After class today, we went to an art Museum and saw a lot of historical pictures. I enjoyed looking at the different styles from dark pallets to ancient religious figures with European castles in the background to historical leaders with bright clothing to more modern depictions. There was a whole gallery dedicated to sculptures of a man's head with different animal accessories: deer antlers, rhino horn, rabbit ears, etc in two different types of metal. One was a shiny gold material that could have been polished brass, and there was a more dingy color like corroded copper or dark steel. 
            We attempted to go into the modern art museum, but apparently our tickets didn't cover that. Instead, a few of us went to the music museum where they gave us audio sets to hear the instruments on display through short radio waves based on proximity. For 2 Eu we got to see and hear over 3,000 instruments. My favorite part was the first section that included more primitive instruments such as horns, woodwinds, and drums. They made me feel like dancing. Upstairs there were many versions of keyboards and pianos that were elaborately decorated and shaped in different styles depending on the era. On  the bottom floor, they displayed old recording equipment including some giant music boxes with turning wheels of pegs that stuck chords.
             When we left the museum, there was a quick thunderstorm so we hurried to the shelter of a snack shop on the way to the Metro to get back to the hotel.

         Sunday was a nice day in London as well. We went to Abbey Road and took pictures crossing the road like the Beetles' album cover. Since that took a while with other people taking pictures and avoiding making drivers angry, it took a good hour or so.  A few members of our group had to go back to the hotel to get their luggage because they had to be at the bus station by 1:00. The rest of us went to a Piccadilly Circus for lunch and shopping...the name is misleading because there was no circus. I got a little something from a souvenir shop and then we went in to a magical, 5-story toy store. When I went to the very top floor, I was in bliss! It was a mini Lego land complete with life-size William and Kate in wedding attire, plus Prince Harry and Prince Charles next to them. The life-size queen sat on her throne and I went inside a telephone booth that had a round dial-style telephone. Other features included Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man, a ninja, and many royal guards. Kayla and I were delighted by a magic show on the other side of the stairs, and we ended up buying a small kit. I can't wait to entertain Hunter and baby Charlotte with it!
         We also went to a large store called SuperDry...they have them in all the major cities in Europe and I'm sure they have some in the states as well. I got some mint-colored shoes because I was tired of wearing dingy sneakers when the weather was nice.
         Afterwards we took the tube to Covent Garden, also a misleading name because I never once saw a garden. It was another shopping area with a market for people's handicrafts. I met a man who was an expert with Coats of Arms, so I ordered one for Ward. He told me that Ward and Hannon were both very old names and you could tell by the simplicity of the shield. Newer names would have more elaborate symbols and mottos below. He could not find the old version of Wyse that I had seen before, Wysse, but he did find Wyss. I'm not sure if that applies. Since I think it's a German name, it would have been pronounced Vysse, so there may be more spellings. The man suggested that it might be Dutch. So I just got his email address on the order form and we can follow up on that when I get back home to where I have more resources.
           On our way back to the hotel, we all stopped by the train station where Harry Potter  was filmed going to Platform 9 & 3/4 on his way to Hogwarts. We took pictures with a cart like we were going to Hogwarts as well and that was pretty fun. Remembering a couple of Fandom quizzes I took, I knew that I would either be in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. I used both scarves in different pictures, but I personally prefer Slytherin. I think I would have knocked some respect into that blond kid...I don't remember his name at the moment.
        After we got our bags, we waited at the bus station for a little while before we boarded a totally packed bus. Luckily, we got on first so we sat together in the back seats. I watched The Sword and The Stone with Laurie on her ipad and then we boarded a ferry to cross the English Channel. I had such a lovely time exploring the ship and going to the deck where we could see lights from both sides of the waterway. Others had a less than lovely time aboard the ferry, but I thought it was a wonderful experience. We arrived in Brussels a little bit before 7 and, already bright outside, I didn't try to go to sleep before class. I went down to the mini-mart, got a hot fresh pastry, and took about a 20 minute nap.

