WOW! Catching up... Brussels, Belgium

So it's been a really really really long time since I have written a blog post, and since I have so much time today, I will be taking that time to write some posts and fill the world in on what's been happening in my life for the past 5 months.

So, right after Christmas, literally the 26th, The whole family packed up the car and took off for Brussels, Belgium, where my host brother lives and goes to school for Speech Pathology. The whole family stayed in his apartment for 3 days and 2 nights. While in Brussels, we visited the Atomium (Brussels' version of the Eiffel Tower for the World's Fair Exhibition) as well as the several other famous landmarks in the city. The first full day that I was in Brussels, I got to spend with Sarah Philbrick, one of my best friends from America who is doing a year of exchange in Belgium. It was really awesome to get to see her, we shared stories about our exchange and, with Sarah as my guide, I taste-tested all of the Belgian specialities. It was also really strange to see Sarah in a foreign country, it almost made me feel like I was home. At one point I said something along the lines of "let's go to Coby's!" (a café in my American home-town). I felt as though everything should have been normal, like America-normal. It was nice to feel that sense of home in having a close friend there, but at the same time the let down that it wasn't really home was a difficult one to deal with.

Sarah and I at a Pub in Brussels

The Atomium in Brussels, was constructed for the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. At the time of it's construction, it boasted the fastest elevator in the world! For more trivia information, here is the LINK to the wikipedia article. It was really awesome to visit the Atomium at dusk. When we went inside and started the tour it was light out, so we got the daytime view of Brussels and the Atomium itself, but the later we stayed, the darker it got, and the darker it got, the more lights came on in the city, and even on the Atomium. The Atomium lit up in the night, it was really cool to look at. By the time we reached the top, it was completely dark out and the lights were really cool! So I suppose we picked the best moment to visit it! We discovered that there is a full service restaurant in the uppermost sphere of the Atomium, but that it is way out of any normal touristic price range. We decided that we had seen enough and headed back to the apartment. It's surprising to know that the Atomium isn't actually in Brussels it's a little bit outside the city and takes between 20-35 minutes on the metro to get there.

Atomium at sunset

After returning to the apartment, my host brother brother brought the whole family to one of the most famous "friterie"s or -french fry stand- in Brussels. The name escapes me, but it was fantastic! You could get anything from burger to veggie patties to submarine sandwiches with french fries in them. The best of the best was the fries in a hand-wrapped paper cone with over 20 sauces to choose from; it was delicious! the nest day, was normally the day that we were supposed to leave, wishing a happy new year to my hast brother, for Rouen, but my host sister talked my host parents into letting her and I stay with my host brother in Brussels for the new year, another 3 days. The following days were a really relaxing vacation. A few of my host brother's high school friends came up to Brussels to pass the new year with us also. We visited more of the city and ate more delicious french fries. When it came to New Years Eve, we ate a nice dinner in the apartment, then headed to the main plaza in Brussels AKA 'La Grande Place' to join in the music and festivities as well as the fireworks after the countdown. The fireworks were great, it was only a shame that it was somewhat cloudy and so cold that when the fireworks exploded, the humidity in the air around them condensed and made even more smoky fog... By the end of the spectacle, it was difficult to see what was going on. The whole experience was great nonetheless. After the fireworks, we tried to go out to a club in the city, but the cover charge was over 25 Euro so we decided to go back to the apartment and have our own party. All-in-all, it was a great night.

La Grande Place. All decked out for Christmas and New Years.

Everyone, including my host-siblings and I headed out the following day. Me and my host siblings took the hi-speed train from Brussels to Lille and then a regular train from Lille to Rouen.... 65 Euros later and no controller to check my tickets, I was home...well, "home".