Ireland!

Right after returning from Strasbourg I started packing for Ireland. I work in the office of an Irish MEP, and I was really excited to see a place that I had heard so much about.

In order to get our cheap flight we had to leave at 6:45 am, which proved to be especially difficult since we were departing from a "Brussels area" airport that is an hour bus ride away. We had to take a taxi to get to the train station in time to catch the 4:30 bus to the airport, but after a few taxi difficulties and an hour long bus ride we were at the airport and ready to go.

The first thing that we did when we arrived was check into our hostel, and then set out in search of a full Irish breakfast. Our plates were piled high with sausages, potatoes, beans and toast, bacon, and some kind of "pudding" that I later learned was made of pig's blood (who knew?). It was delicious, and enough to keep me full for the rest of the day!

The rest of the day was spent walking around Dublin. We took a tour of the Guinness Factory, wandered around O'Connell Street, stopped into Christchurch Cathedral, and lounged in the sun near St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a really wonderful day!

The next day, we woke up bright and early and hopped on a tour bus out to Wicklow county to see the beautiful countryside. We spent the day riding the bus through beautiful hills and valleys, and had lots of time to get off the bus and walk around. I was blown away at how beautiful Ireland is! The hills were so gorgeous, and I was just amazed by it. It was also great to have our tour guide pointing out some subtle but beautiful things, explain to us why the lake was the color of Guiness, and go over some of the history of the region.

We stopped for lunch in a little town, and had a delicious carvery lunch. Then we set out to spend the afternoon in Glendalough, a really gorgeous little section of Wicklow.

Glendalough was the location of St. Kevin's monastic order, and there were lots of interesting stone towers and ruins of beautiful old churches. We wandered around, marveling at the beautiful forests, the sparkling lakes, and the towering mountains. We were all just completely blown away by the beauty.

After a full day of exploring we headed back to Dublin, excited to see more of Ireland. We wandered around the Trinity College Area and St. Stephens green. Then we hopped on the DART (Dublin Area Regional Transit) to go see the sunset in Howth.

Howth is a little fishing village about a 25 minute DART ride from Trinity College. When we arrived we strolled along the water, and watched the sun set over the rocky shoreline. It was simply perfect.

We set off in search of fish and chips, but as we walked along the water we heard some strange noises and decided to investigate only to find several seals swimming nearby! This was such a wonderful surprise and a real highlight of the trip! It was so cool to see these animals up close. I don't think my camera did it justice, but it was truly amazing.

After about 20 minutes of snapping pictures and marveling over the seals we left in search of some fish and chips. We stumbled upon a nice place that gave us a pretty good deal for some fresh fish and chips, and then headed to the pub to chat it up with the locals and watch Ireland take on Bulgaria in football.

We chatted with a former sailor who told us all about his days sailing and assured us that, having traveled all around the world, that Howth was the best place in the world. Ireland ended up tying with Bulgaria, but despite the anti-climatic result we really had a blast hanging out with the locals.

The next morning we packed up bright and early, were met with more taxi troubles (I seriously have the worst luck with taxis) but found our way to the airport anyway and headed home. It was really sad to leave Ireland. It was just such a beautiful country, the people were very friendly, and the convenience of being able to speak english was truly a comfort. Though I know it won't happen before I leave in May, I really hope to be able to visit Ireland again soon.

Pictures!

St. Patrick's

I saw this spray painted on the side of a building in Dublin and I thought it was pretty cool.

Wicklow

So Beautiful!


A lake the color of Guiness

Stone tower in Glendalough
Tombstones with the hills in the backround. Beautiful!


Is was soooo pretty!


View of the sunset over the ocean from Howth


Seals!

As Promised...

Pictures!

Strasbourg:

Petit France! Beautiful!

Really a very pretty city

The Office in the Parliament

The Parliament Building

Look Mom, I hung up my clothes!

Paris!

This entry is certainly overdue, but better late then never, right?

