hello all! well, steph and i successfully made it to Belgium for Valentines weekend. it was so much fun! we got to go to a flamenco show the night before we left. flamenco is really cool! the dresses are crazy and the dancing is great. after the show we hung out in our apartment until 1 am when we loaded an overnight bus to Madrid. we got to Madrid at 7 and headed for the airport. our flight to Brussels took at at 9:15 and we got there at 11:30. then we took an hour and 1/2 train ride to bruge and we were there. it was a lot of traveling but totally worth it!
the first thing we did when we got to Bruges was eat a waffle =) and let me tell you, real Belgian waffles are SO GOOD! we ate a lot of them throughout the weekend. our hostel was very nice and we were very tired so we took a little nap before heading out to explore the city a bit. we walked around (it was cold! - about 32 degrees) and bought chocolate. our method for buying/eating chocolate was to wander into a different chocolatier and buy 100 grams (5-7 pieces) for about 2 euro and then we'd eat half of each piece (they were all perfectly two bites). we'd alternate who paid for the chocolates. it was really fun picking out different kinds in the different chocolatiers! i won't admit as to how much chocolate we actually ate this weekend, just know that it was enough to make me sick of chocolate by the end (and that's no small feet if you know the zaepfel women)
we had a very romantic Valentines dinner on friday (instead of on actual valentines) in the restuaurant that was connected to our hostel. it was incredibly yummy! we shared ribs and the chefs pie. it was all really good! the restuaurant was beautiful and candle lit.
then we took a walk down to the canals which were GORGEOUS by night! on our way back this guy from the States introduced himself to us (he saw we were American because of our northface jackets) and we had coffee together
the next morning steph and i had the best breakfast i've ever had. we got 5 pastries from an open market for 4 euro and then went and bought coffee. it was seriously the most delicious breakfast i've ever partaken of. then we went to a church where we got to see a sculpture by Michaelangelo (modonna and child) it was really neat. then we went on a tour of a brewery which was really fun! especially because our tourguide was hilarious! we had made plans to meet chris (our friend from the other night) for lunch at a pancake place. the pancakes in Belguim are more like crepes. they are also really yummy. then we walked to where some windmills are and met a guy named max from the Ukrain. we were trying to take a picture of us being windmills and we asked him to take it. he thought we were ridiculous (which would be a pretty accurate assumption). we asked him to come to dinner with us and chris that night.
then we went to a lace factory and watched little old ancient ladies make lace by hand. it was incredible. i wish i could describe it better then i'm about to. they sat with pillows on their laps with the patterns on them. they would put pins in the pattern and then each piece of thread was on a toggle and they would criss cross the toggles over each other to make the lace around the pins. some of them would have only 6 or 7 toggles but one woman had about 100! it was crazy! they didn't even have to think about it they just threw the toggles over each other like it was nothing. the lace was so beautiful!
Belguim is also known for their french fries so we tried them out, they are also really good. we had more chocolate and more waffles (we ate really healthy this weekend), took a nap, and then met the guys for dinner. There are 2 dueling fry carts in the market square so we got food from them and ate outside. afterwards we went to a pub and played scrabble. that was an interesting experience because our ukranian friend spoke english really well but had no idea how to spell anything. so he was on steph's team =) then he taught us how to play ukranian charades. it was a really fun Valentines.
the next morning we made the 16 hour trip home in reverse. it was a long trip including us having to sit in the Madrid bus station for 6 hours. we got home at 4 a.m. and i had class at 9. it was a little rough but we weren't as tired as we thought we would be.
this week has been very relaxed. recovering from the weekend and looking forward to going to Granada and Cadiz this weekend. we finally got internet in our apartment so skyping has taken up a lot of time this week. it's been really great to see people from home! thankfully steph has a video camera so we can video chat with people back home who have one. steph and i woke up at 3 am this morning and skyped into a sorority meeting. it was the first meeting with the new girls so we wanted to "be there" we were only up for half and hour and then went back to bed. it was really cool to be able to be in the meeting from all the way over here in Spain.
CEA is taking us to Granada Spain this weekend from friday to saturday. then a bunch of people from our program (including some of the staff) will be going to Cadiz or Carneval. it's a worldwide spanish carneval on the beach. everyone gets dressed up so we are going shopping for costumes tonight. i'm really excited! but very glad we have sunday to sleep all day =)
i'll update again soon! -ash
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