In Bruges....and Brussels (Belgium)

HEY THERE. This spiffy entry marks the beginning of my school's mid-term trip to Belgium and France. I know this update is a bit late, but it's still documentary-worthy. Have you seen the movie In Bruges? With Colin Farrel? WATCH IT NOW. It takes place in the cute tiny town of Bruges, which is in Belgium. Loved the film, loved the city - home of Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolate, which we all know is the best in the world. In Bruges, they love their swans that swim in the canals. There's actually a group of people who feed and look after them. However, while our tour guide was explaining this to us, one was trying to eat a blue plastic bag in the water. No one did anything!! Luckily it gave up and swam away, but it deeply discredited anything else this woman had to say.

In Bruges, the streets are cobblestoned and horses pull buggies down the streets. The buildings are old and majestic, and people speak either french, english, or their native language which sounds like Dutch/German. Swans swim in the canals...as they say in the movie, it's a fairytale town.

You might recognize this one below from the movie!

I think this was their town square...cute spot!

With a box of chocolates in everyone's bag, we left Bruges for Brussels. Still in Belgium and with much more action. There is a bar that is rumoured to have 2000 beer on tap! Hmm that's a bit excessive, perhaps it was only 200. We checked it out on our first night and the flavours were impressive. Kirsten asked for their darkest brew and was given a Cherry-flavoured beer. 

Here's a pic of the boys with their boots full of beer. They wanted to try as many flavours as they could. Friends from Halifax, you might recognize David Rennie on the right. We call him Davo. You might know him as 'the one with the big smile'.

Along with their chocolates and waffles, Belgium is known for its superb beer and, of course, Mannekken Pis. There is a group of people in Brussels who design outfits for MP and dress him up for tourists. We had the privilege of spotting him him with and without such attire.

Here is MP dressed as a boy scout.

Here is the gang of girls from left to right: Natalie Gaeby Kirsten Kelsey Laura and Me. We are standing in a concrete courtyard of impressively old and architecturely beautiful buildings.

You will perhaps notice a theme in my blog pictures...we like to take them while jumping. It makes everything so much more interesting, like when you're telling a story and you add "and then I found 20 bucks" at the end. So much better.

Here is a city street scene, complete with Tintin and Captain Haddock mural on the right.

We visited some cathedrals during our day of exploring. including this one below. I've grown to love cathedrals, but how could you not? They're a different kind of beauty that create an atmosphere of peace and calm. You don't need to be religious to appreciate this.

This guy was on a giant stone tomb with other grand statues surrounding it, but I found Death himself quite haunting.

The end of our adventures brought us to the Comic Museum, which had hundreds of different comics on display. They were mostly in french, but contraptions such as this one can be enjoyed in any language.

On our way out, Laura and I stopped to take pictures with a bust of Tintin...(the hat and sunglasses were our own addition). 

Then I blasted off to the moon.