Bruges, Belgium and Bayeux, France

Bruges was great. The town was one of the smallest and most laid back we have visited, filled with lace and chocolate shops. It is what I picture when I imagine a European town, with narrow cobblestone streets and big churches. We arrived last Thursday from Leiden. On the way we stopped in Ghent to see the Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck. The altarpiece was very impressive, painted during the Northern Renaissance. I was struck by the amount of detail on each part of the altarpiece. After viewing the altarpiece we had lunch at Ghent and then headed onto Burges. After arriving to Bruges I walked around the town by myself for a half hour and instantely knew I would enjoy my time there.

On Friday we had all three classes and then two museums to visit in the afternoon. The museums we went to were the Groeningemuseum and the Memlingmuseum. In all honesty, I was not in a museum mood and did not spend much time in either. After the museums I went with Bo to the market in town to get some supplies for sandwich making. At the group dinner on Friday night we had the great pickled onion incident. The first course of this group dinner was a gross looking patte and pickles and pickled onions. I sat at a table with three other friends, and we all picked at our plates. Finally we gathered all the onions on one plate and bet our friend Marley that she couldn't fit all of the onions in her mouth. She accepted and was successful, much to the mortification of the Pointers. After the deed, Dr. Pointer yelled at Marley. We laughed the whole way through. Mayley crammed at least 15 of these little pickled onions into her mouth and was drooling all over the place, and then spit them out on the plate. I did feel bad that she got in trouble because of our bad idea, but in the end it was worth it because it was hilarious. After this group dinner I went with some friends and had a delicious belgium waffle covered with chocolate sauce. The Europeans sure know how to make delicious tastey treats.

On Saturday we had two classes in the morning and the rest of the day was essentially a free day. I did laundry after class. The last time I had anything washed was several weeks earlier in Poland, so it was time. After laundry I went on a chocolate quest with some friends and then went to H & M and bought some more clothes that I didn't have room for. Saturday was Jason Cooper's 21st birthday, so a bunch of us went to a bar to celebrate his birthday. Everyone was laughing and talking and it was good times. The downside is that no smoking legislation hasn't made its way to Belgium yet, so a lof of people in the bar were smoking.

Sunday was more or less a free day as well. I slept in and got some much needed sleep. The highlight of Sunday was a social event that Hayely and I planned. We played games in the park, like steal the bacon and capture the flag. A lot of people came to play and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we all went and got waffles.

Monday brought a trip from Bruges into Brussels. This day started off poorly, and didn't really recover. We had to be ready to go at 7 because we had a 9:30 appointment with someone from the European Commission, which is part of the European Union. Our coach driver was almost an hour late, which stressed out all our professors and especially Barb Pointer. But the coach finally came and we were only twenty minutes late to our appointment. In the morning we had a guest lecture from a guy who is from Missouri who works in the European Commission. He shared on the structure of the European Union and some current issues facing the EU, such as the potential of Turkey joining, which most Eurpeans are against. After this lecture we had several hours to ourselves in Brussels. It rained all day, and people were mostly in a poor mood, probably because of the rain and the early start. After grabbing some lunch we walked around Brussels with really no clue of what to do. After free time we had another guest lecture from a representative from the European Parliament, which is another entity of the EU. Unfortunately this lecture was largely a repeat of the morning. On Monday night I had dinner at Pizza Hut with some friends because we were cravin a taste of home, and food in Bruges is very expensive.

Tuesday was an exciting day, we were headed to France. In the morning we had a quick stop in Ypres to see the Flanders Field Museum. The museum was interesting and very well put together. The museum focused mainly on the Battle of Ypres, or the Battle of Flanders during the First World War. I liked this museum because it had a smaller subject, one battle. Unlike the museums that focus on World War II or the Holocaust, it was much easier to follow the information that was presented, and the amount of information wasn't overwhelming. We grabbed lunch in Ypres and then headed for France. We crossed the boarder into France sometime in the afternoon and drove through some beautiful countryside landscapes. While in Bayeux we are staying in a fairly nice hotel which is slightly outside of Bayeux.

Today has been a busy day, but a good day. We went into Bayeux this morning to see the Bayeux Tapestry and the Bayeux Cathedral. The tapestry was impressive, especially in it size and the fact that it has been around for about a thousand years. The tapestry tells the story of the Norman invasion of England, and was impressive in the amount of detail it packed in. Then we walked to the cathedral. The cathedral was beautiful, but I feel slightly numb to cathedrals after seeing so many beaufitul ones. The rest of our time in Bayeux was spent purchasing items for our halloween party tonight, which was a great success. We had ice cream sundays and played games and had a costume constest and everyone had great costumes.

Tomorrow we are spending most of the day looking at sites from World War I and II. It should be another interesting day, and then on Friday it is off to Paris! I have like 35 or so days left, which is sad in some ways and exciting in others. I am a little tired of traveling, but we have some of the best places left, which makes me very excited. I hope you all are doing well.
Love and blessings,
Mikey