This past weekend, I traveled to Brussels, Belgium with seven friends from our study abroad group. The three boys that went, Steve, Clay, and Fatim, all left Oviedo on Wednesday but the five girls, Emily, Nadine, Julia, Andrea, and I, left Oviedo Friday afternoon and got in late Friday night. We took a bus from Oviedo to Santander (about two and half hours away) and it was actually a very beautiful drive.
Saturday we did most of our sightseeing. We started early and made a stop at Parking 58, a parking garage where you are able to go to the tenth floor and get a great view of the city. From there, we were able to see important landmarks of Brussels like the Atomium (a statue of an atom magnified 150 billion times) and the Palace of Justice. Next we went a local flea market, it was huge but we didn't find much there that was enticing. After we headed to the Royal Museum of Fine Art and spent about two hours in the ancient art exhibit. Julia, one of the girls on the trip, really enjoys going to art museums and was thrilled with all the museum had to offer. After we headed to Grand Place and then went to grab Belgian waffles near the famous Mannekin Pis statue. I had a total tourist waffle complete with nutella, strawberries, and whip cream. So delicious. The Mannekin Pis statue is a statue of little boy peeing that is famous to Brussels. It has over 600 outfits that are housed in the City Museum in King's Palace in Grand Place. No one knows the exact origins of the statue and thus there are many legends surrounding it. After the girls wandered the streets surrounding Grand Place and entered many chocolate stores in order to sample and buy chocolate from various stores. They aren't lying, Belgian chocolate really is to die for. I tried two truffles that I loved, a chocolate buttercream one and a rose one. They definitely get two thumbs up. When we met up with the boys again, we walked to the European Parliament building, we thought it was important to see since Brussels is the capital of the EU. For dinner on Saturday, we met up with boys' couchsurfing host, Arno and went to a local restaurant. I sat close to Arno and he explained many things about Belgium to me like the lack of significance the king has and the seven different governments that exist. Although Arno's first language is Dutch, he also speaks French and English fluently. Belgium has two languages Dutch and French but you will hear just about every language. Finally on Saturday night we went to Delirium bar and I had a Kriek beer which was wonderful. It tasted like liquid fruit snacks. It was a full day and as soon as we got back to the hostel we crashed.
Sunday Julia, Andrea, and I went to mass at the Cathedral of St. Michael and Gudula. It is the main cathedral of Belgium and all royal weddings and christenings happen there. It was a very beautiful church and the mass that we attended at 10AM had a Gregorian choir. After mass we had waffles again and I had a traditional Belgian waffle with just a little bit a powdered sugar. It really doesn't need anything else. So delicious. We only had about an hour left before we had to go to the airport and we spent it going to a few more of the shops near Grand Place. During this hour, I found the most delicious chocolate I have ever had (yes you read that correctly, it was that good). First of all it was called Anastasia, perfect right? It was dark chocolate with vanilla buttercream and caramel. Words just can't describe how delicious it was.
We spent the rest of the day traveling and arrived back in Oviedo around 12:30AM. Although we were exhausted it was well worth it.
I think Spanish is really starting to sink in since my English skills are deteriorating. Sometimes I say something in English and I think to myself that doesn't really make any sense.
I think this week is going to be pretty busy but I love life here!
Lots of besos on el dia de San Valetin :)
~Ana
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