Brussels&Bruges

Hi there, everyone!

So i know it's been a while since I posted last. I keep trying to be better about posting more often but life seems to keep getting in the way and making me busy! Anyways, lots has happened since last week that I would love to tell you about.

Last week was short, since I left on Thursday morning for a long weekend away. On Wednesday, Emma had her belated 10th birthday party sleepover, and she had four friends come over and spend the night.

Don't get me wrong, it was super fun to make cupcakes with the girls on Tuesday night and put all the decorations up, but as always, taking care of 6 kids at once all alone is not an easy task when it isn't your native language.

Everything was going fine until somehow the girls ripped down part of the net that goes around the trampoline. Of course, this was somehow labeled as my fault even though I couldn't control what was going on or stop it even if I wanted to. So, luckily I was able to fix the net, but it didn't put me in a very good mood. Thankfully, Seb and Catherine took care of dinner and the evening activities, and I went to bed early because the next morning I was leaving for a long weekend in Brussels and Bruges with Brent!

So on Thursday morning I got up and had breakfast and Seb dropped me off at the train station. My ride to Brussels was an easy 2 and a half hours without problems. Brent and I met at the station and we set off to find our bed and breakfast. Luckily this was an easy walk from the central station, so we got in and settle and met our host, François. He was very kind and helped give us tips about what to see and do in the city. We set out to explore in the late afternoon and just wandered around the city and marveled at the architectural beauty of the Grand Place, the large open plaza in the center of the downtown area. We had some lunch and also some beers at an extremely old bar called "A La Mort Subite", or "Sudden Death". After a while, we returned to the apartment and recollected ourselves for the evening. François gave us a set of keys and he headed out for the night to stay with his girlfriend. But not five minutes after he had left, somehow we had broken the flush on the toilet. So of course, we are both panicking and we emailed him to ask what to do. Of course, he said not to worry, but we were still worrying anyway.

Despite the unease, we went out and found a Thai food place for dinner, which was pretty good, although not too cheap. Afterwords, we headed to a large bar in the city center called "Delirium", which is quite well known for it's atmosphere and it's beers. We spent a few hours there watching lots of drunk friends smash pint glasses on tables in their drunkenness. We went home and headed to bed later on.

On Friday morning, we woke up early and more funness ensued when neither of us could figure out how to work the shower properly. This lead to hair washing under the faucet. After struggling a little bit with this, we headed to back to the Grand Place and had breakfast at a little cafe there, which of course included Belgian waffles.

After we ate we headed to the metro station and hopped on to go to the Atomium, which is basically the large silver metallic structure of an atom that has become almost as iconic in Belgium as the Eiffel Tower in France. Although the line was long, it was fun to go up into the structure and see how it was made. Mainly though, we were interested in getting to the top to see the view, which took a while of waiting in line to do, but the view was worth it, because we could see all of Brussels from the top.

After coming down, we took the subway back towards the city center and bought things for a picnic lunch and ate in a large park next to all of the European Union Parliament buildings. Belgium, and Brussels in particular, is the headquarters of the EU, so it was interesting to see all the sleek, modern buildings that resembled something you would see in the US blended in amongst the more historical aspects of the city.

After we ate and relaxed in the park for a while, we headed towards the Palace of Justice, which also was on a nice hillside and had another great view of the city. We also saw the Royal Palace, which is where the Belgian Royal Family lives. Belgium has a similar government to England, where the Royal Family serves as more of a figurehead/placeholder and the parliament really does all the leg work.

In the early evening, I did a little bit of shopping, and then Brent and I bought some food to prepare dinner at the apartment to save a little money. It turned out really well, we made breaded fish fillets and broccoli and had some rose wine and rested our legs for a little bit.

After dinner, we went on a walk around other parts of the city we had yet to explore. We both agreed it was one of our favorite places that we have been so far, and we enjoyed it a lot. We stopped in at a pub and had a few beers and just sat and talked for a few hours about all of the things that are coming up for us in our future. There's a lot to plan and do, and it can seem overwhelming, but we have decisions to make soon that will affect both of our futures.

After a nice long evening, we made our way back towards the apartment and of course had the best Belgian late night snack: fries! We ate as we walked back and then came home and slept.

Saturday morning we were up early once again, and after taking quick showers (thanks to François showing us how, which was actually super easy and made us feel like idiots) we said our goodbyes to François and headed towards the train station to get on our way to Bruges!

Bruges is about an hour northwest from Brussels, in the Flemish, Dutch speaking region of the country. It is a smaller city that is commonly referred to as the "Venice of the North" because it is a city with lots of canals and breathtaking views. It truly was like a fairytale city, but of course Brent and I kept referring to it as a "shithole". If you have never seen the movie "In Bruges" with Colin Farrell, rent it and you will know why.

So we ate some breakfast at the train station in Brussels and took the hour train ride to Bruges, which was quick and easy. When we got to the station, we looked on a map to find our hostel, the Snuffle, and we set off to walk there. The weather was pleasant so the twenty minute walk wasn't bad. Once we got there and checked in, we left our backpacks and set off to explore the city! It was just past noon so we has the whole day and night ahead of us!

