My last week in Belgium was indeed a good one :) Although I am sad to say goodbye to Brussels and ULB, I can't pretend I'm not psyched for part two of my summer adventure! It's almost surreal to think about how I spent my last couple weekends: in Amsterdam, Paris and now Rome! Im not sure how I got to be so blessed as to be given this opportunity, but Im extremely thankful! Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels... you hear of these places all your life, but then actually being there is just unreal... well, actually, it almost feels natural! Every once and a while I think "holy cow I'm in _______ (insert city here)" but most if the time I just enjoy myself. I absolutely love exploring new places; I definitely inherited the Gorman travel-bug! I just wish I could spend MORE time somewhere, like really get immersed in the culture. If I could go back and do it again I'd for sure go abroad for a semester.
This week we met some locals (boys, of course). They took a group of us out to a local pub called Delerium. Now don't let the name fool you, Delerium wasnt ever close to a dance bar, it was more of a pub. There we tried some less commercialized Belgian beer (the most popular being the various Trappist beers) as it holds the world record for serving the most different types of beer (take THAT Saint John Ale House!)
Tuesday afternoon, instead of joining the tour of Musée Magritte, Anne-Narue and I opted for our own Brussels sightseeing / shopping, which featured the beer museum (bug disappointment) and the Chocolate museum (very interesting and delisious). At this point Id be amiss to neglect to mention the BEST thing I've tasted to date: fresh strawberries dipped in a milk chocolate fountain! 3€ for 4 strawberries sounds reduculoud but I can assure you they were worth more than that! We spent our afternoon eating / sampling chocolate and shopping (for souvenirs, gifts and for lovely clothes from the 100+ shop indoor market we stumbled upon)! That was day one of the rare Belgian we are currently enjoying :)
The rest of my final week in Brussels went by in a flash! Thursday was excursion day, as usual, and this week's trip took us to Gant and Bruges in 30 degree sunshine! It was a lovely change from cold & rain, but by the end if the day we were all way too hot and exhausted to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL city of Bruges. We had a lovely boat tour though, which provided a 30min sit-down with a cool breeze.
Tonight we head out for one last night on the town then tomorrow morning we have two classes and a little closing ceremony at lunch time. Mid-afternoon I will be heading for the airport and saying aurevoir to Bruxelles. But, the good news is that by 10:00 tomorrow evening I will be back in one if my favorite places in the world: Roma! Not only that, but one if my best friends in the world, Rebecca Richmond, will be waiting for me! After 2 and 1/2 years of phone calls and emails we have managed to cross paths again - but we had to go all the way to Europe to do it. I'm exhausted, but very excited for the next phase if my trip nonetheless! Someone gave me some advice just before I left home that has stuck with me: see and do everything while I can, there's lots of time to rest when I get home...
*PS I wrote this yesterday (Thursday) but am just posting it now. My night out last night was good fun and my classes this morning weren't too bad either ;) Ive now oficially finished my LAST French course of my degree - CRAZY! Im off to send home a box of purchases (terrible, I know) then to the airport... HELLO ROME! :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment