Atomium

Today I went to the Atomium, which is the major monument in Brussels, although strangely, most people haven't heard of it.  It was built for the world fair in 1959, and it was pretty cool.  I had no idea what it was before I arrived and I'm was surprised because it's massive!!!  It's a huge atom, but I'd never even seen a picture of it!!!  I went with my roommate Matthew and a girl from work, and we went into the actual structure, which really wasn't that impressive.  They have temporary exhibits in all the balls you see in the pictures, but they weren't that interesting.  It was pretty incredible going to the top, because you can see out all over Brussels.  Not quite like the Eiffel Tower, but impressive.  Brussels is a really pretty city, but there's not a ton to see... however,  there are beautiful parks around and some spectatular architecture, which is always amazing!!!

I haven't done anything really cool lately, i've been mostly staying home around Brussels.  It's been such gorgeous weather so I go find parks to read in and stuff like that.  But I thought everyone should see a before and after picture of the park near my house, it's amazing!!!  Next weekend I'm going to London and every weekend after that i'm doing some major traveling so things will definitely get more interesting :)

 Before...

 This is the same spot (almost)

Tulip festival

I forgot that I never posted about the tulip festival!!  Unfortunately it wasn't in Holland, but it was still amazing :)  It was on the property of a nearby castle, which was so beautiful!  There's not much to say about it, but here are some pictures :)

Train Troubles

I had to make this a separate post because it is so ridiculous!  So coming home from Lille was interesting to say the least...  So on the train ticket there are 2 times, one time is the departure and the other time is the arrival.  I was unaware of this.  So when i checked my ticket I looked at the arrival time which was obviously a half an hour later, so I missed my first train, good one.  So we go to the train station, because a train is leaving at 6, and i had to pay extra, because the ticket prices had gone up since I bought my ticket, so that sucked, but it was my own fault.

So the new train i'm supposed to take is a Eurostar, which are known for being on time.  So my train leaves at 6:34, and it literally pulls in at 6:32, so I let people get off, and right as i'm about to get on the door starts to close.  So Aleksandra and I are pushing the button, but it just shuts and leaves.  I couldn't believe it!!!  I had been waiting for the train for 30 minutes and i watched it leave!!!!  It was crazy!!  So then I had to go back and get a new ticket for a different train.  I got the same lady and I'm sure she thought i was the biggest moron, who misses a train because the doors shut before they get on?!?!  So she gives me a ticket for a train that is leaving in 10 minutes, so we run to the train and I jump on and it leaves, so I finally made it to Brussels...  I felt like the biggest idiot, but at least it didn't really matter.  If i had misread a ticket from like London or something that would have been SO bad!!!!  

Anyway, at least I learned my lesson.  ALWAYS triple check that you know what time your train departs and not what time it arrives haha

Weekend in Lille

I went to visit my friend Aleksandra in Lille over the weekend.  She commutes from Lille to Brussels everyday, which takes about an hour.  Commuting is expensive, but she's a student in France, and the government pays half her housing expenses.  Plus she lives with her boyfriend, who's a PHD student at a university in France as well.  

It was so much fun!!!  I love traveling and exploring, but it's so fun to go with someone who knows the area really well, then you see the best touristy parts and local stuff too.  So I had Friday off of work, which was so fantastic, so I went to Lille on Friday morning.  When we got there she made me the most delicious lunch!!  Those who know me well will probably be shocked that I ate it :) She made a tart with Chevre (goat cheese), tomatoe, and zucchini.  It was amazing!!!  So after lunch we went to the city center and wandered around, ate some gelatto, and just chatted.  She took me to a French fromagerie (cheese store) and a store where everything is olive based.  I bought the most delicious vinegar, it is basalmic vinegar with mango, yum!!  The weather was beautiful, which was lucky because it was supposed to rain that day.  

