1 Weekend, 4 Cities

Bonjour to you all! This past weekend was jam-packed. But really, I traveled to 4 cities over the course of 2 days, all in Belgium. Saturday we had an excursion to Wallonia, which is the French speaking region of Belgium with my group. Our first stop was Waterloo (yep, as in Napoleon) which happens to be only 8 km outside of Brussels. Waterloo was quite beautiful, definitely a serene and slightly eerie place. Today it's mostly farmland, but there's a large pyramid with a statue to commemorate the battle. It's crazy to think Napoleon walked along the same grounds we did. After stopping in Waterloo, we were off to Namur for lunch, and as the French do, we had a lovely two hour meal at a café and then hopped back on the bus to go to l'Abbaye de Maredsous. Words cannot describe how breathtaking the drive to the abbey was let alone the grounds of Maredsous. With more British-style architecture, Maredsous is famous for their cheese and beer, as most monasteries in Belgium are. Our tour guide was fantastic, and there was such a romantic air to this abbey. It reminded me a bit of Oxford actually, mostly because of the quaint corridors and green grass. 

On Sunday I was in Antwerp with my art class all day which is a different style of traveling of course, but I think I have successfully seen enough of Peter Paul Reuben's works for a while. I did enjoy all of the museums we were able to visit, but it's was a tiring day. Antwerp is definitely a city I would love to go back and visit. With the quaint cafés, shopping, and architecture, Antwerp really is charming and has the feel of a large city without being the size of one. I'm so grateful I've been able to see all of the places I've already been and it's only February. Off to Amsterdam tomorrow for the weekend! Until then, à bientôt! 

xoxo 

Kate   

Un Mélange de Choses Belge

Whew! This past week has been quite the whirlwind of things. School definitely picked up last week, so it's officially studying abroad now. The weekend before last I was in Lille and realized I forgot to add a photo of me and some friends, so I decided to throw that back in this post. Anyways, last weekend was booked. The Salon du Chocolat was in Brussels for the weekend, so how could we pass up hunting for free samples? I'm also excited to be in one of the chocolate capitals of Europe for Valentine's Day just because it's more of an excuse to eat chocolate. One of the photos above is of a chocolate fashion show at the salon, which was pretty funny to see. 

Other than tasting any and all chocolate, I was back in Bruges on Sunday with my art class, so I was able to get some better pictures. It was still cold and rainy, but the sun managed to come out in the afternoon. With traveling and homework, I've stayed quite busy and cannot believe it is already February. I already know I am not going to be ready to come back to the States in May, so I wish time would slow down!

Up next for this weekend: Exploring Wallonia (Southern French speaking Belgium) and Antwerp with my art class on Sunday. I'll keep you updated on these adventures! Miss everyone back in the States bunches. 

xoxo 

Kate  

Un Petit Voyage à Lille

 Where better to go than France for a quick day trip? With Brussels being in the heart of Europe, I'm so lucky that there are so many options for weekend adventures. After talking to some friends, we settled on Lille which turned out to be much larger than I expected. We were able to squeeze in an art museum, a cathedral, a bus tour, climbing to the top of a bell tower, and of course some lovely French macarons. Besides enjoying some traditional and cliché French food, being able to wander around museums is one of my favorite things to do, and I was able to see some Dutch masters as well as some miniatures. However, I think the speculoos macaron did indeed steal the show for the weekend-I swear there is nothing better than French desserts!

Other than exploring Lille on Saturday, today we went to Europe's second largest vintage market, which is in Brussels the first Sunday of each month. It was definitely a mecca for all of the European hipsters and their 80s sweaters, but it was a fun afternoon. As for school, there's nothing too exciting to say about it other than just typical classes, but unfortunately procrastination doesn't just disappear in Europe. So as for the motivation to study, well, let's hope I'm better at it this week. Oh, one last thing, happy Superbowl Sunday! Yes, we will be watching it tonight, which means it starts at 12:30 here in Brussels. Who needs sleep, right?

Bisous

Kate