Brussels Part II: Days 12-13

Day 12
Friday, June 28

After a late night out exploring Brussels, we had an early morning trip to the European Commission (EU) Headquarters.  Since I'm the one studying Political Science and not you, I will spare you the details of the inner workings of this multinational system.  Let's just say the visit was very informational.

Once we returned to our hotel, we went back out to explore Brussels by the Grand Place.  Belgium is the home of the famous comic Tintin, a favorite of mine when I was a kid.

Tintin and Snowy!

When walking around we found the famous peeing statue.  This statue is extremely popular and it is literally everywhere around Brussels.  Every souvenir shop sells mini statues, magnets, keychains, anything that they can put this peeing boy on.  It is also tradition to dress it up in a different outfit everyday.

Here's what it looks like sans costume:

I really don't see what the fuss is about....

Everyone was tired so we returned to our hotel early to catch up on sleep.

Day 13
Saturday, June 29

We had class in the morning in our hotel. Then afterwards we went back down to the Grand Plais.  We visited a chocolate museum complete with hats made out of chocolate.

Don't know if this would work very well as a sun hat....

This guy gave us a live demonstration on how chocolate was made.  I'm sure it was very informational and interesting, but it was in French so I didn't really catch all the details.  The chocolate looked/tasted good though.

Afterwards, I had an adventure with French Laundry.  No, not the restaurant, actual French laundry.  I went with a couple of friends to a laundromat to do laundry, but all the machines and the directions were in French.  Fortunately, after playing charades with a couple locals and wasting a couple of Euros, we got our laundry cleaned.  After dinner, we took a walk and watched a beautiful sunset on our last day in Brussels.

Brussels Part 1: Days 10-11

Day 10

Wednesday, June 26

We left for Brussels early in the morning from our hotel in London.  We had a little UCLA moment when word spread that during the night the UCLA Baseball team had won their first National Championship, adding Number 109 to the Bruin collection.  U-C-L-A Fight Fight Fight!  Then we all boarded a bus outside the hotel and drove to Dover, a port city in Britain.  The White Cliffs of Dover are known in this small port city. 

After we passed through immigration in Dover, we boarded a ferry to Calais, which is in France.  Upon arriving in Calais, we got on another bus and drove into Brussels. 

It was a long day of traveling and we were all tired and hungry when we got to Brussels.  After dinner though, we did get our first Belgian waffles at the Haagen-Dazs up the street.  This would be the first of many.  Also, we discovered that Bradley Cooper is the spokesperson for Haagen-Dazs here...there are giant billboards of his face staring at you when you're trying to eat your waffle and ice cream.

Day 11

Thursday, June 27

For our first full day in Belgium, we made a trip to the city of Bruges or Brugges.  Brugges was at one time the economic center of Western Europe and financed the Norman Conquest of England.  I know, super exciting stuff.

They have your normal horse and carriage rides going on all over the place, you know the usual.

I am in love with the tops of the buildings here.

First, we took a canal boat tour through Brugges.  The whole city is built around an extensive canal system that basically goes everywhere.

There are houses literally right along the canal, wish I could live there.

This is Neil.  He is the official dog of Brugges.  Sounds like a pretty good gig to me.

The danger of selfies: you cover up the thing you're trying to take a picture of with your face.

 Better.

The tour was given in multiple languages, including French, Dutch and English.  The tour guides all know a variety of languages and just rattle off commentary in each language, one after another.  They're pretty talented guys.

Then we stopped into the chocolate shops.  In Belgium, and especially in Brugges, chocolate is everywhere.

They have tins shaped like my favorite houses!

Brugges is also known for their handmade lace.  There are little lace shops like this all over the city.  All the lace is beautiful and well-made.

Then we continued to just wander around the streets of Brugges.  It's a pretty tourist-y town, but the streets and buildings are enough to make you want to wander down them all day.

Chocolate Waffles. They're everywhere.

A famous sight in Brugges is the Church of our Lady.

 This church houses the Madonna with child, an original Michelangelo sculpture.  This is one of the very few Michelangelo sculptures to have made it out of Italy and it is on display in Brugges.

After coming back from Brugges in an eventful bus ride (we almost left one kid behind and our resident athletes had to run a quarter mile back to Brugges to go get him), we had a lovely dinner with our professor!  We had dinner with our Professor Mike Lofchie and his lovely wife Kelly.  It was a great night of story swapping and hanging out with our professor!

After dinner, we went and explored Brussels!  There is a square called the Grand Place, which is my favorite place in Brussels.  It is so beautiful, especially when lit up at night.  This is basically where all the restaurants, shops and basically where main center of Brussels is.  

Here's what the whole square looks like:

We had a late night exploring the city and came back in the rain!  Brussels was rather drizzly for our time there.

London Part VI: Day 9

Day 9

Tuesday, June 25

After class, we embarked for our final day in London.  We decided to spend the day at the British Museum.  This enormous museum has so much, I could spend more than a day there.  It features art, sculpture, artifacts and anything and everything else.

 The pillars of the front entrance

 The main rotunda of the museum has another amazing ceiling.

The British Museum houses the infamous Rosetta Stone.  This Stone, unearthed in 1799 was the key to translating languages such as Egyptian Hieroglyphics.  You may know it based on the highly popular language-learning program, which borrows its name.  This is just a replica of the Stone, I would find the actual stone later.

You’re allowed to touch this one

Here is the real Rosetta Stone.

One of the most memorable exhibits was one called the History of Drugs.  It detailed the drug history of an English couple.  It catalogued every pill they had ever taken and wove it into a long strip. 

 It's a Crystal Skull.  Indiana Jones anyone?

The museum is broken up by continent, so after the North American wing, we headed to the Asian wing.  I took a lot of pictures of the Korean wing.

A traditional Korean han-bok

I've had one of these since I was little.

 Then we moved on to Chinese Ceramics.  There was some beautiful pieces.

On the ground floor of the Asian wing there was a section of new acquisitions.  This is an original Michelangelo.  

Afterwards, we moved on to Africa and saw some Mummies!  The Egyptian exhibit is huge and very detailed.

Sarcophagi

There was also a really interesting exhibit on money.

Sam and I know a little somethin' somethin' about dat CA$H

We ended our visit with the Parthenon exhibit!  It includes actual pieces from the Parthenon in Rome.

After our museum visit, I finished off my London experience with an authentic Fish n' Chips dinner! 

So that was London, off to Brussels! :)