Two weekends ago my roommates and I headed to Paris. We had to wake up at 4:45 am, and caught the 6:45 fast train to Paris. It was exhausting, but it was totally worth is, since it allowed us to get to Paris for cheap, and to spend more time exploring this amazing city.

When we got there we split up, Lori and I headed to Montmartre to check into our hostel, Celeste spent the weekend with friends, and Judith went to meet up with her boyfriend (but would catch up with us later).

We dropped our luggage off at the hostel, and headed over toward l'Arc de Triomphe. We walked around it, snapping pictures and marveling about the fact that we were in PARIS staring at something that had been built for Napoleon! Then Judith met up with us, and we headed to the top for some fantastic views. Seeing Paris from fairly high up, I realized immediately why everyone is so in love with Paris; It's absolutely beautiful. We spent a good while up there, soaking in the views, then headed down Avenue des Champs-Elysées.

We walked down toward le Grand Palais, and le Petit Palais, and then stopped on a bridge overlooking the River Seine. I was just blown away by how beautiful this view was. I felt as though I could stand on that bridge for the rest of my life, and not get sick of looking at it. Actually, I felt that way about most of Paris. It was truly stunning.

We headed back to our side of the bridge, with promises that we would explore the other side the next day. We walked down and saw the Palais Royal, and its beautiful garden. We stopped by the Colonne Vendôme, went into Église de la Madeleine (a spectacular church), stopped in the nicest public bathroom I have ever seen in my entire life, saw the Opera house (which is gorgeous), and lounged in the sun by a pond in the Jardin des Tuileries, before heading into the Louvre.

On Fridays at 6 pm the Louvre is free for people under 26. We took advantage of this. The Louvre was beautiful, but overwhelming. We enjoyed what we were able to see, but there is just so much art! We saw the Mona Lisa, and got really excited when we stumbled upon a few rooms full of paintings from Rubens (if you recall, we toured his house in Antwerp, and we were able to see some of his famous paintings that had been described to us on that tour). By this point we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hostel.

We got our room assignment, and went upstairs only to discover that there was only one bed left in our six person room. Apparently there was an Argentinian man that had forgotten to check out and, though he was out and about, his stuff was occupying my bed. The desk clerk gave me fresh linens, and told me that the bed was rightfully mine. I spent the night in a fitful sleep, worried that an irate man was going to come back to the room and, finding me in what he believed was his bed, either beat me up, or climb into bed with me. Thankfully, the night passed without incident, and I think the desk clerk gave me my sheets for free for the trouble.

We began the next day by heading off for the Eiffel Tower. It was really thrilling to be there. A day earlier I had kind of dismissed the Eiffel tower as kind of an eyesore that we only find charming because we learn about it as important landmark from a very early age. I have to admit, though, up close the tower was pretty freaking cool. We took about a thousand pictures of the tower and of ourselves with the tower, then headed out to see more sights.

We walked over and saw many more beautiful buildings then I can name, and ducked into several little gardens. The weather as absolutely gorgeous, and we just had a great time walking in the sun and enjoying the beautiful city.

We went into the Musee de Orsay, which was definitely a highlight of the trip. This museum has lots of really famous works from people like Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Vangough, Toulouse Latrec, and many others. It's also in an old train station, which is really cool.

We saw a couple of gorgeous churches, then walked over the Jardin Luxembourg. This was one of my favorite places in Paris. We sat in the sun by a pond, and watched little children push boats around on the pond. It was adorable. While waiting for Lori to come out of the bathroom I also had an interesting run-in with a French man who, with no prompting, formally welcomed me to Paris. When I asked him how he could so easily tell I was American he said "Well, Because I look at your face and I know you are not from Senegal." The entire encounter was so incredibly pleasant that it left Lori and I wondering if, in an attempt to change their reputation, the French government has started offering tax breaks to those that are friendly to tourists.

