So Belgium! The land of waffles, chocolate and french fries. Did you know that the french fry was invented in Belgium? Neither did we! We really only had one full day in Belgium of which we spent exploring the streets of Brussels. We stayed in Charleroi and rented a room via airbnb which is a website that has become my best friend. Staying with this middle aged man (sounds sketchy but its not) was the best decision we made for that whole trip! He picked us up from the airport then drove us around the whole time we were there, helping us get to the train station and buy our train tickets as well as serving us tea and cookies in his beautiful backyard garden. We loved talking to him at night and sharing stories of our travels and our lives in Cork and in America. He was so kind and didn't charge us anything extra for driving us around or anything. We will not forget our Belgiun friend, Nono :)
So our day in Brussels began with a nice steady rain. Not that we aren't used to rain it was just a bit of a bummer to have our only day there be rainy! We pretty much just grabbed a map and went to all of the big things on it and where they were labeled to be major attractions. There was a main square called Grand Place where there were really beautiful buildings and shops all around. There were waffle stands everywhere. The plain waffles were only 1 euro!
We saw many things in Brussels and I will just name them rather than tell you every detail of our day:
Grand Place, Town Hall, the Royal Palace (where the King lives), Manneken Pis, Cathedral of Saints Michel and Gudule, the Atomnium from a distance and Pace du Petit Sablon which was a really nice garden with fountains and beautiful flowers. The locals in Brussels all speak French which was not something we were really prepared for. We learned how to say thank you (merci) which was about all we could manage but again, most people we interacted with could speak enough English.
The food and the gardens were my favorite part, naturally. We tended to look for green patches on the map and seek them out in almost every city we were in. Small town country lovers I guess can't be in the city for too long or we will go crazy! But the food in Belgium was real good. A few waffles here and there, some french fries with really bad for you sauce all over them and don't forget the chocolate! We did eat some real food while we were there but really, the waffles, or gaufres were so so good. We tried them with toppings and plain and honestly my plain one was my favorite. So sugary and warm.
Grand Place
We saw others rubbing this mans mustache so we figured we better do it too!
Royal Palace
Belgian frites
Not sure what this was called, but its beautiful!
Belgian waffle!
Of course I took a picture with my waffle :)
So sadly, we had to leave Belgium and head back to Ireland. Although by this time we were all feeling pretty tired out and ready not to be living out of a suitcase anymore. Cameron left Tierney and I and went to London for a few days while we spent a few days in Dublin seeing some of the last things we had wanted to see in Ireland. Going back to Ireland was really comforting and hearing the Irish accents was SO nice. Also, coming back to a place where everyone speaks English helped us to relax a little I think.
So Tierney and I saw Newgrange on the first day. Newgrange is a Neolithic passage tomb that is older than the pyramids. We have talked about this time period in our archaeology class so much that it made us want to see this amazing thing that has defined Irelands prehistoric past. It was a little unbelievable to actually see it in person. It felt old, but you just can't comprehend how old 3500 BC is. The inside was just like I had imagined it to be but someone could have made that 10 years ago and just lied about the date you know? Anyways, I guess that means the Neolithic people had very advanced technology as the main chamber of the tomb remains exactly as it was in 3500 BC. Pretty cool, I think.
We spend some time wandering around Dublin after our short tour. We treated ourselves to some long awaited fish and chips and then walked around St. Stephens Green. It was fun because I saw more parts of Dublin that I hadn't seen yet, even though it was my third time there! We also went to a pub called Whelans, that was used in the filming of P.S. I love you. Hence the movie in the title of this blog. It was pretty cool to go there as there were posters on the walls of the main stars of the movie that were signed and dated (Gerard Butler, Hillary Swank and Jeffery Dean Morgan).
The next day we went on a bus tour of the Wicklow National Park and Glendalough, which is an old monastic site. We stopped at the bridge that was also used in the film P.S. I love you when Gerry and Holly first met. Seeing these things made me want to watch the movie again! Anyways, we wound through the beautiful Wicklow mountains to Glendalough where we had a bit of time to explore the area and walk to some nearby lakes. It was fun to see this site because we also talked about it in our archaeology class. We talked about many of the structures that were at this specific site and that was fun to feel like we kinda knew about it all already.
On our final morning in Dublin, we went and explored a small fishing village called Howth. I began to reflect on how that would probably be my last excursion in Ireland and it made me very sad. The end of the month snuck up on me and I knew it would go by fast but wow! It flew.
Newgrange
At the entrance of Newgrange! Sadly we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.
Whelans pub!
Sitting on the P.S. I love you bridge
Glendalough monastic site
One of the lakes in Glendalough
Arriving in Cork that night was surreal. Tierney and I remembered our first time walking to Leeside and how we had no idea where we were going. This time it felt like we were going home. And so my month of travel has ended and I can't believe it! After all of those hours planning and booking flights.. It is a month that I will not forget for the rest of my life! The good and the bad :)
My grandparents have been in Cork for the past week and my next post will be a little about their time here and about how I only have 18 days left until I go home. WHAT? Not sure I am ready yet, but I suppose I need to start preparing for re entry into real life in America :)
No comments:
Post a Comment