More Belgium. I've got a couple of really great memories from this trip. One is the last night before we left, 6 of us went to this really tiny pub in this back alley of downtown Bruges and grabbed some beers and played card games for a bit. I was really nervous about the type of people on this trip before I got here... I've had little patience for those who are hard to get along with lately. I lucked out a ton, there's a really nice group of kids on this trip who are awesome and easy to travel with, stay around the castle and watch movies, and do the nightlife thing.
Best moment of the trip thus far came on Saturday, a couple of hours before we left Bruges. I had separated from the group to go find a calling card (sorry parents, by the way, for my terrible math skills which lead to the multitude of 3am phone calls) and after acquiring one and placing said middle of the night phone call, I gave way to my growling tummy and purchased a paper cone full of a belgium delicacy: french fries. But not any french fries. French fries with dipping sauces. I love sauces. They smother the fries in any sauce you choose (mayo is the traditional, but I couldn't bring myself to eat that much of it). Me and my saucy fries then went to sit in the middle of Market Square on some steps of an oldish looking building and people watch. Just... happy. Wrote in my journal a bit, relaxed. I was perfectly content right in that moment.
Here is my biggest complaint about Belgium: my first real taste of anti-Americanism. Granted, we were, for the most part, a group of about 10 kids excited and loud about being in Europe. Still, we were refused service at a burger place because nobody ordered any Belgian food (a direct quote: "You eat the burger, you sleep with the burger, you wake up with the burger") and were simply ignored for 45 minutes at another. It's really sad and feels awful, not only that most of the time they can tell we're American before we even speak, but being ignored at this one specific diner put everyone in the worst mood.
The churches in Bruges were great... nice to study the Flemish Primitive artists by actually seeing the paintings and architecture first hand. I don't like waffles but the Belgium chocolate was AMAZING. Once they put two and two together and figure out they need to dunk some strawberries in that stuff, they'll be rolling in dough. The nights were really great in Belgium, it was fun to do the bar scene there because it was very manageable... not big and overwhelming, but definitely easy to find a couple places to dance in. All in all, I found Belgium lovely. Due to the public transportation strike we didn't get to travel for the weekend after. I'm putting Brussels atop my list of places to come back and visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment