To say that I’ve been having a blast since I’ve been here would be a complete understatement.
To say that time has passed by quickly would be a complete and blatant lie – it has gone by in the blink of an eye.
I’ve been here a month and it’s mind-blowing to think of all the things I’ve done, the places I’ve seen and the people I’ve met. To put things in perspective I’ve listed my top 20 things I’ve done.
I think my computer hates me. Not only is it freaking out because of a proxy I put on it, so we can watch Hulu, but I just uploaded about 800 pictures from this weekend. Simply put, this weekend was picture perfect (minus my fourth roommate Alinah being in Portugal).
From Brussels to Brugge
On Saturday morning, the boys and us met up in Grand Place after a quick breakfast waffle (notice a recurring theme?) before heading to the Brussels train station. Much to our surprise, we were able to get roundtrip tickets for the five us for €50 which only made our day better. After trying to decode some French signs to catch our train, waiting half an hour and changing tracks we were on our way to Brugge.
Headed to Brugge
The hour and a half train ride through the beautiful countryside took us to the North West part of Belgium. It felt as if I were riding back in time, as I saw numerous dirt roads, small towns, and ancient buildings throughout the trip. When we finally arrived, we walked towards the tallest landmark we could see – the cathedral. The first fifteen minutes of our journey it appeared as if Brugge was just a quiet town with not much going on – man, were we wrong. We ended up walking through multiple plazas, through two cathedrals, and finding a main street with stores similar to that of SoHo in New York.
Kev, Meg, Erin, Jess, and Sam
Brugge is a small, very rich, super photogenic place that kept me enchanted all day. After finding the canals throughout the city, we ended up taking a million pictures of the swans that are unique to the water system, the deeply rooted buildings, and walking along the waterway – it was absolute perfection (despite the flurrying of snow).
Kev and his girls
Roommates on the water
Around 2:30 we began to get hungry so stepped into a cute little restaurant, Petit Maxim that looked affordable and had a menu du jour (menú del día). I ended up ordering Pâte, a country omlette (without mushrooms) and the chocolate mousse for dessert. Both Sam and Kevin ended up getting the Pâte, Flemish Stew and a side of warm applesauce, which was absolutely divine.
A Brugge-ian Country Omlette
Out of my comfort zone – trying Pheasant Pâte
Once we finished our Belgian lunch, we continued to walk around but headed back towards the train station. We once again passed a cathedral and decided to enter. Much to our surprise, a mass was going on and we stayed a bit – even though we couldn’t understand a word out of the Dutch priest’s mouth. It was interesting to note that the churches in Brugge had a tribute to victims of sexual assault (because of Catholic Priests) – I had never seen that before.
Before we knew it we were back at the train station chasing down a train. We were all exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep on the hour train back. Luckily for us the train back to Brussels was pulling up to the platform as soon as we walked up. Much to my dismay, I was unable to pass out, but I did unexpectedly find a creative filters feature on my DLSR which kept me busy the whole train ride (below is my favorite picture from the day).
The most faithful dog I ever did see
I bet you can’t guess what we did as soon as we got back to Brussels. Yup – you guessed it – got some waffles and fries for dinner and then rested at the hotel before heading back out with the boys. Once we finished our scrumptious snacks and got ready, we met Sam and Kevin in Grand Place. Sam had noticed a cool “Rock”bar on the way over and said we should check it out. Turns out the bar was home to the Local Hells Angels crew and we stuck out like a sore thumb. We were out of there and headed to Delirium faster than you can say AC/DC.
Twins
Our night at Delirium was hilarious to say the least. As the only Americans in the bar, we ended up singing every word to every song and encouraged everybody to join in. I was a witness to my fair share of dance battles (remind me to take brush up on my European dance moves when I’m back in Spain). We spent another hour in the village and then decided to part ways after we got some frites – the boys had an early flight and we were just exhausted.
Our Favorite Friterie
Somehow Jess, Erin, and I wound up at a tiny café eating gyros wraps and found ourselves taking pictures with the owner before heading back to our hotel. We had a great last night in Belgium to say the least. The next morning we were up super early and walked past Delirium to head to the airport. Though our stay was less than two days, I felt like I had known the city for ages.
Making friends while making Halal Food
Once we got to the airport, we made one last ditch effort to find waffles. We proceeded to fail miserably and opted for the much healthier smoothie stand instead. While waiting for our flight, I spotted the Spanish National Rugby Team walking around. Little did we know that they’d be on our flight. Luckily for me, they sat right in front of us and we became immediate friends (sort of, not really, well you get the point). To say it was an awesome way to end an amazing weekend would be an understatement.
