Brussels, Belgium!

Last weekend, I went to Brussels with Jori, Cierra, Jake, Sean, and Ryan. It was such a blast! : ) This was actually the first time I traveled out of the United Kingdom. It honestly didn't hit me until I had to show my passport since we were going into Europe! How crazy! 

Well, our travel time was approximately 16 hours. It was crazy how it all begun. Since a few days prior to our trip, we had a big snow storm here. The UK hasn't seen snow like this in 20 years! Well, we all have purchased our tickets for the hostel and transportation previously so we had no choice but to make it all happen! The morning we woke up and met up at the bus stop, the ground was filled with snow and it was snowing that morning! There was absolutely no one insight.
Our taxi driver didn't show up, so after several minutes of contemplating what to do, we decided to walk down to the main bus stop and sure enough there was a random taxi cab by itself. He took the 5 of us down to the Quadrant to catch our bus for London while the other 2 guys stayed at the bus stop. After a few minutes, our bus to London came! : ) It was AMAZING! Also, during that time, the taxi driver dropped off Sean and Jake, the other 2 that were left back. So, it all happened perfectly for us! This picture was taken while we were on the ferry on the English Channel. Behind are the cliff of Dover. 

Once we arrived at our hostel in Belgium, I was shocked to see how nice our hostel was. I expected it to be a lot worse! LOL! I thought I'd have to purchase a lock for my belonging so it wouldn't get stolen. LOL! It was actually just a room for all 6 of us, so it was a lot better than what I anticipated. Well, we ended up going to the pub and just having a chill night. The next day, we went sightseeing on a tour bus. It was pretty great! I spent near 70 bucks on chocolate! : ) Belgium chocolates are the BEST! I purchased a lot for my little mommy! WHOO! I also enjoyed the Belgium waffles! My first one was with strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream. Ohhh my! It was DELIGHTFUL! : ) Definitely made my day even better! 

Overall, Belgium was gorgeous. It's a city that I know I would eventually want to go back to visit one day. The churches and monuments were spectacular! Also, Brussels is the capital of the European Union. So a lot of business gets accomplished there. : ) It's just different having to walk all the time to get anywhere. Every time we crossed the street, we'd have to watch from both directions, so it's certainly making me more aware of my surroundings and where I'm at. This trip definitely made me notice how difficult it was getting around the city in just a weekend due to the language barrier. They spoke mainly french and german in Brussels. It was more challenging just to read the signs and ask for help. While in restaurants and other public facilities, the employees were prone to speaking in english just because it was an area full of tourists. 

On the left is a picture of the Manakin Piss. Everyone made this statue such a big deal, so we went around the whole city to find this itty bitty stature of it. Sure did take me by surprise! 

Well, today. I just got back from Amsterdam during the wee hours this morning. The trip there wasn't as bad as the trip home. Getting there, Megan and I had 5 seats to ourselves on the coach. Goodness, it was definitely comfortable! The ride home was horrifying. It was hot like a sauna. For Amsterdam, I'm thinking about blogging about that trip next week. Lets just say, I would have to think twice on coming back to Amsterdam. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it as much as the other cities I've visited. 

As far as today, Jori, Ben and I went down to the city center to top off on our phones and just to enjoy the weather. It was gorgeous today. Too bad the sun never stays out for more than 3 hours! I'm jealous. The weather back in Oklahoma is like 70 degrees! I'm here struggling in the 10 degree weather! I am planning on dying my hair completely brown again. It's been quite sometime now since I've been dark, but I enjoy change! : ) Megan is going to dye it for me this week! YAY! As far as academics, I'm pretty sure I haven't read over 2 pages in any of my classes! The classes are completely different over here. We only receive one big examination at the end of the term and it's comprehensive. That, or having to write an essay which my generous professor for my International Politics of Space class decided to assign an 18 page paper due on April 27. So, looks like my trip home will be filled with days in the library! WHOOO!! (The picture on the right is full of fresh seafood and also the Manakin Piss)

Last week, I officially booked my flight home to Oklahoma on March 20-April 11. Soon after my short visit, I will be flying into Paris shortly after then on to Athens, Greece to meet up with the girls. I'm so so so stoked to go to Greece! We plan on visiting the Greek Isles!  I believe I am completely burnt out from traveling already. I still have a couple trips to do, then I'll be ready to come back home to the great state of Oklahoma. I miss everyone and lots of food! I'm having sushi, buffalo wild wings, and jamba juice withdrawals. It's unfortunate! LOL! Well, I'm also starting to attend bible study on Tuesdays and of course church on Sundays when I'm in town! I'm so excited to be able to attend even though I'm so far away from home! It's definitely a good thing! 

Night out at Oceania!