. To post go to the white square that says "Post a Comment" above it. You can write anything you'd like in the white square, and then go to the space that says "Comment As" and click on "anonymously" (unless you are a member). Then it will prompt you to type some letters that are displayed. Type the letter in, and you have successfully left a comment! Please just make sure that if you comment anonymously you still sign your name so I know who you are!

Now a Few Musings from Belgium...

-One thing about this place that makes me feel right at home is that Belgium is truly a nation of compulsive rule followers. Let me give you an example: All pedestrians here wait for the green signal before crossing. Seriously, almost everyone does this. The street could be completely clear, and everyone stands on the corner waiting for the green signal. Maybe one person breaks from this and crosses the street, and everyone eyes the rebel like they are crazy.

- My MEP (Member of the European Parliament) rocks. She is superwoman. She is incredibly knowledgeable about everything and is involved in so many committees, but always has time for her constituents. Recently, in light of the economic crisis she has volunteered to take a 20% reduction in pay. You can read about it more in the Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0205/1233787117361.html

-My parents sent me a Valentine. It made my day.

-I am beginning to understand the Irish frustration with the EU's current obsession with the Lisbon Treaty. In order for the treaty to pass it needs unanimous approval. The Irish voted it down, thus, it failed to get unanimous approval. You would think that people would count thier losses and move on, but no, instead they continue to reference Lisbon as if it were in force. They go further, and treat the Irish like crap for voting it down.

-I have heard about how unhealthy American food, and I'm not arguing with that, but Europeans put mayo on EVERYTHING. Literally, they use mayo like we use ranch. Everything is smothered in mayo or dipped in mayo. French Fries, oh I'm sorry, Belgian Fries are generally served with a giant glob of mayo on them. I am trying to step out of my box, but I just can't get into that.

That's all for now! Au Revoir!

Em

Antwerp!

Last weekend we thought that we thought we would see more of Belgium, so we set out on Saturday for Antwerp.

Antwerp is the second largest town in Belgium, and is known for its diamond industry and, more recently, for its recent progress in the fashion industry. We hopped on another super cheap train (thanks Benelux weekend travel discounts!) and headed out to Antwerp.

When we arrived, the first exciting sight was the beautiful train station. There was a tall marble staircase, a beautiful clock, and a gorgeous ceiling. We gathered maps, opened up the guide books, and set out on a walking tour.

The Train Station

First the walking tour took us through the diamond district, and we did a little window shopping. Then we walked down the main shopping street, and were amazed at the variety of shops. We went into an urban outfitter, mostly for warmth, and found ourselves inside a very pretty shopping center.

Then the walking tour took us down a little cobble stone street, and we stumbled on the house of Peter Paul Rubens, a famous painter and architect who lived in Antwerp. We bought tickets to go inside (only a euro yay!!!!) and got a free audio tour to go along with it. The house was absolutely gorgeous! There was an awesome courtyard and garden, and then we entered the house to look at the many paintings that were hung around the house. Some were from Rubens, but others were from his many students and admirers. It was really neat, and I am so glad that we checked it out.

Hercules Statue in Rubens's Garden

After this, we were pretty hungry, so we wandered around in search of food, and came across a free trade café. It was an interesting little place, that even had instructional yoga videos, and places to teach yoga and meditation classes upstairs. It was cool, and very tasty.

We continued on the walking tour and, I admit, I started to feel skeptical about Antwerp. Just when I was starting to wonder if Rubens' house was the only interesting thing in Antwerp, we stumbled upon two glorious cathedrals.

Saint Carolus Borromeus, a Jesuit church, is Ruben's genius. The church is gorgeous and well lit, with many interesting statues, carvings, and paintings. We walked around, amazed at the beautiful artwork, and basking in the warm air coming out of the vents.

Then we found the Cathedral of Our Lady. This church is also gorgeous, with several of Rubens paintings inside. We walked in, and walked around for a bit, then asked about mass times, and left.

We finally made it to the most talked about part of Antwerp, the Grote Markt. Similar to Brussels and Bruges, this is the main square. Its very picturesque, with cobble stone, and beautiful architecture, but the most curious thing about it is the statue in the middle. This statue allowed us to learn more about how Antwerp got its name.

The story goes that a giant names Antigoon fiercly guarded the river Scheldt (the river that runs through Antwerp). Anyone that crossed the river and refused to pay the toll would have to deal with the wrath of Antigoon, who would cut off their hand and throw it into the river. Legend has it that a hero named Brabo finally killed the giant, and triumphantly cut off the giant's hand, throwing it into the river. Thus, the city earned the Dutch title "hand werpen" (to throw a hand) which eventually evolved into the name Antwerp. The statue in the center of town depicts this interesting story.

The Statue of Brabo Throwing the Hand of the Slain Giant Antigoon

The Grote Markt

We then walked down to the river, and walked along the water front. This was my favorite part of the day. It was so much fun just to stand by the river taking pictures, listening to the accordion music from the nearby street performers, and watching the boats sail by. How relaxing!

Down by the River

By this point we were incredibly cold and wandered around in search of hot coffee before we stumbled on a chocolate bar. No, I don't mean that we were walking down the street and we literally tripped over a bar of chocolate. I mean that we spotted a bar where, instead of serving alcohol or coffee, they serve delicious delicious chocolate. We were drawn in by the scents of melting chocolate wafting our way.

Once inside the bar we were even more amazed. I ordered a "Chocolademelk", which I assumed would be like a hot chocolate, but it was so much more. Basically, I was able to choose two kinds of chocolate from the stores selection of chocolates. I chose a white chocolate and a darker chocolate. They took a ladle of each, and put in into my cup, and then they filled the rest of the cup up with warm milk, stirred it, and served it to me with a brownie. It was absolutely phenomenal!

Olivia and I waving our Empty Cups

Having warmed up, we walked back to the Cathedral and attended Flemish Mass. It was interesting. Obviously, I couldn't understand any of the readings, and I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that we were the only people there under the age of 60, but it was a great experience overall. I have always been told that part of the beauty of Catholicism is that it is universal, and that the mass is the same everywhere. Here, I was actually able to experience it. While I don't speak a word of Flemish (I'm serious, it's actually worse then my awful handful of French phrases) I was still able to keep up with what was going on in the mass.

Next, we set out in search of China town, and discovered that "China town" was actually just a street with a few Chinese restaurants. We sat down to what was widely acknowledged as one of the worst Chinese meals any of us had ever had ( Yes Podges, it even rivals that place on 12 mile). Still, that didn't stop us from packing up the leftovers and eating them for lunch the next day

Overall, it was a successful day. Antwerp is an interesting city, and I can't wait to see what else Belgium has to offer.