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.
 
                 Monday morning I was the only one from our late night ferry ride to go to our first class at 10am, mostly because I never actually went to sleep upon returning to Brussels. After class, we booked our trip to Berlin for next Monday and returning on Thursday. We arranged to have a group meal in the courtyard at supper time. Every room brought something to the potluck. We had pastas, salad, cookies, crepes, fruit, chips, and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. It took a while to get started, but it was a great time gathering around the picnic tables once everyone got there.

               I went to see The Great Gatsby again with some friends, and it was just as enjoyable as before. I absolutely love the soundtrack. There is a fairly new couple on the trip and they are so sweet. J

 
         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.
 
            Greeted by sunshine on Saturday morning, we started our glorious day by taking a tour of the Globe theater. Since both of Shakespeare's Globe Theaters were destroyed, I think by fire, this one was actually a beautiful model theater built with as much of the original material types as possible while also complying to modern building codes.
            On the way to meet up with Eddie and Lindsey at the London Eye, we walked through a fair with world foods, crafts, and performers. We decided to get lunch at different venues in the fair and watched some acrobats so some funny stunts. One guy put the tip of a butter-knife between his teeth, balanced 3 rods linked together on the other tip of the knife, and a large spinning bowl on the very top.
            Afterwards, we went to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. It costed too much to get in, but we went in the smaller chapel next door for free. We were going to wait in there while one girl toured the abbey, but someone left a backpack unattended and didn't claim it, so everyone was evacuated from the chapel and courtyard. We stayed until they started to let people in again, and then we went up the street. 
            There was a huge monument in Trafalgar Square with giant lions at each corner and lots of space to climb up and sit on several platforms. It was a bit of a struggle for some of us to get up, but it was fun. There were tons of soccer fans for the Champions League Championship: it was the first time there had ever been two teams from Germany playing each other. It was red versus yellow and yellow fans were congregating and drinking all in Trafalgar Square and among the monument. I find it interesting that London has Trafalgar Square and Dominica, a former English colony, has Trafalgar Falls.
          Around 7, we went back to the London Eye and actually rode up and got pictures of the city. We went out on the town a little bit after a quick dip in the hotel hot tub & saunas. Starting at Minories, I got another virgin cocktail. But since they closed at 11, we went looking for another place down the street. This dance club called Revolution was open, but we didn't feel dressed up enough to go in there. We also tried another club but they had a private party going on. So we ended up going to a Bavarian bar on the same street as our hotel, and it turned out pretty nice. The entrance floor was a bit subdues and filled with yellow jerseys...they lost the game. The lower level was hopping with celebratory red jerseys and a birthday party. They had a block of 8 shots with a firecracker fountain on the end in place of a candle and it looked really cool. Also, all the waitresses were dressed in costume similar to that of yodelers. 
 
          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.
 
          It was quite an ordeal trying to find our train in time. We had to ask for directions repeatedly, some sources better than others. We went through UK customs and then we were probably the last ones to board the train by the time we finally found it and found a group of seats that were near each other. The train made one stop before taking us to London and apparently people had assigned seats because one of our guys got displaced. However, some of our group went with him to another train car. No one else was displaced. The train moved so swiftly through tunnels that my ears kept popping.
          Once we arrived at the train station in London, we had to figure out how to get to our hotel. It turned out that the hotel was 30 km out from the center of the city, which would create for some rather expensive train passes to take us back and forth everyday. We did a little bit of searching for hostels and went to a hotel office in the train station and eventually came up with a rather nice solution. We cancelled our reservation at the distant hotel, which was about 120 GBP/person for the 3 nights. We had to pay a cancellation fee, but split between us, it ended up being 33 Eu/person. The hotel office arranged for us to stay at a 5-star hotel a block away from the Tower of London for 90 GBP/person for the 3 nights. We stayed at the Grange City Hotel with a gorgeous lobby with chandeliers, a doorman, several restaurants and bars, a gym, pool, hot tub, and 3 sauna rooms. The 11 of us split between two rooms; 6 guys and 5 girls, 2 full size beds each with mountains of useless pillows. 
               After we checked in, we walked around the outside of the Tower of London, had fish and chips, and met up with one girl's cousins at a really nice pub. As we went in, some of us got carded, but I didn't recognize that there was a line on the staircase so I just slipped past. Most of us were tired so we headed back to the hotel early. A few gained a second wind and went out on the town again for a little while.
 