First, we headed to the city center and saw the beautiful grand plaza, including the Belfort clock tower. After passing through the winding streets lined with chocolate shops and breweries we made our way to the part of the city which is all canals and bridges and looks like something out of a fairytale. We ate some fries (of course) and got tickets to go on a boat tour of the city. This was my favorite part of the whole day. The little motor boat whisked us through the winding water ways and under stone bridges and past ivy covered brick walls, coated with brilliantly blooming flowers. If you continued along the canals, eventually you would reach the North Sea. I wish we would have had the time and money to go that far! The views from the canals were great, and showed off the many architectural wonders of the city, such as homes, churches and also the oldest hospital in Europe (which is no longer a running hospital, just a museum).

After hopping off the boat (where I got slightly sunburned, although I won't complain about the nice sunny weather) we headed back towards the city center to climb to the top of the Belfort. It was 336 tiny winding narrow stairs to the top, and there was only one way up and down so with people going both directions you can imagine how crowded and claustrophobic this got. If you have super claustrophobia, I would not recommend visiting any church towers in Europe, because they are all like this due to their extreme age.
Although the climb was rough, the view from the top was worth it, to see all the veins of the canals flowing out towards the sea, and all of the red and orange brick rooftops dotted alone the greenery. When we came down, we headed in the direction of where we were told by the hostel worker would be a walking tour, but when we got to the supposed location, there was no one in sight. Although a little bummed, it ended up putting us along the river on a hillside with a large windmill, which was also a good view of the city. We sat on the hillside in the sun trying to figure out what we wanted to do next, and decided on headed towards the Church of Our Lady to see the Statue of the Madonna and Child, by Michelangelo. However, although we could see the inside of the church, the statue was already closed for viewing for the day. I a as a bit bummed to not be able to see this great work of art, but what can you do, that's just life. And it gives us an excuse to come back in the future!
So we headed in the direction of Minnewater Lake/Park on the outskirts of the city. This beautiful area where many canals meet to form a "lake" was beautiful with all the weeping willows on the banks and white swans lazily floating along the water.
At this point, we were famished and realized that we has hardy ate that day and/or drank a lot of water. So what did we do? Found a brewery and had a beer tasting, of course, because we are super responsible. After a brief rest and some tasty beers, we finally found an Italian restaurant and very tiredly made our way through a shared pasta dish and a pizza.
After dinner, we walked back to the Snuffle (if only it was the Winchester...) and enjoyed their "happy hour" with one euro beers, and rested our legs. As the sun went down, we made our way back towards the city center and enjoyed the lovely evening glow over the canals. We enjoyed a beer on the main plaza and just admired the view and enjoyed each other company.
As the evening wound down, we made our way back to the Snuffle and attempted to head to bed. I say attempted because when we got back to our room someone was already sleeping in my bed. Apparently somehow the hostel has booked 9 people for an 8 person room. So after talking to the people at reception, and juggling things around, we were finally able to get our beds and go to sleep.
Once again on Sunday, we were up early and on the move. We had breakfast at our hostel and checked out. We left our backpacks there in storage though, and headed to the Church of the Holy Blood, where there is supposedly a vial of Jesus Christ's blood saved. Upon entering the church, we lit a prayer candle and placed in on an altar in front our a podium where there was a satin pillow with an ornate crystal and jeweled vial. Inside the large vial was a crystallized and congealed clear and red substance, which is supposedly the actual blood of Christ. For some reason the whole church seemed to suck the air out of my lungs. The feeling was very surreal as the choir sang a low, hauntingly beautiful melody in the background. Although it was interesting, I feel as if I surfaced from cold water when we left the building.
After this, we walked towards some artisan markets that were set up in the square with all kinda of handmade crafts as well as antiques. We bought two paintings of Bruges for our apartment as well as a vintage bicycle shaped key hook for the wall. Making our way along the canals, we went to a small park for a while and then had lunch at a small cafe near it. After we ate, we went back to the Snuffle to collect our backpacks, and began the walk back to the train station.
After a short wait at the station, we boarded our train back to Brussels. The ride was a brief hour, and when we got back to the station we went outside to sit in the sun for a while before our separate trains departed. As always, leaving Brent makes me sad. Even when the time between visits is just two weeks, the time we spend together is never enough. I can't wait to finally be living together for the first time in just a few months from now.
So I sadly boarded my train back to Arlon, which was an easy ride, and I read most of the time. I got home and took a shower and unpacked and had some dinner and then had a Skype with my family, which was nice. It is always so good to talk to them.
Monday morning it was back to reality. The reality is setting in that I have just under one month left here in Belgium. I will be leaving here on July 1st for a trip to Croatia with Brent and his sister, and heading back to the US around the 11th or 12th. The time left seems so short and so long all at once.
Next weekend, the weekend of my birthday, I will go to visit Brent in Groningen one last time, which will be my final weekend trip before leaving.
Tonight, I have my French class, which is also approaching an end. The first part of the final exam is already next Thursday. I'm not sure how prepared I am. I hope to pass, but if I don't, oh well, it's not the end of the world, and nothing bad will come of it.
In the mean time, in the remaining month and a half left here in Europe, I am just trying to live each day in the moment as well as plan for the near future of Brent and I beginning our new chapter in Florida together.

I hope all is well at home, and as always, I am missing you.
XOXO