That night she had planned a dinner with her friends so that I could meet people and have a french meal.  So we went home to make dessert.  We made a fruit dessert with a layer of strawberry and raspberry, and then a layer of lady fingers and a layer of marscapone.  And her boyfriend made a pasta dish with sausage and french cheese.  We also made appitizers and of course no french meal is complete without wine :) It was so fun!  Most the people who came were french, and I tried to follow the french the best I could, but it was difficult because obviously they don't speak like they teach in classes.  But it was still good to hear it.  That night after dinner, which we ate at 10:30, we went out to some bars.  The best part was that they are smoke free!!  In brussels you can still smoke in all the bars and restaurants, which sucks!!!!  So anytime you go anywhere you smell disgusting, but i guess that's what happens when you don't have a government...  Anyway, it was so fun!

The next day we rode bikes to a pastry shop and bought croissants and a baguette for breakfast.  Then we went to a museum called La Piscine.  Which literally means the swimming pool, because the building was a swimming pool built in the 13th century or something.  It was really cool!!  Definitely unique.  Then we rode bikes around the city, which was so cool!  It kind of sucked though, because most the streets are cobble stone, so basically you're bouncing constantly.  But it was amazing!  We rode to a park and then into the city center, where we ate a typical french dinner.  It was called Beef carbonnade, which is similar to a pot roast you make in the crock pot, but so much better!!! The meat is so tender and delicious, and i'm not really a meat person so that's saying something :)  And of course it came with Belgian style fries, which means they're double fried, so they're extra crispy!  

 Beef Carbonnade

 Lille City Center

 Dessert!

  Roubaix city hall

Anyway Lille was amazing, and it was so fun to go with someone who lives there!! 

Lille, France

We have a holiday from work on Friday, so I am spending Friday and Saturday in Lille, France with a friend from work who lives in there and commutes from France each day.  I will be back on Saturday and update my pictures and stories!

Joyeuses Pâques!!!

Happy Easter!!!  Today has been interesting.... I wanted to go to church today, so i found an English speaking church online and decided to go this morning.  Luckily mass wasn't until 11:15, so I got to sleep in.  The church is in a part of Brussels that I don't know well at all.  It's more residential so there's not much reason to go.  I tried to find a picture of the church but I couldn't so I figured out how to get there by metro and I went.  Well, the church is a ways away from the metro stop, which I knew and I had written down directions on how to get there, but of course I got lost.  I wandered around the area for a while and decided that at that point I should just find some random church and go.

Well, I found a church, and I figured it was Catholic, which it was.  Although the 11:00 mass was an African mass.  So I was one of the few white people there haha Anyway, it was an interesting mass, because they sang all the hymns and everything to African style music, which was kind of strange sounding and the mass was in French.  It was a strange combination.  But the church was beautiful and of course extremely old.  It was amazing to be there.  OH, and I got pooped on by a bird :( which was gross, luckily it didn't get on my clothes, but it was in my hair.  So disgusting.

On my random adventure I did find some beautiful parks and on the way back I think I might have figured out where the church I was trying to get to is.  I guess I'll go try again next week :) Easter is a really big deal here, in fact it's a national holiday so no one works tomorrow!!!  Yay!!!

 Church I went to for Easter mass

 Tulips for mom :)

 Random lake park in the middle of Brussels

 The European Commission, and the church on the left is the one I was aiming for (I think)

Maastricht, Holland :)

Yesterday a few of my friends and I went to Maastricht for a day trip.  It's still amazing to think that I can do a day trip to Holland, but it was so fantastic!!  It looked how you'd expect a European town to look.  The weather was beautiful, it was 75 degrees and sunny!  They say it rains over 200 days a year in Belgium, so apparently I came at the right time because rain has not been an issue.

Maastricht was amazing!  They have a cathedral built in the 13th century that they recently converted to a bookstore.  It was so cool!!!  I've never seen anything like it.  We went to a few other churches, which were all just as amazing. My favorite was the church of our lady, it was built in the 12th century, and it was  truly spectacular!  Maastricht was just amazing in general, although I didn't get to visit one of their infamous coffee shops, maybe next time haha

 Evelina and I in the city center

 Bookstore in a cathedral

 Ceiling of bookstore

 My friend Evelina, but it's a better picture of the bookstore