I LOVE Belgium!! Probably my 2nd favorite city I’ve ever been to!!
March 21, 2011
6:00 am – get on the bus and drive to Dover
8:30 – arrive in Dover and discover that our ferry has been cancelled; sit on the bus and wait for the next ferry
10:30 - drive the bus onto the ferry and get off to sit inside and eat lunch while waiting to cross the English Channel
12:15 pm – get on the bus and drive off the ferry
3:00 – arrive in Brugge, Belgium and check into the Ibis hotel (had to walk a bit because a bus can’t fit in the roads) – Ashley is my roommate this trip! Yay!
Once the craziness of actually GETTING to Brugge we walk around for a bit and then decide to take a boat tour. Brugge, for me, is a mix between Prague and Venice. I think that’ why I love it so much. The architecture and “vibe” reminded me of Prague and the canals running through the city, of course, reminded me of Venice. It’s a very beautiful city and pretty small too. Annie’s dad went on his mission to Belgium and she’s been there a couple times too, so she knew where all the good places to eat were and what to do in Brugge.
For some reason after the boat tour we were craving omelets for dinner. So we found a little café right off the main square and got the best omelets I’ve had in a very long time! Right after dinner, we went to a Frite house and got literally THE BEST French fries I have ever had. You’d be interested to know that the Belgians are the ones who started the first French fries – not the French. I honestly have no idea why these Frites were so good. They’re just fried differently I think. I wish I could just send some home so you all could try them because they were AMAZING. I miss them already. (You would go CRAZY in Belgium Mary, the Fry Queen!!) So Annie and I shared a small…I don’t think it was enough though.
What else is there yummy to eat in Belgium? Chocolate. There are chocolate shops literally every other store. **The bad thing about this entire trip is that on Sunday we decided that we were going to go off sweets because we all feel like we’re eating too much. Well….we failed. I swear the air in Belgium smells like chocolate. We gave in as we saw another group and Geoff shoved a piece of chocolate in each of our mouths. We could NOT resist the chocolate any longer. Immediately after the Frites we went into the first chocolate shop we saw. I can’t even describe how delicious Belgian chocolate is. Ah! Everyone needs to go to Belgium just for the chocolate. That alone makes the trip worth it. So we got our nightly chocolate and went back to the hotel. We went to bed with tummies full of chocolate and frites!
March 22, 2011
I felt gross when I woke up so I put on my running shoes and ran around Brugge for about 40 minutes. It was fun because there wasn’t really anyone out and I got to see parts of the city that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gone on my own. It’s a good thing I went running because today was FILLED with us eating JUNK. It didn’t taste like junk though. We started with a tour of the chocolate factory and museum with free tasters afterwards. Yum. After the chocolate factory (not as impressive as Willy Wonka’s…) we wandered and shopped for souvenirs. We each bought a few things and then we decided that it was now time for the infamous Belgian Waffles. I thought they were pretty good but Annie was like, “These are NOT the real Belgian Waffles.” So…We decided to get more Frites. This time Annie, Kinsey, Ashley and I split a large one. Double yum. We met up with the other girls after our frites and wanted to shop some more. On our way to this one shop we had already been into, we got chocolate pastries. Triple yum. The yumminess is not over yet. We met up with the whole group, got back on the westbus, and drove to Iep. We went to the In Flanders Field Museum, which was awesome. It was very eye-opening for me to learn about WWI when I’m actually IN one of the countries that was affected by it most. That was a neat museum to visit. After the museum, there was a carnival outside that had really good-looking food. So..we got more Frites. And then we got some donut-hole things that were amazing. And THEN Annie was like, “Those look like the REAL waffles! You HAVE to get one before we leave Belgium!” She and I split one and I almost fell over by how amazing it was! We didn’t even get anything on it and it was amazing! There’s like little sugar crystals inside the batter! Oh man, they are so scrumptious. No one can say they make the best Belgian Waffles until they’ve actually BEEN to Belgium. J With sick stomachs we got back on the bus and drove to Amiens, France.
March 23, 2011
We started out the day with walking to the Notre Dame d’Amiens cathedral. It’s the biggest cathedral in Europe and it’s HUGE. Really, it’s massive. I didn’t know it was the biggest cathedral until I was walking through it and my professor told me. It did seem big when I first walked in, but they all do. No, this is nothing like the other cathedrals I’ve been to. It’s not very different on the inside as far as stained glass and architecture, but the ginormousness of it is awe breaking. Oh another interesting fact about this cathedral is that John the Baptist’s head was once there in a box after he was beheaded. I didn’t find the head, sorry. After Notre Dame d’Amiens we drove to Somme and to a part of the battlefield where the Battle of the Somme took place. It’s now a national park owned by Canada because this part of the battlefield is where the Newfoundlanders fought. It was a very serene and reverent place. The trenches in which these brave men lived in are still there and we got to walk through them. We also got to walk through “No Man’s Land” and visit a few cemeteries in this national park. Seeing this place and feeling the presence of the things that went on there gave me a deeper appreciation for my freedom and those who have gone before me.
March 24, 2011
Today everyone in the centre woke up with what I like to call a “traveler’s hangover”. We are all just exhausted from the constant travelling and moving this month. It’s been a great month, but we are definitely feeling it all catch up with our bodies now! I kind of love it and hate it at the same time. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day here in London. It is definitely spring here and I can feel it. I love it!! After our religion class today we decided we wanted to ride bikes through the park. London has a cool program where you can rent a bike for 24 hours for a pound. Carly forgot her scarf in the church so she and I were later than the other girls, but we still rode bikes! It was so much fun and we decided it was kind of a therapy for us. It felt good to ride around Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and the streets of London. My life is a fairytale right now and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
liz this sounds so amazing! i had to just eat chocolate because i was jealous of you and you were making me hungry. im glad you are having such a good time, it looks and sounds great over there. and even though you are eating so many very delicious and im sure very 'healthy' things you look pretty dang skinny to me! love you and miss you!
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