Let’s talk about Belgium!  And my December in general!  Aren’t you excited?

About 4 weeks ago I visited Belgium.  I decided to make the trip on my own, and I went with a tour that took me to 4 different cities in 3 days to see Christmas Markets.  I saw Bruges, Brussels, and Antwerp, and we stayed in a seaside town called Ostend.

Bruges was by far my favorite.  It was snowy and sunny and absolutely beautiful.  So much history.  Bruges also boasts, according to the tour guide, the best frites (or French Fries - invented in Belgium if you didn’t know) in the country as well as the best chocolate in the country.  I had frites, some gluhwein (mulled wine), a Belgian wheat beer, and some chocolate.  I explored the Christmas Market, which was the best one we went to despite being very small, and then explored the town which was just amazing.

Brussels was alright.  I was actually pretty disappointed because their Christmas Market really sucked.  It was very commercial and I was extremely bummed that I didn’t buy anything in Bruges the day before.  But I got to see the Manneken Pis (the little boy peeing), and his female counterpart the Janneken Pis (super duper gross).  I got to see the Grand Place, eat a really great Belgian beef in beer stew, and see several other cool landmarks.

Antwerp was sort of lame too.  There wasn’t a Christmas Market going on there yet, and since we went on a Sunday everything was closed.  But I walked around the city and got to see some beautiful architecture before we had to head back.

The hotel we stayed at was in Ostend, which is on the coast.  The hotel itself was sort of awful, but I guess you get what you pay for.  It was an experience.  We took a coach (the Brits MUST distinguish between a bus and a coach) from London to Dover, and then took a ferry from Dover to Calais, France, then drove to Belgium from there.  So I got to see the White Cliffs of Dover from probably the best vantage point, which was awesome.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip:

After Belgium (actually during) it was crunch time for this ridiculous project we were assigned for International Marketing.  Many of you already know how I feel about this, but it’s the main reason I had zero energy to write a blog about this sooner.

Now I’m in the States, have been for about 10 days.  My Christmas was pretty good, I got some great stuff and ate too much.  It’s just been really nice to be able to be at home, relaxing and hanging out with family and friends.  Tomorrow Alex, Nora, Mary Beth, Colin and I are going to Seattle to explore the Harry Potter exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, eat cupcakes, and hopefully do some karaoke.  A good Seattle-y day.