          There was free breakfast in the hotel's glorious dining room...well, it was free for up to 4 people from each room and we didn't know that the hot sausage & such were not included in the "Complimentary Breakfast" until Saturday morning.
           We started our day by going to the Tower of London and looking through the torture tower, the crown jewels, and an armory exhibit. My favorite things there were a jewel-encrusted sword handle and sheath, and the kings' crowns. 
            It was a nasty, rainy day but we trekked over to Buckingham Palace to meet up with Eddie and Lindsey. We had to arrange buses for the way back, which was quite a hassle. Luckily, once we got to the EuroLine office, they were able to help us get all 13 of us on two different buses leaving Sunday.
            The weather was so dreary, we went back to the hotel. Then all of us ladies went shopping. There's a discount store called Uniqlo and it's found back in the states...they had pretty trendy stuff. We went into another shop and looked at swimsuits so we could get in the hot tub at the hotel. Unfortunately, their dressing rooms were closed since the store was closing soon and they didn't have anything that I would find useful wearing back home, so I didn't get a swimsuit. We went into a huge department store called Harrod's next...they had the most wonderful swimsuits, but for some of the most out-of-this-world price. Back at the hotel, I ended up putting my feet into the hot tub and spent some time in the sauna with a towel wrapped over undergarments.  
             Finally feeling a bit warmed up, we went out and around the block to a locals' bar called Minories. They were really nice and had a 2 for 1 cocktail special. I tasted the Long Island Iced Tea and liked it alot, but they didn't have nearly as much alcohol in it as it normally would. I actually a virgin cocktail of orange and cranberry juice with some fizz. Apparently we were in the business district, because everything was closing. We ran into a study abroad group from New Jersey who led us to a club called Pause...they couldn't get in and assumed the place was closing. However, we saw some other people go in and the bouncers even let one member of our group go in to use the restroom. It turns out they were practicing racial discrimination against most of us. One of the bouncers actually suggested to the girl coming that she should kill herself for hanging out with these white people.
              We quickly made our way back to the hotel.

We planned on going to a concentration camp on Monday, but the Belgians were having a holiday and the bus schedule was limited. Some people went from Paris to Amsterdam and saw Anne Frank’s house and the Heineken brewery. It seemed like everyone in Brussels was worn out from travelling over the weekend, especially the Barcelona group. They had two phones and a wallet stolen, and while they stayed in a very nice hostel, one guy had a desperate time getting back there from a club. I don’t think anyone can tell his story quite like he can, so calm and animated at the same time. This blog will not do it justice.

It seemed like a pretty lazy day around the hotel. People watched movies and relaxed. But it was light outside! I wanted to go do something! So I met up with Irene, who’s on a study abroad trip in Brussels with the Honors College, and she went around town with me so I could look at some lace shops. They all seemed so expensive and didn’t have what I was looking for, but just when we had given up, I went to one last shop that looked as if it was closed. I was able to find several embroidered handkerchiefs and, although I couldn’t find any veils like my Grandma suggested, I did get a garter for some future wedding a long time from now. If nothing else, it can be a friend’s “something borrowed.”

Then we went to the uptown by metro and met some of her friends to watch “The Great Gatsby” in theaters. With about 30 minutes to kill, we took a walk around the block into a sketchy part of town with construction zones, but I felt fearless leading the group back to the mall entrance. The movie was in English with French and Dutch subtitles. It followed the book amazingly and the glamor of the costumes and parties was astounding. Irene and her friends went back with me on the metro and I showed them a few good places to eat since their day classes are at a nearby hotel.

               Saturday was a pretty nice day for me. We started out with lunch and somehow I thought that a salmon and goat cheese sandwich would be a good idea because it was fairly cheap on the menu. Wrong. The salmon was good, but the goat cheese overpowered it. The sandwich came with another salad that had arugula (which tastes awful in my opinion). So I picked out the spinach for my sandwich, and somewhat tried to force myself to eat the other greenery to try to maintain a balanced diet.
               I’m not quite sure why, but we went into an enormous department store. I wasn’t there to shop for myself, and certainly not to spend a ton of money (US department stores cost enough as it is), so I went with some of the guys to different floors. Since European power tools probably wouldn’t work well in the states, I figured this wasn’t the best place to buy gifts for my dad and brothers. I was just going with the flow. Soon we went upstairs and found the electronics section. While the guys were enamored over a huge flat screen HDTV, I found myself rather entertained by a children’s gaming system about like LeapFrog. I played a couple of rounds of Uno before I got impatient with it. Eddie found us and I went to toy section with him to find something for Hunter while he looked for gifts for his nephews. Unfortunately, everything I thought would be characteristic of European toys was also characteristic of European prices. HotWheels were reasonably priced, but they weren’t anything special.
             I got to see the Notre Dame again and really study the details. I found it interesting that all the statues’ heads were at the same level on a row, so shorter figures stood on taller pedestals than others. I don’t know which one of the twelve apostles was supposedly the shortest, but the sculptor must have assumed that one must be shorter than the others. We were amazed at how the statues would have been lifted and attached to the side of the building.
              We shopped for souvenirs and I almost bought a way over-priced music box for baby Charlotte when Laurie stopped me and suggested a painted canvas that I missed at the front of the store. It cost a little more but it was a much better idea. These music boxes were cheap and generic, but every canvas they had looked unique.
                  Once we got back to the metro, Eddie led us to the neighborhood where they stayed last year, near Moulin Rouge. We must have gotten off the metro at the wrong stop, because we had to walk through several blocks of the red light district. However, Eddie noted that he had never been that far away from the hotel in that direction, so I’m sure he  didn’t expect to take us through there. Once we were in front of Moulin Rouge, I took some glamor shots above a large air vent that blew my hair around. We had some group shots and then went to an Irish pub for supper. I was thrilled that they had a few frozen virgin drinks to choose from: I got one called “Teenage Dream” with strawberry, pineapple, and coconut. Really tempted to go out with the others afterwards, I decided that I wanted to get up early the next morning, so I went back to the hotel with the professors. In hindsight, I would have had time to sleep in a bit and really enjoy my night with such a hospitable group of people.
                 When I got back to my hotel room, all the other girls were lounging around sipping some wine and waiting for midnight to wish one of the girls a happy birthday. I know they had a good time going around town with real Parisians, but I was very glad I spent my day as a tourist with the other group.