Next we grabbed lunch/dinner (eating at about 3:30 PM is a clever travel trick to avoid spending too much money) and then we headed toward Notre Dame. It was pretty cool, but Notre Dame was maybe the one thing in Paris that I wasn't blown away by. It was beautiful, but the touristy aspect of it made it difficult for me to see it as any sort of sacred space.

Then we headed over to meet Judith and Adam (who is studying in Paris), and some of his friends at a bar for drinks. Being an American in Paris, and heading out to meet up with other Americans for drinks made me feel a bit like I was in the Sun Also Rises (without the War induced injuries, of course).

Lori had promised me a romantic walk by the river, and I held her to it. We walked along the river and then hopped on the Metro back to the hostel for some well deserved rest.

The next morning we set out to explore the Montmartre region, which is where we were staying. We walked down toward the Moulin Rouge, and only then did we really how incredibly close we had been staying to the red light district, haha. Oh well, we never felt unsafe. Sunday morning was probably the best time to explore this region, as there were not many shady people. Seeing the moulin rouge was pretty cool. Then we headed up through narrow streets to see more the neighborhood, which quickly turned from being raunchy to being beautiful. We came across some beautiful sights, including more windmills, and an open-air market where lots of artists were selling their work.

Then we saw the Sacre-Coeur. This was another true highlight. It was gorgeous! We walked around inside, then I went in for mass. This was actually one of the longest masses I had every been to in my entire life, which was only frustrating because it was (obviously) in French, and Lori was waiting for me outside. Still, it was beautiful, and a really wonderful opportunity.

We climbed the many stairs down the hill in front of Sacre-Coeur, then headed over toward the area near Notre-Dame. Hit up the Shakespeare book Shop (in large part due to Savannah's high praises of the place Thanks Savvy!!) It really was neat. Then we headed over to St. Chapelle's to see the light streaming in through the beautiful stained glass. It was gorgeous.

We hopped over to the cemetery where Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison were buried, but we weren't able to find either of their graves. Still, the cemetery was huge and pretty cool, although it was no Mount Hope.

One of my goals for the weekend was to see the Eiffel Tower shimmer, which it does on the hour at night. So we grabbed crepes, and headed back up to the Sacre-Couer to lounge in the sun, watch street performers, watch the sun set, and have a prime view of Eiffel Tower shimmering. Watching the Eiffel tower sparkle was the perfect ending to the trip. We headed down and walked back to the train station to make our train back.

I had heard from a few people that Paris is overrated; nothing could be farther from the truth. Paris is absolutely spectacular. It is beautiful,clean, and sophisticated, and there is so much to see. It was most certainly a place that I hope to visit again soon.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Em

Pictures:

On the Bridge looking over the River Seine. Also, Eiffel Tower shot #1

View from the Arc de Triomphe. Note Montmartre and the Sacre-Couer in the distance.

The Arc de Triomphe


The view of the Eiffel Tower from the Sacre-Couer at sunset. This is the exact point where I watched the Eiffel Tower shimmer. Eiffel tower shot #2.


Sacre-Couer! Please note the gorgeous blue sky! I actually got a little sunburned sitting outside of this building.


Lori and I in front of Notre-Dame


Children playing with Boats in the Jardin de Luxembourg. I thought this was so cute.


I love this painting. It was so cool to see the Original.

Me in front of the Eiffel tower. Eiffel Tower shot #3.

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!

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.

Bruges!!

Preface: All of the Pictures posted below were taken by the fabulous Lori Mullins, who is both better at photography, and more diligent in her picture uploading. Thanks Lori!!

On Saturday I ventured outside of Brussels for the first time since my arrival. We woke up bright and early Saturday morning (and it actually was sunny and bright out!) and headed to the train station, only to discover that we had chose the right day to go to Bruges: the fare was only 8 Euro!!! We piled excitedly onto the train and headed to Bruges.

