Inspired by John Denver

I'm on a bit of a John Denver kick at the moment and have found myself repeatedly listening to "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

I have to confess that although I'm seeing wonderful things over here and I am so glad and thankful that I've had the opportunity to see the things I have, and I want to continue to travel around the world and see all the interesting things there are to see, I find myself loving the United States all the more in being here, especially rural America.

I love Virginia. I love Michigan. I associate both with the word "home" in my mind and heart. I would love to attend a graduate program in Virginia. We'll see how that works out - it's still a ways off - but it's a goal! :)

A simple life is a good life. I've done a lot of reflecting on my childhood and adolescence and have seen how good it was. I'm very happy and grateful for my parents (love you!), my family (love you, too!) and my friends (you're alright...kidding - of course I love you!). Unfortunately, I haven't made much of an effort to draw close to many people. I find myself scheduling people in rather than working my schedule around the people who are important to me. It has taken me coming here and feeling extremely lonely to realize how little time I invest in being with other people.

Anyway, thank you John Denver.

On that note, I'm leaving for Rome in a few hours, so I won't be writing in a while! I return to Bruxelles on 2 November (wow! Where did November come from??), so look forward to a post shortly thereafter!

My love!
Gracie

I'm In Love

Yup. You read correctly. I fell in love.

It's so cliche, right? Going abroad for a semester, finding your self, finding love. But it happened.

Actually, it all happened today.

I can't keep this up, actually - I fell in love with Brugges, a city to the north west of Bruxelles. It's known as the "Venice of the North" and in my humble opinion is just right.

I was with my ISA group, and unfortunately wasn't able to get the pictures I like to get when I go out and about (you know the ones), but here's what I did today!

1. St. John's Hospital - Not Pictured
Basically, it was a museum set up in a medieval hospital. We visited the treatment rooms, apothecary, and the nun's living quarters. Gave me a good feel for what hospitals used to be - cold, stone, but not altogether dreary, I suppose.

2. Canal Cruise
Though a bit chilly today, we took a boat tour of the city. It was very nice - got to see a lot of the city in a short period of time. Saw the smallest window in Brugges as well as emblems above windows and doors that were to keep evil spirits at bay. In addition, got up close and personal with some swans. I hate those things, but they look nice enough.



3. Church of Our Lady

Mostly known for the presence of "Madonna with Child" by Michelangelo (the Ninja Turtle, of course).

And here's a pulpit. Stylish.
And...well...a dead person. Mary of Burgundy.
A close up. Why not? She can't object.
4. Walking: Some pictures between here and there.


Yes, I take "creeper" shots - I have no idea who these people are, but it was a neat opportunity.


The Belfry - we climbed it! All 300 + stairs!

View from the top.
Another creeper picture.



Grand Finale!
As a wrap up to the day, we took a carriage tour of the city. Most definitely my favorite part of the day.

It was so neat to be walking around in an old European city and hearing the sound of horse hooves on pavement. Here's the horse that lugged me around - Chico - and his owner, Marie.
It was fun to have some "horse talk" with her - she invited me to sit up in the drivers seat on the way back.

Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to Brugges again before I come home. I want to take some time to get to know it! It was a very charming place!

Until next time!

Brussels At Night, Sarah's Delight

Adventures in Amsterdam, Out and About in Antwerp, and My Walk to Waterloo

In celebration of mid-terms being over, I went on a series of day-trips. I'm not going to post in chronological order, but will save the best ones for last. :)


Chapter 1: An Introduction to Antwerp

Saturday, I went with my ISA group to Antwerp, a city in the northern part of Belgium. It's known for shopping (lame!) and something else.

Trivia question: What is NO European city complete without?

Answer: A cathedral!
Here's Our Lady Cathedral. No pictures were allowed inside, but it is home to the Reuben's painting, The Descent from the Cross along with some other nice art.

And something that was very nice to stroll through - a little flower market! :)


Also just outside the cathedral was this, which I think is really neat!

Chapter 2: Reuben's House

As a Cultural activity, we headed to the place where one of Belgium's finest - Reuben - lived at some point in time. I got a few neat pictures of the garden (below), but was unable to take any inside the house itself. It was as one would imagine any rich person's house to be - elegant.