             On Friday, we went up through a seemingly endless spiral staircase to the top of the Arch de Triumph and found a gorgeous view of Paris. Then we went to the Louvre and a friendly, English-speaking gay couple showed us where to go to find tickets and the museum. The Frenchman thought I looked a bit like Cameron Diaz, but it must just be because I am blonde. I think another girl in our group looks more like Diaz than I do.

 Anyway, we went through some of the Louvre, looking at the grand halls, antique glassware, some statues, and paintings. We found the Mona Lisa and the portrait was a decent size, contrary to rumors I heard about it being disappointingly small. It was by itself on a large wall, though, and protected by about 4 inches of glass. We only stayed at the Louvre for about an hour because the halls of masterpieces began to feel repetitive. I wish I had known about Napoleon’s apartment being on one wing of the Louvre so I could have seen the lavish way that royalty and leaders lived. I didn’t find out about that until later. 

I’d like to mention that I wanted to join the other group with the professors for Friday’s tours, since I was worried that my group would spend the day looking in expensive shops again, but some miscommunication caused that to fall through. Much to our surprise, we ran into that group several times on Friday. Apparently we saved 4 Eu on tickets to enter the Louvre museum buy purchasing them at the door, but maybe the other group got access to something else. We met up with them at the Mona Lisa and they lingered a lot longer in the Louvre than we did, but I wanted to see more sights.

After the Louvre, we went to the Notre Dame, which was a free self-guided tour. As we looped around towards the front of the cathedral after looking at some exhibits in the back, we heard an Acapella choir beginning their concert. I was able to capture some of it on video, but my hands were not very steady. It gave us a chance to really appreciate the Notre Dame as a very old cathedral. 

               We bought barrettes even though the French don’t wear them anymore and then we had time to go back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out again. We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and weaved through peddlers and magicians who would lure in tourists to be pick-pocketed.  We met up with Fat Tire Bike Tours at the South leg of the Eiffel Tower to go on our night bike tour. For 28 Eu, they took us on 4 hour tour that included a stop at an ice cream shop and an hour boat ride with free wine. Fat Tire Bike Tours is a company started by people at Texas A&M and they have tours in several cities across Europe as well as in Texas. Our tour guide, Max, was a French university student who spoke English like a Brit and could even do an American accent. He showed us all of the major sites and had us ride the bikes in circles around the fountains in the Louvre until we were dizzy. He described the purpose of the mini-Arch de Triumph: Napoleon promised his troops that if they won a certain battle they would walk under an Arch. It was taking so long to build the large Arch de Triumph that he had a smaller one built quickly, and in my opinion more beautifully with pink marble columns, so he could keep his promise. We went over one of several lock bridges, where lovers place locks to show their eternal love, and found a Clemson lock. A boat passed under with a woman in fur singing opera to a couple who were either just engaged or on their honeymoon. We boarded a massive boat and sat on the top deck to enjoy the views of Paris at night. Even though it was cold, we made friends with some Delta flight attendants on their layover and some guys from Texas A&M. We got some good shots of Eiffel Tower from the water and on the way back to the bike shop.

               From the bike shop, we walked to a restaurant and had crepes with the Texas A&M guys. They said that both of their dads are in oil and so the single ladies were really upset when they realized they didn’t get the guys’ numbers or even share last names to find them on Facebook. Still craving food, they went across the street to McDonalds, which was utterly crowded, and a few minutes later the other group came in too. I wasn’t hungry but I was ready to call it a night. It was around midnight. So I went back to the hotel with the professors and one other guy.

           This morning I went with Eddie and Nolan when they went to do their laundry on the next street over. It's cheaper and quicker than  the laundry at the hotel. We grabbed breakfast and I entertained a baby while we were waiting. The mother, a Muslim, seemed not to trust me, so I only gave the baby smiles and funny faces while she wasn't watching. 
           We all went to Brugge this afternoon, pronounced "Brooje", at least those of us who were still in town. About half of our group went to Barcelona, but 19 is still a good bit. We took the train, which cost each of us 10 Eu roundtrip. On the way there, I sat next to an administrator from a secondary school in Brugge. She spoke English to us, telling us where to go. Her sister married a man from Bangladesh and now they live in Houston, Texas. The rest of the train ride I talked with some people from our group and I initiated a game of "Would You Rather...?" to keep us occupied for a while. 
           In Brugge, the city was a lot more modern than I expected. However, there were a good many historical sites with old cathedrals and towers. We had lunch at a place Eddie recommended, but I was extremely disappointed in the price. My meal cost 21 Eu, and I actually got a deal compared to other people. :(  A water was 4.50 Eu! The only beverage I could find that was cheaper was a small 4 Eu glass of wine. Annoyed with most of the girls at the time, I explored the city with two genuinely nice guys from our group. We got some cool pictures, went through a few stores, and got a little lost. I went into a hotel to ask for directions and they helped us find a boat tour. We got on the last boat of the day for that company so it was very nice. About 15 kilometers from the northern coast of Belgium, Brugge is the "Venice of the North." While we were waiting, I stuck up a conversation with a group of people also from the US. One couple was from Florida, another lady was from Minnesota, and her father was from the Netherlands. We bonded as fellow English speakers and then enjoyed taking pictures on from the canals.
          The bus for Paris is leaving at 8am tomorrow, so we have to meet in the lobby at 6:30. I am not bringing my laptop with me, so don't expect any updates until Sunday.

         We began our day by getting breakfast at a mini-mart down the street. It had a machine that squeezes oranges so you can have fresh orange juice. Then we started our first walking tour. Our guide from CEPA, the coordinating program, showed us the practical places around town: ATMs, pharmacies, grocery store, and the mall.
         After lunch, we took a second walking tour that lasted about 3 hours telling about the medieval history of Brussels. It started as a small community on the marshlands, a church attracted more inhabitants, roads were built along the flow of the river and between existing buildings, and a town wall was erected. Our hotel is just outside that initial town wall, and the loading docks from the river were right next to the hotel. The river has since been re-routed underground. A second city wall was later erected as the city expanded. King Louis 14th of France bombed the central part of Brussels in order to gain control of the Low Lands, destroying half of the central plaza and leaving a cannonball stuck in one of the inner pillars of a nearby church. 
        The grand plaza was rebuilt and extended. It was the home of the city hall and many of the wealthy guilds including bakers, brewers, shipbuilders, and archers. Each guild house had significant symbolic properties on the front above the door so they could be easily found despite a lack of street numbers on buildings. Street numbers were not instated until Napoleon's reign in France. The city hall was built in three stages due to the bombing and available funds. Thus, each stage has its own distinct properties and looks a bit haphazard upon closer analyzation. A block or two over, we saw "Mannequin Pis", the famous peeing baby statue. It was dressed up for a Gay Pride festival to be held next weekend, wearing an orange raincoat with a rainbow flag draped down from around his feet.
         We continued our tour finding many picture-worthy sites. We saw a large gorilla head made of chocolate in a store-front: about 2ft x 3ft x 2ft. Unfortunately, the glare from the window made it impossible to get a good photo. We also went by another cathedral where the guild of the archers were hold a ceremony. We happened to come by just as they were getting ready to leave, so we saw them parade out, a few of them in historic costumes. There was a park just across the street, with beautiful flowers and ducklings in the fountain. The most amazing thing to us was the greenery: trees, grass, and shrubs that made us really appreciate Clemson.
      On our way to the museum of comics, featuring internationally famous TinTin and the Smurfs, we passed through a lookout point with a gorgeous city-scape of the historic architecture.