            After practicing several times on Skype with Jared last night, I was ready to give my speech first this morning. Before that, though, I met Lindsey in the lobby at 8am and she went with me to do laundry at the next street over. The hotel has laundry facilities, but I hear they are slow and more expensive. While the washing machine at the laundromat took an hour, the dryer took less than 20 minutes even with jeans and collared shirts in the mix.
          I fixed a nice brunch of scrambled egg sandwich and packed, and now I'm just waiting for it to be time to go to the train station. Our train leaves at 3 pm but we have to check in by 2:25 pm. Since I'm not taking my computer with me, I probably won't be posting anything until Sunday night.
         Random notes: I hope that our bus from London to Brussels goes by ferry over the English Channel instead of  through the tunnel. It would be nice to see what's going on. Also, there's a guy in our London group who has amazing handwriting. It's so awesome to watch him write in his journal because it looks like he could write a passing copy of the Constitution. I'd like to get a calligraphy pen.
 
         In my COMM 150 class, we talked about giving informative speeches during the next class meeting. During my break, I started practicing a bit, but I had so much to share about Dominica that there's no way I could say it in 5 minutes.
          We had the afternoon free to do as we pleased. Hoping take a short trip to Luxembourg, I asked the front desk about train tickets. Unfortunately they said the ride is about 3 hours, so it's a whole day trip. They suggested going to Ghent, which is only 30 minutes away by train. We still had to book travel arrangements for London this weekend, so that was top priority. Searching for the best prices on transportation and accommodations, we lost the whole afternoon to booking. 
         We finally settled on a reasonably-priced hotel a little outside of London with 3 rooms, 4 people each. This will be interesting since we have 5 girls (plus Lindsey who is staying in a nicer hotel on her own with her reward points). I'm sure it will work out just fine though.
         The train to London is really expensive, about 120 Eu one way. I think most of the cost is due to planning the trip the day before when we really should have been booking a week or two ago. We went to the train station downtown to buy those, hoping to get a better price than online. Luckily the bus tickets are more like 45 Eu, even though that will be a 7 hour ride instead of just 2 hours on train. The way I see it: more time to sleep!
          When we left the train station, we went to the mojito bar and I got a delicious mango smoothie. The others were saying that they wanted fries so I was expecting to go a Belgian fry stand on a street corner a few blocks away...but nope! We ended up at McDonald's. 
 
Today we had class and gave short informative speeches by describing the most interesting place we saw this weekend, a culture shock, and a Kodak moment. My favorite place was Notre Dame because there was so much to study and observe. Culture shock was that I felt so safe in Paris…I rarely felt like I was in a bad area for pick-pocketing but I’m always on guard in Brussels. My Kodak moment was a mini photo shoot in front of Moulin Rouge. In the documentary class we made outlines of our groups’ plans for filming different subtopics.

After class we went to the last old-fashioned brewery in Brussels. There used to be hundreds but only this one survived WWII and bankruptcy. They still use copper boilers, wooden barrels, and avoid the use of added chemicals or advanced processes. They do it all the same way their founders did in 1900. It makes for a sour beer made naturally, no added sugar. The only yeast they use is in the air so they let it ferment for 3 years. They have other varieties made with fruits as well. The tour guide told us all about how their process, how it’s different from modern varieties, and about how much he dislikes Americans. I think he dislikes us. Sometimes it seemed that he appreciated us because we give them more business than the Belgians give them. But then he blamed us again…I don’t quite understand his strategy other than I’m sure he had already been paid so he just told us whatever he wanted. We saw the other Clemson group there at the brewery and chatted for a little bit.

While daring myself to taste the beer sample with a smell that repulsed me, someone told me that they had been reading my blog. I was astounded that anyone besides my mom and my boyfriend even looked at my blog. I found out that I had believed some propaganda. While correcting some factual errors here on the blog, I realized this must be how Europe got wrapped up into World War II. The power of propaganda, the confusion of multiple perspectives...there was so much insight in Eddie’s brief lecture about communication and understanding in class this morning, and I wonder if it was coincidence or destiny.

Realizing that I might have been told lies and that I wrote the wrong information, my face began to get red out of frustration with the propaganda. Of course, questions became overwhelming and I started to tear up. I’ll be quite honest with you here: I have emotions but I typically don’t understand what they are when I have them. It seems that I have a reaction but I don’t know the direct cause. Needless to say, I definitely don’t talk about my emotions if I don’t understand them. 
 
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.