Brussels, Belgium Part IV & Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Brussels, Belgium Part IV & Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

 

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Dublin, Ireland

The next couple blogs will not have a ton of descriptions because I am working hard in school! I have never had to write so many papers in my life! I have...

-a paper on the production of the soft drink industry due for economics - 10-15pages

-a 10-15 page paper on Belgium's Dutroux Incident

-a 10-15 page paper on the merger of Scherling-Plough and Merck

-a 5 page paper on Belgium's economy

-a 15 page paper on my internship

All due May 4th. 

WISH ME LUCK!

ENJOY THE PICTURES!

St. Patty's Day in Dublin!

 

My packing

 

Plane ride!

 

Random Irishman, me and

Cologne, Germany

Köln, Deutschland

 

Five of us took a train to Cologne, Germany! Our hostel was right next to the train station and the train station was right next to downtown.  It was perfect.  The first night we went in search of a true German meal and we found it! Below is a picture of Meaghan and I drinking the beer, Koelsch.  It is well known in Germany and one of the last expensive beers.

 

 Below  is Rodrigo, Ben, and Eric also drinking the same beer.  We found a restaurant where the walls were covered in old advertisements and pictures - some of which showed what Cologne looked like after being bomb in WWII - quite disastrous.  There actually was not much left after the bombs, except the cathedral and couple other buildings.

 

Below is a small corner of the restaurant to give you

Amsterdam, Netherlands

 Amsterdam's culture is very different from any I've experienced thus far.  It's many cannabis coffee shops are just one of many characteristics which make the city so unique.  I went with a group of 10 people and the first thing we did was a 3 hour "free" walking tour (tipping is basically required but no there is no real fee).  Our tour guide took us everywhere!  

 

We saw many many many canals and their bridges which consisted of swans, ducks, and other birds.  The canals are bordered very closely by tall houses and

Chocolate Museum and Sushi

Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?  ~Coleman Cox

A little about Belgium: Right now Belgium does not have a government, yet it's national pride dates way back before it became an independent country in 1830.  The word Belgium actually comes from Ceaser around 60 B.C.  Belgium's political history is made up of a serious of compromises.  This is due to the major opinion differences in Belgium.  There are language borders and political separation. Due to the major differences in Northern and Southern Belgium, there has always been a question of whether Belgium should split into 2 separate countries.

Northern Belgium, who was once part of the Netherlands, is the Flanders area.  They speak mainly Flemish (Dutch) and are for the separation of Belgium.  The Southern area is called Wallonia, they speak mostly French and are mainly against the separation of Belgium since economically they are farther behind than the Flanders area.  This is due to the fact that after WWII most of the aid given by through the United States Marshall Plan was recieved by Flanders.  Therefore, Wallonia had more trouble recovering after the war, industrially and economically.

 

When I asked a Francaphone (native Belgian French speaker), what the drinking age was.  She said there really isn't one set.  People are responsible about what they drink and they teach their children as they grow up how to handle alcohol.  When I asked my host parents what the

Bastogne, Belgium

 

All the students in my program boarded the bus at 7:30 am and we made a 2 1/2 hour drive to Luxembourg - I slept the whole way.  We stayed in Luxembourg for about an an hour - we went just to see the American War Cemetery and Memorial.  This is also where General Patton was buried.  

Brothers were buried next to each other.

There is one woman buried in this cemetary.

Anyone who was Jewish (of course didn't have the cross) had a stone in the shape of the Star of David.

 

Most of the interred died during Battle of the Bulge (WWII) Winter 1944 to Spring 1945.  The cemetery is in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg which also served as headquarters for

Ghent, Belgium

 

Ghent LOVES their bikes!  We left the train station and in every direction there were thousands of bikes in the middle of the street.  If you didn't get out of the way of the actual bikers then you would be run over!

 

We visited the Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Museum of Fine Arts) and the SMAK or Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (City Museum for Contemporary Art).  The art at both places was very.... interesting. Above, I am actually sitting on a

Antwerp, Belgium

Never Regret Anything That Made You Smile

 

 Central Station. As you are heading up the 3 flights of escalators your eyes open to more and more of the beautiful inside of Antwerp's Grand Central Station.

Antwerp is the center for diamonds. The city is located at the right bank river of the Scheldt.

Jiemin and I at the beginning of the shopping street.  Antwerp is not just known for diamonds but also FASHION.  We spent a lot of our time shopping.

 Fun Fact: Antwerp is Antwerpen in Flemish.


History of Name:

In the middle ages a mean and nasty giant controlled the river traffic on the Schelde. Sometimes he demanded tolls otherwise he just refused to allow passage. 

Something had to be done about it so a man named Brabo slew the giant, cut off the

Brussels, Belgium Part III

"I hope there's lots of food in our next adventure." -Tum Tum Ninja Turtles

 

CHOCOLATE! This particular chocolate store had a chocolate fountain where you could go and take a piece of fruit (provided by the store) or bread and dip it into the chocolate fountain.  Chocolate is everywhere in Belgium!

   FIRST WAFFLE!  The waffles are fresh - made right in front of you.  You can choose from different fruits, chocolate sauce (which hardens if you wait long enough - I chose not to wait), and/or homemade ice cream.  I got chocolate sauce and

Brussels, Belgium Part II

 "It's a dangerous business going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."  J.R.R. Tolkien



Belgium's shops are only legally allowed to have two sales a year.  They each can be up to a month long and only can last for the month of January and the month of July.  Since we arrived in January there are sales EVERYWHERE.  Emily, my program adviser says if we're going to buy ANYTHING at all in Brussels, buy it now.

Stock exchange builidng! It's absolutely gorgeous.  Sits in the middle of one of the many large intersections in Brussels.  Right across from it is the Irish pub O'Reillys (can't see it in the picture)

Looking down one of the streets, cars can drive pretty much anywhere.  You rarely see any stop signs.  Drivers are crazy.  Rules of the road are different.  At an intersection (unless it's a stop