The train ride was lovely, and it was very nice to get to see some of the Belgian countryside. The roommates and I have discussed doing several other day trips around Belgium, and I am truly excited to see more of this interesting country.

Bruges is a tiny town to the west of Brussels. It is located in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium (the dutch name of the city is Brugge). The town was a center of trade waaaay back in the day, but when the River Zwin silted up near the end of the 15^th century, the trade pretty much died out. Because of this, the city never really felt the pressure to modernize, and much of the architecture has been preserved; as they say in the recent movie In Bruges, Bruges is just like “a fairytale.”

When we got off the train we started to wander into the city and were amazed by how gorgeous it was. There is a little canal that winds all over the little town, and there are stone bridges galore! The narrow cobblestone streets were sooo beautiful, and the architecture was just gorgeous. We were mesmerized by the city, and immediately started snapping pictures.

After about half an hour of gushing about the beauty of the town, we realized that we were hungry and wandered around in search of food. Initially we were looking for a little coffee shop or something, but the fact that the average price for a cup of coffee was 4 euros combined with a sudden craving for hamburgers led us to look for something more substantial. As we reached the Markt, basically the town square, we saw a sign that read “Hamburgers.” It turned out just to be Quick, which is basically the Belgian McDonald’s, but we dug right in. It was not as good as McDonald’s, but it hit the spot, and we were ready to get out traveling.

The Markt

We embraced our status as tourists, and set out on the walking tour that was suggested in Celeste’s guidebook. The tour took us by some of the most beautiful building I have ever seen, reflecting in the placid water of the canal. We saw the really neat fish market, as well as many little shops selling chocolates and lace (some of Belgium’s specialties).

We continued along the tour, and continued to be amazed by the beauty of Bruges. About halfway through the tour we realized that there was an older couple that seemed to be stopping and looking at the same things that we were. Looking closer we noticed that they had the same guidebook, haha! We laughed hysterically about it for awhile and Celeste appropriately compared it to the awkward feeling you get when you are putt-putt golfing, and have to wait behind the same people at each hole. Excellent comparison, Celeste. Eventually we overcame the hilarious awkwardness and spoke to our tour partners. We worked through the slightly confusing instructions in the guidebook with the older couple, and continued to explore the city.

We headed around the shopping area, and went into several little shops. Then we each invested in the famous Belgian waffle. Since I referenced the waffle in my last post, I will try to keep my waffle musings to a minimum this time however, believe me, it was delicious. We took our waffles over, and sat on a little wall outside of a church, then commenced to try to eat our waffles like polite young women. We failed miserably. We sat outside this church, laughing loudly, snapping pictures of each other with whipped cream and chocolate all over our faces. It was a total blast.

We felt the need to work off the waffles, and decided to climb to the top of the Belfry. Warning: This is not a task for the weak of heart. The climb up the 366 stairs to the top of the Belfry takes considerable time and effort and, true to the claims made in the movies, it’s incredibly narrow. When we got to the top, however, it was well worth the effort. We marveled at the beautiful view, and were even up there as the giant bell began ringing!

We headed down and continued walking around, eventually making it to the Heilig Bloed Basiliek (The Basilica of the Holy Blood) where there is a vial that is said to contain a few drops of Christ’s blood. The vial is kept in a really cool silver tabernacle, and the entire mood of the church is very quiet and reverent. Overall, it was a really neat experience.

Next, we headed over toward the cluster of whitewashed houses where a community of nuns live, and looked around there, which was really cool. Along the way Lori found the swans, which, I think, was a major turning point in her life. Then we walked into a really neat Cathedral and saw Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child, which is apparently the only Michelangelo statue to leave Italy during his lifetime. That was REALLY cool.

By this point we were starving, so we found this really fun restaurant that served North African food, and it was absolutely delicious. Feeling satisfied with the day, we made our way through Bruges, and headed toward the train station, proclaiming it a successful day.

It was a great trip, and I am really looking forward to heading to Antwerp this weekend.

More Shots of Bruges: