BELGIUM

So Belgium was amazing! The trip was incredibly tiring, but it was so cool to see a different type of country/culture other than France. Also, it was weird being somewhere where they spoke a language that I could not understand AT ALL (although French and English are widely used. Basically, it was just weird seeing Flemish words written everywhere). Here's my travelogue in photos!

My first meal in Brussels. Super healthy, I know. The specialties there are frites (fries), waffles, and chocolate. Yummy! Moules (mussels) and beer are also specialties, and I ate/drank a lot of them! I especially loved the fruit-flavored beer. 

A window in Bruges, where we went on our second day. I loved this window and how you could see the reflection of the "place". Anna kept saying how it reminded her of the piazza in Siena, Italy, and I have to agree. It's very wide, and the cobblestones dominate the scenery, as does the tall clocktower.

Bicycles on a tiny Bruges street. It's almost like a village, with smaller cobblestoned streets and ancient, yet normal-looking houses.

Me and Anna standing on the ledge of a bridge overlooking Ghent's river. We sat and did some sketches of the river for a while; it was super picturesque and relaxing. 

Another image of the river and the adorable houses.

We visited Gand (Ghent, in English) that day as well, and while I didn't love the city as a whole (it had a weird vibe; not very happy or lively), I had an awesome time climbing to the top of the old bell tower. It dates from the 13th century (as I remember) and you got a great view of the city below. There was also a festival going on that day, so there were a lot more ant-like people on the street than usual.

Yesterday we stayed in Brussels and went to a bunch of museums: the Magritte Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Bande Dessinee (Comics). The MOMA was in the same complex as the Magritte museum, and I did the sketch above of a sculpture in the twentieth century section. The Magritte Museum was much better than their modern colleciton, though; I especially loved some of Magritte's pamphlets explaining his process. A quote I wrote down: "Everyone tends to think that there is little relationship between an object and that which represents it..."

On Friday when we arrived in Belgium, we took a guided tour of the city. We stopped at five different locations for tastings along the way. We tried: this special Belgian biscuit/pastry called Pain à la Greque, which really has nothing to do with Greek people but was a mistranslation by the French; really yummy Belgian chocolate at a local chocolaterie; Belgian beer at the place above (I tried a specially made Belgian lambic beer called a "kriek. It's made with cherries and has a different fermentation process that makes it taste yeasty and super sour. Not my favorite at all, as it tasted like vinegar); really strong Belgian cheese with shallots in it that no one really liked but I loved; and finally sea snails that used to be a specialty when Brussels was once a port city. It was awesome but super tiring, and I was so full by the end.

Near the old port section of Brussels where we tried the sea snails!

On Friday night, we headed to a happening little neighborhood across from the stock exchange (Bourse) where there were a bunch of cafes and bars. We ran into a parade of rollerbladers and bikers on the way. We had a ton of fun at the bar though. The next night, we went to an Irish pub where we danced the night away. It was really really really fun!

Now, I'm still a bit tired from the weekend and need to finish a paper that is due tomorrow. This was my method of procrastination. It definitely feels good to be back in Paris, though. I hated two things about Belgium: 1) they don't give you a carafe of water and always make you pay for bottled water in restaurants 2) you have to pay around 50 eurocents to go to the bathroom (!). Ludicrous! On the other hand beer and other beverages are WAY cheaper than Paris. Still, it's good to be back in the beautiful city that has so many things to see and do. I only have two weeks left, so I'm going to be doing a lot. 

Can't wait!