Belgium!

After we got back late from Ireland we quickly packed and went to bed. We were up, showered, fed, and on the bus headed for Belgium by 9 am the next morning! Needless to say I slept most of the way! 

Belgium was very quaint. It was nice to be able to relax a bit and recover from our crazy weekend full of traveling and sightseeing. We stayed in a town called Iper or Ypres depending upon which language you speak. Apparently Belgium is very touchy about which language you use in which region of the country. Half prefers French while half prefers Flemish, so its a lot safer to speak English! They get insulted in Iper if you speak French so I tried really hard to suppress what French terms I'd been adopting into my vocabulary the past few weeks. It was hard! Our hotel was really really nice though and I got a whole queen sized bed to myself! It was heaven after these uncomfortable twin beds we have in Paris. 

We visited two different World War I Museums and the little town of Brugges while we were there. It was very interesting to see the different exhibits in each museum. My favorite museum was the Flanders fields museum. It was very well put together. When you walk in they five you a little card with an identity of someone who was involved with the war. Then throughout the exhibits there are different screens where you scan your card and learn a new piece of information about their lives. It was really neat. Then as you walked through there were constant flashes of light and the speakers played noises from airplanes and air raids. It was a great simulation of the battle field experience. I jumped at the first bomb drop! haha In the last room there is a wall that listed the different armed conflicts that have occurred since the supposed 'war to end all wars.' There have been 126 as of 2008. Its insane to think about. 

While in Brugges we went on a ride through the canals. Apparently the town is nicknamed the 'Venice of the North' though it doesn't have that pretty blue water. It was really a cute little town. I got to eat some Belgium waffles, with chocolate sauce and speculoos ice cream. Speculoos is this gingerbread flavoring that is everywhere over here, its delicious! Its in coffee, ice cream, bread form, spreads, chocolate, etc.! Anyways the waffles are delicious! Then of course I bought tons of chocolate! Ahh can't wait to get back to eat it! I haven't broken into any of it yet because I knew once I did there'd be no stopping me! haha. The vendors there gave us all really great deals since we were a large group of students. They were really nice and gave us samples of everything too :) 

It was a really great three days to relax, eat waffles, chocolate, and drink Belgium Beer of course! (I may have bought a bottle to bring home too : p )