Time for an update for sure and a country tour!

So where did I leave off? Oh yes, interviews awaited. And they proceeded as follows: 

Day 1: Four interviews 9:30 AM-4:30 PM (Rachael=exhausted)

Day 2: One final interview in the afternoon

Lets just say the interviews all went swimmingly but, to say the least, left me well-familiarized with the layout of the city and the various forms of transportation one can use in Brussels. I'll leave you in great suspense and save the results of the interview until later in the post :) , evil I know.

However, I was able to kill some time in between the interview marathon and stumbled into a local park, quite beautiful. Oh and I should probably apologize now for the long post, couldn't resist.

Also, here's a shot of some local EU scenery

And also my street with our local kitty mascot :)

So, after our interview week (my schedule gave me and my friend Kelly a day off Thursday), we felt like taking a night to try the local bar, Delirium on Wednesday where I tried the Delirium Nocturnum (a dark, very good local brew) and one that is served mixed with peach schnapps (very interesting). 

Then, the ten of us in the program headed off to Louvain Friday for a day trip with Jerry. The city is a small, non-touristy place but largely identified by its college-town identity of 60,000 students and only 80,000 inhabitants. 

This building interestingly suffered a tower collapse due to soft soil in the area, which you can sort of notice in the cut off appearance

The tomb of Damian: He went to live in a Hawaiian leper community to help them, then eventually died of the disease himself. People still alive today from the community make the pilgrimage to see him.

 The school's...library. Bit nicer than mine...Also suffered a history of multiple attacks resulting in burning of several invaluable book collections and town documents.

Dinner was at a local brewhouse, I tried an amber brew that is made in-house. Good dinner, but friend Kelly discovered she's allergic to white asparagus...a local flemish dish that is in season now...no harm done don't worry, she's fine. (Oh, and no french used here! They get offended even because the language divide is stark in North and South Belgium, with the exception of Brussels)

Although we returned Friday night to our host homes because Louvain is close, Saturday we left for our weekend trip starting in Antwerp. A port city, it's commerce has built it up to be quite a happening place, yet still has a lot of historic architecture preserved (apologies for many pictures).

Did I mention Antwerp is most known for its...diamonds...Also a business run mainly by Jews, so our Saturday visit resulted in all shops being closed for shabbos, but we passed by their local temple as well, complete with a body guard because security is insane around here, due to the goods they're protecting.

 We found a park :)

Shout-out to Nana...I think you know why :) Also Happy Birthday!

This is the coast's castle, also pictured is a statue depicting the legend of the Lange wapper, who is said to be a giant who would play tricks on boats coming into shore and turn them back out to sea in the fog. This legend is born from the long cranes that would lift cargo off the boats in combination with the habit sailors had in consuming a bit too much alcohol...which was probably what really turned them around if you know what I mean.

 

This is the famous local painting some of you may recognize by Rubens:

 Funny story about this building: Was once a meat guild hall, and was meant to look like the layers of marbled meat/fat...so of course I needed an ironic vegetarian picture.

 The story about this sculpture is a local royal artist's daughter fell in love with a blacksmith, and he wouldn't be allowed to marry her, but he proved his worth  by showing how metalwork can be art and built this fountain, then they married. (And next to it is his house in town)

This was once a local king's house, which is now a swanky cafe and chocolate shop, which we simply walked through, as our wallets whimpered...

 

 Local mall. Beautiful, and even note the balcony champagne bar behind us

 We ended the day at a local Irish pub, with live music performed by a guy named Taco, yes, his real name, and I was convinced to try some hard cider for the first time as well.

Then, it was off to Ghent! 

Local market included...live chickens and live fish, ducks, rabbits...that's fresh.

Ghent's castle! One of the oldest still in tact of this type.

 There happened to be men crafting weapons at the castle that day...very cool.

View from the top, and from the throne :)

 Yes, he's huge. And yes, I pet him :) She said I could take him and he'd fill up my whole bed. Mom, Dad, can we?

 Went out for a beer to close the day at a local bar that has over 250 bottled varieties. Took the bartender's recommendation and did a dark Trappistes, which packed quite a punch but was very good. Also pictured is the basket on the ceiling of customers' shoes, who have opted for the 2.5 foot tall beer glass that costs 90 euro if you break it, so they take a shoe for collateral. When someone orders one, they ring a bell and pull a string to get them down. We saw this happen many times, and as you can see, the basket is full. I'll give a shout out to the lady who put her heel in.

Finally, Jerry took us around Bruges today (Monday). Since it is a Belgian holiday, we luckily had this long weekend to take without missing work. The most touristy of the city, we were thankful for the bit of rain we got today to thin out the crowd a bit, still a beautiful town (known for its chocolate and also lace, but mostly chocolate :) ). Oh, and also known for its beer (surprise I know...) but it is because, due to water contamination, those who drank beer didn't get sick due to the alcohol. So low-alcohol content beer was often the drink of choice for health reasons. 

 Swans are important local, protected animals here.

 Fun fact: these trees are noticeably tilted due to strong North Sea winds from the not too far off shore.

Saw a local shop pulling sugar for lollipops :)

This is one of four horse sculptures depicting the apocalypse, so of course we're scared...

But in all seriousness...horse chariot tours are a HUGE thing here and were a bit of a traffic concern...

 We also went to a short ceremony in which they show a vile of blood of Jesus. Many come to venerate.

After closing the day with a bit more perusing of local chocolate shops, we headed home for dinners with our families back in Brussels. A lovely weekend had by all...

...and the moment you've been waiting for...I start work tomorrow...at the office at 7:45 AM...at ATA/the Atlantic Treaty Association! We have to get there that early because we're taking a trip to NATO tomorrow with the staff!