Wayfaring Student

Bonjour,

I can hardly believe it's already March. Time passes so quickly. As promised here are some pictures of Bruges:

First impressions walking through the narrow cobblestone streets of Bruges

L'hôtel de ville or city hall of Bruges (1376)

The Belfry, a medieval bell tower in the centre of Bruges

Rooftop view from "De Halve Maan" brewery

The canals

Old buildings along the canal

...

Beautiful gazebo in Astrid Park (it took me forever to remember what the word for that structure was)

A small park in the Beguinage

Last view of the Bruges (I think this picture belongs on a puzzle)

I've been keeping busy since my trip to the medieval city. My classes are all sorted out finally. However it would appear I have some dealings left with the administration at U of O. Last week I began attending water polo practices and am quickly getting back into shape. I went to my first TD (thé dansant), a crazy belgian student custom. I have never experienced a party like it before. This past Saturday I went to Antwerp with some friends. Antwerp is the fashion capital of Belgium, it has the second largest harbour in Europe, and is the diamond centre of the world. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day. I would definitely like to go back, preferably when it is warm and sunny. On Friday I head to Amsterdam.

And so I leave you with this upbeat french music video:

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Tchao

After a somewhat lengthy delay, I have joined the blogosphere. My hope is that for those of you keeping track of me as I tour around Europe this serves as a useful (and entertaining) tool. As well as a personal record for myself since I seem incapable of keeping a journal. I'll admit technology definitely has its advantages. Here I can post pictures, videos and I can even plot out my trips on a map! And so I begin...

First with a summary of the last month. I left for Europe on January 19th 2011. One loooong flight later, I arrive at Heathrow, where I have to take a series of buses to get from my plane in terminal 5 to my connection in terminal 1. Totally was not expecting to go through immigration in London. Following my nerve-wracking interview with the grumpy immigrations officer, I walked and walked and walked for what felt like almost an hour until I reached what seemed like the furthest cranny in the furthest wing of the airport, just in time for boarding. We touch down in Dublin, Ireland and I make my way to a hostel for the night. Next morning I hop on a bus to Galway (pronounced Gull-way, who knew?) to visit my friend Rachelle. I spent a great weekend in the small city, and made a couple expeditions to Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands. Let me tell you, it is the wrong time of year to rent a bicycle. I returned to Dublin the eve before my flight to Belgium. My last night was spent with a couple of really cool fellow travelers I'd met in the hostel enjoying traditional music and drinks in Temple Bar for Tradfest. All in all I spent about a week in Ireland, and a week was all it took for me to fall in love with the island. I definitely hope to go back one day, maybe to visit some of the new friends I met on route to Brussels. I have been in Brussels for three weeks now. And a lot has happened in this period of time. First day, I found campus and found my room in residence (it looks a little like a hospital, the peachy walls only enhance this image). Then I met up with my friend and fellow OttawaU student, Linda Bergen. The next few days we set off to explore the city together. The following week was composed of a bunch activities organized by our exchange student association. I met a lot of people from many countries and to my surprise a ton of Canadians. My room-mate Lucie also came to visit for a couple days before she left for Australia. And the next week classes started. They're alright so far, the whole selection process is kind of confusing though. Courses here are only once a week for two hours, which means I have to take 7 courses for it to equal a full course load back at Ottawa. Luckily I have three weeks to test them out before I register. Last weekend, I went on a day trip to Bruges (along with 79 other international students). It was really cool exploring the medieval centre of the city. Some of us skipped out on the guided walking tour and viewed the city by boat instead, the canals were lovely. I watched in Bruges the night before, so it was neat to see some of the places where the scenes were filmed, unfortunately I did not spot Colin Farrell. As the movie describes, the city really does look like a fairy tale. Back in Brussels the weather has been consistently rainy, up until today. Hopefully this keeps up for a while.

Anyway, that's all for now, I need to rest up for les manifestations tomorrow. Students from ULB are marching to le Palais de justice in protest of the Belgian government, or lack thereof. It will mark the 249th day Belgium has been without a government breaking the world record previously held by Irak. I'll post a few picture soon.

À la prochaine!