The garden was really very pretty - the guy had good taste.


Chapter 3: Amsterdam - The Canals

I was surprised by Amsterdam, actually. I didn't know what to expect of the city, but only knew that I wanted to visit it since it is so near Brussels ( the train only took a few hours, and it was a very nice trip through the country).

There are a few things that I'll remember about Amsterdam: the Red Light District (don't worry - no pictures included), the canals, and the bicycles.

As far as the canals go, it was another beautiful day to be out and about! It was partly cloudy, but it's fall and the leaves are changing colors and to see gold leaves floating down into the waterways with the pretty brick houses lining either side was very peaceful. As a side note, I'm not looking forward to seeing vinyl siding everywhere I go when I get back! The building here are so pleasant to look at!






I wandered around the Jordaan district for most of my time in Amsterdam. It's a residential and it was neat to wander around and see different shops tucked in between houses.

I also went to the Van Gogh Museum, which was nice enough. I liked his early work with the countrysides more than his later stuff - full of earthy tones and everyday people working the soil. My favorite part of the museum, though, was what they had in the basement: a collection of paintings and artificats from all over! My favorites there were 6th Century Greek Amphora, Euphiletos, and a 12th Century statue, Bodhisattva Guanqin. They weren't spectacular as far as quality, but I was interested in them because they're part of history (not to say that Van Gogh isn't...but it's different).

Chapter 4: The Ghostwalk Through Antwerp

Definitely one of the coolest tours I've been on! Sabine, our program director (in the picture on the right) arranged for us to do something a little different while we were in Antwerp. Our guide dressed up handsomly - he's pictured next to Sabine.

We started our tour at this castle, which had once served as the gate to the city of Antwerp, as well as the jail. We heard about John the Fearless, who was never afraid and when his young nephew tried to scare him in the graveyard killed the boy on accident - stories like that.


Things did get a little spooky when we went into an old graveyard and he was telling a story about the "Devil of Antwerp" named Lange Wapper , who is a shape shifter and can take any form he wants, one of which is a that of a black cat. As we were listening to the story, guess what comes sauntering out of nowhere...

Later, a crow shows up and started scolding us. It was a little creepy!

My favorite part of the tour was when we went down a cozy little side street that wandered between some very nice looking restaurants. It reminded me you, Grandma Sarah and Granddaddy Howard - of The Hotel Strausburg and being in Woodstock with you both. I was a very happy girl :)


Chapter 5: Waterloo Battlefield


Today after church, I went out to Waterloo. Since the bus I would have had to wait for was going to take an hour to get there, I walked. It was a good 4 mile walk. Good news is, it wasn't up hill both ways and I wasn't barefoot in the snow. Anyway, it was through the country and it made me happy to be out of the city on such a beautiful day!
The main feature of the battlefield is the Lion Mound, which was constructed over the place where the Prince of Orange was wounded (not sure why he was so special...) The statue is of a lion protecting the globe with his paw. A lot of neat material there for a good metaphor, but I need to work it out in my head a bit more first.


In the shadow of the lion...more material for a good metaphor or allegory. But again - have to wrap my mind around everything that happened this weekend. Writing is helping; I feel like I've got an information overload and I need to process everything that has happened these past few days.

Dad, today made me think of me, you, and Emily going on that Civil War tour a few years ago. I had such a wonderful time then, and it was kind of lonely not to have you two with me on this adventure!

Chapter 6: The Secret Annex

This and Waterloo are tied for highlights of this weekend. I don't even know if I can describe it other than to say I got goosebumps when I saw the swinging book case that hides the Annex. To walk through the bedrooms where they hid for two years...to see the posters that Anne put up in her room to make it more cheerful...looking at Peter's game board on display...

In the words of Marty from Back to the Future, "That's heavy."


Epilogue:

Now I'm sitting at the end of the weekend and looking forward to the week, thankful that I'm done with mid-terms, not very excited about writing research papers, and ready for another adventure!

Love from Belgium, and thank you for the comments!
Sarah