I've done it again! I was bitten by the travel bug and decided to go to Belgium. It wasn't a completely random choice. 3 years ago I had the amazing opportunity to work in Pompeii on an archaeological dig. I met some great people and got a chance to visit them in Belgium! I arrived in Brussels via the Eurostar, which is just plain amazing. Downtown Brussels is not a very welcoming place and it is one of the most difficult places to find your way. I looked like a typical tourist with my backpack, but oh well. I made it to the center of town in about 30 minutes and somehow found a tourist center and a very friendly guy mapped out a route for me to walk so I could see all of the highlights. It was a great plan in theory... but the map didn't show all the roads there were and I ended up getting horrifically lost. But I visited about 675 chocolate shops to cure my frustration. I ate so much chocolate that after a few hours I didn't even like it anymore which definitely says something.
The most amazing thing about Brussels in my opinion was the city center. There were beautiful buildings right up against one another and it was just overwhelming in the best way possible.
My next stop was a rather odd, but really funny statue called Le Mannequin Pis. It's a little boy peeing and they dress it up in different outfits. Not really sure why, but it was definitely hilarious to watch the different reactions of the different cultures visiting it. The Asian groups were by far the best. It was a look of shock, giggles, then pointing and taking 50 pictures with it. Mostly everyone was just a mixture of confused and amused.
After getting lost a few more times and site seeing more I found myself in a park. For those of you who don't know I have worked on analyzing over 12,000 oyster shells and other molluscs such as mussels or whelks, and have become a sort of expert on them and also have never been able to eat seafood since then. What did I find when I walked into the park? Giant statues of mussels in all different colors... I think I am cursed to be followed by shellfish for the rest of my life.
Not sure what cheesy person decided to have giant statues of brussel sprouts in Brussels... Or who thought a cone filled with peoples' legs was a good idea for a statue, but it definitely got my attention.
I made it back to the train station after using my french speaking skills, which I would've been completely helpless without. I met my friend Jessica that night and went out to dinner with her, Els, and their boyfriends. It was so nice to see friends I hadn't seen in years.
The next day Jessica took my scuba diving in Holland. We all LOVE scuba and I haven't had a chance to go diving since I've been living in the UK. It's been a tough year without being underwater at all! It was a chilly 55 degrees Fahrenheit on land and 16 degrees C underwater. A friend of Jessica (Nik) and I walked from the shore and gradually disappeared underwater. The water was pretty murky and cast a green glow, but I expected that after diving in estuaries before. We dropped down to 80ft and it was like diving blind. The water was absolutely pitch black. Our lights did us very little good. We decided to stay at 40ft where there was a reef and more light so we could actually see instead of swimming unknowingly into the belly of a whale.. or something like that.
As you can see I was wearing A LOT of neoprene to keep warm! I recently obtained (with great pride and hard work) my divemaster certification. I consider myself to be a decent diver and I am experienced in difficult situations. Borrowing gear when necessary is always appreciated, but it is the hardest thing to overcome. Nothing fits quite well enough and getting buoyancy under control when your gear is wiggling around in odd ways is difficult. It must have looked like I was on an invisible elevator ride underwater for a few minutes. It felt like I was back in my basic open water class again! Frustrating to say the least.
After I got my bouncing fiasco under control I noticed my surroundings more. I floated there in pure shock for a minute as I realized I was completely surrounded by oysters the length of my arms... I told you I would never escape from them! I wanted to take one, but I would've been arrested for destroying part of a reef so I refrained. I still can't believe how big they were or how many. Other than that we saw about a million lobster and crab. At one point there were so many mini jellyfish it seemed like water had stopped existing and had been replaced by jellyfish. Good thing I had a wetsuit on to avoid stings. It was a pretty neat experience. The second dive was much colder for me. My wetsuit was still wet and the day had gotten colder. I was literally shaking the entire time I was putting my wetsuit on, but I pushed through since I am not the kind of person so say no to diving unless I'm on the verge of dying.
The next day Jessica and I travelled to Ghent. It is a pretty cute little town with an abundance of facades on houses. I think we might have seen every single one in the city that day.
I'm not quite sure what genius decided he was magic and could squeeze a building that was too wide for the space in there... The result? A probably realization that he could not perform magic and a building intruding on the other buildings' personal space... and awkwardness. Can't forget the awkwardness.
The morning consisted of eating Ghentish noses (no I didn't take up cannibalism). Google it. They are a chewy candy. We also saw the Belfry, smallest pub in Belgium (with only 2 tables and seating to fit 5 people), and some Socialist buildings with a statue of the man who stole the loom making industry secrets from England and took it back to Belgium.
My favorite part of Ghent by far was the Gravensteen aka Castle of the Counts. It had a moat!
It was used from the 13-17th centuries and had a lot of reconstruction from those periods. The most interesting part was the weapons room where they were all on display. The were literally taller than I am... I mean I know I'm short but good lord.
What buff beast of a man wielded that without breaking his back? What is getting stabbed by that? A dragon? That is overkill, in my opinion, to use on a human. I mean it gets the job done and seems like it could skewer about 40 people at once, but what happened to the smaller swords???
Another part I thought was interesting was the hospital ward/prison. Turns out the put all prisoners and the mentally ill in straight jackets. They also had cushioned helmets for epileptics so they wouldn't hurt their heads. I'd never seen it before and I thought it was pretty interesting.
I guess I'm just morbid, but I also liked the holes in the ceilings people used to drop hot oil on those attacking the castle or fling tar/poo/whatever they threw at people.
Speaking of poo. We also identified several toilets in the castle. We became sort of experts after learning a lot about them during our dig in Pompeii. I'm sure my parents are bursting with pride over this lovely talent of mine.
Moving on to the next day before I think of something worse to talk about than poop. The last day in Belgium was spent in Bruges. It was definitely my favorite of all the places I'd been in Belgium. I started out the day by climbing the Belfry... all 366 steps. The view from the top was definitely worth it. Almost dying on the way down after I tripped and then skidded on some water was not. I survived so I can't complain.
After that I went off in search of nothing in particular except to discover whatever I could! What I found first was a chocolate shop. I bought 16 pieces of chocolate and within 2 hours they were gone and I felt disgusting but satisfied.
After I recovered from my chocolate eating binge and most likely looked and felt something like this:
(Photo credit: http://johnoh.multiply.com/journal/item/55/THE-RULES-OF-CHOCOLATE)
I then took a boat tour and saw a lot of the back of houses, but enjoyed myself thoroughly. I also became very adept at sneaking up the back of the walking tour guides and listening to their explanations of monuments and buildings. I obtained a whole new level of creep, but I learned a lot.
I discovered that Bruges has one of two works of Michelangelo that are outside of Italy, which was a sculpture of the Madonna and Child. I also saw the smallest window in Bruges, which was the size of my face. Rubber ducks made of chocolate were also pretty popular. I later found myself in the City Hall's Gothic Room.
I made my way back to Leicester without getting lost and without incident! I think that's a record for me. Overall Belgium was really enjoyable. I loved seeing old friends and exploring a new country is always fun for me. Maybe I'm just weird, but I missed having some sort of adventure. They country lacked that essence for me. It was nice to visit once, but I can't see myself going back or telling everyone they MUST go there. If you're looking for a relaxing vacation with cities that are mostly the same then go there! Don't let me hold you back. It just wasn't my favorite place that I've been.
BUT it has the BEST chocolate and waffles on the planet. Have you ever had a very thick hand made waffle with chocolate drizzled on top with whipped cream and strawberries? Go to Belgium for that. It WILL be worth it.
"I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are."-- Diane von Furstenberg. And I did exactly that :)
