Lila's Birthday

Thursday, April 5 was my friend Lila’s 21^st birthday. To celebrate we went to Chi Chi’s to have dinner and some drinks. They offered pitchers of margaritas so we had a couple of those. After dinner we sang Happy Birthday and the waiter gave her a sombrero to keep. We paid the bill and then went to the ritzy area of Antwerp called SOHO. Apparently this is where Belgian celebrities hang out but we didn’t see any, not that we would recognize them anyway. After the bar is SOHO we went to a club called Local. We had never been there before because it is generally really hard to get it but one of the people we were with knew a guy that managed the place so we got in right away. It was pretty fun but we didn’t stay long because our midterm was the next day. Even though we had to go back early it was still a fun night and she had a great birthday!

Local

National Bank of Belgium and such

So finals are finally over and now we have started our marketing “blitz course”, which is a class crammed into 2 weeks. Monday, April 3, we had 6 hours of one class. It was a long day! Since then we have only had 3 hours which isn’t too bad. I’ve gotten used to 3 hours of class at a time. Tomorrow we have our first midterm for marketing. It seems a little crazy to have a midterm after only 4 days of classes but we have learned a lot already and it shouldn’t be too hard. Yesterday, Wednesday, we went to the National Bank of Belgium to listen to an economist give a speech about banking and the European Union and stuff like that. I was a nice speech but not really the most interesting speech ever. The Bank is really pretty though!

 This weekend I am heading to Paris and meeting up with my dad and Kathy. I’m excited to have a break and travel! I’ll let you all know how it went when I get back. Until then I’ll talk to you later.

Leuven, Belgium

On Thursday March 22, 2012 we had a field trip to Leuven, Belgium. It took about an hour and a half to get there by bus. Our first stop was the famous Stella Artois Brewery. We were given a tour of the brewery and were able to taste the beer at the end of the tour. It was really interesting. They recycle 99% of all waste at the factory. That means all the recycled cans and bottles are cleaned and reused. Also all the labels that are taken off and recycled and used for making other paper products such as napkins and toilet paper. It was also really cool to see all the bottles getting filled. They can fill up to 80,000 cans of beer in one hour and they operate 24/7/365. That’s a lot of beer!

After the tour we rode the bus over towards the center of Leuven and were given free time for lunch. Most of us went to the Kebab shop and got Kebabs with freits, that’s french fries in Dutch, on top. Yummm. After lunch we took a tour of the city. We went into St. Michael’s church and saw the town hall. We also saw the university that is situated in the middle of the city. The university is extremely old and beautiful. The city holds around 38,000 students. It’s a beautiful city, almost to the point where I wish our program was there but I still LOVE Antwerp! We rode the bus home and arrived in Antwerp around 6:00pm. That was the end of our day.

The next day, Friday, was the last day of our classes! It was gorgeous out and after class I went shopping and walking around Antwerp. It was great. This morning, Saturday March 24, 2012, a bunch of people went to the farmer’s market. It was a lot bigger than what I expected and I loved it. I bought a baguette, cheese, and strawberries, as well as a watch and a pair of earrings. I also had my first churro. I got back to the Monty around 1:00pm and I have been studying all day for my finance final that is on Monday. Wednesday I have an Operations final and finally Friday I have my Management final. Wish me luck. Time to finish strong!

Spring is Finally Here!

The Last Days in Paradise

The last day we slept in and eventually made our way back to the ancient area of Rome. We found a nice café and had sandwiches and coffee and hot chocolate for me. Delicious! While we were there we wrote postcards for the families and just enjoyed the day. Afterwards we continued to walk around and did a little shopping. We also went back to Vatican City to send our post cards and went to the Spanish stairs one more time to see it in the daylight and take pictures. The day was very nice and relaxed. Around 6 we got on a bus to go back to the airport and catch our flight back to Brussels. That night we stayed in a hotel near the airport and slept for a few hours. The next day we took a cab back to the airport, took a bus to the train station, and took the train to Brussels International Airport. It was quite the haul but we made it. I waited for Dylan to check his bag and then watched him walk though security. It was a sad moment watching him go. Once he was through security I walked to the bus that would take me to Antwerp and got on. The rest is history and my amazing Spring Break was over.

Vatican City

The next day we signed up for a tour of the Vatican. The previous night I had asked to guy at the front desk if the tour left from the hostel and he told me it did. The next morning when I signed up the people informed me that it didn’t leave from the hostel instead it just started in Vatican City. Dylan and I had about 20 minutes to get from the hostel to the Vatican. We ended up making it just in time but it was a little stressful. We first toured the Vatican museum, which I was glad we got a tour guide for because it is gigantic. All of the artwork was amazing and I particularly liked the Hall of Maps. At the end of the museum the guide took us into the Sistine Chapel. No pictures are allowed in there but I was able to sneak a few just for my readers!  J The Sistine Chapel was absolutely amazing. It’s unbelievable that Michelangelo was able to paint it almost entirely by himself.

Next we were able to go into St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s gorgeous and HUGE. An interesting fact that I learned it that the cupola that sits atop of the basilica is actually not attached. It is so heavy that it just sits on top and cannot be moved.

After touring Vatican City we went and had lasagna at a little restaurant. Not very many people in Rome spoke English so ordering was kind of difficult. Next we walked over to the Castel Sant’ Angelo built to hold the remains of Emperor Hadrian. We didn’t go inside we just walked by it and took some pictures.

. Both of us were exhausted and we had a hard time figuring out the bus system so we slowly made our way back to the hostel. At the hostel we took a nap and woke up about 3 hours later. We decided to go out to a nice dinner, just the two of us, and our tour guide from the first day recommended a nice area we could go to. We walked around for a while and finally decided on a little Italian restaurant. I had spaghetti with meat sauce and Dylan ordered seafood pasta. We also ordered a bottle of wine. After dinner we went to a bar that was by the train station. The atmosphere was kind of weird but Dylan and I made friends with the bartender and he gave us quite a few free drinks. He said it was his last night working there so that’s probably why. He was a really nice guy and he was great at bartending. He would do a bunch of tricks and throw the glasses around. I was impressed. Finally we made our way back home.

Bastine Chocolate Factory

I just realized that I forgot to blog about my visit to the chocolate factory next door to my dorm. On February 21, instead of having classes the group took a tour of the Bastine Chocolate Factory. We started the tour by watching a video on how cocoa is grown, harvested, and converted into chocolate. After the short video we went downstairs to where all of the chocolate is made. We watched to owner fill the chocolate molds then fill them with marzipan by hand. They also showed us how they are able to mass produce using machines. I was chosen to try making the design on the chocolate using a little fork-like utensil. I pressed down too hard and the owner made a joke about it. We were able to sample the chocolate and it was delicious. They also gave us a box of chocolates as a gift when we left. We then had the rest of the day off to just relax. It was a good day. J

RomAmoR

On Tuesday, March 6 at around 9:00pm Dylan and I arrived in the Rome airport. We waited to take a shuttle to the train station then had to walk from the train station to the hostel. The name of the hostel we stayed in was Alessandro Downtown. On the way to the hostel we stopped and ate dinner at McDonalds. I know it’s terrible but it was the only thing open and we were both exhausted. The hostel was about a 5 minute walk from the train station down a somewhat scary road, at night that is. The hostel was pretty nice. I definitely liked the one in Barcelona better though. As soon as we got checked in we headed to the room and went to bed. The next morning we slept till about 9 or 10 and then signed up for a tour of Ancient Rome.

The Coliseum

Turns out we were the only ones that signed up so we ended up having a private tour with a guy named Tim. He was really nice and you could tell he loved the history of Rome. He told us that he had just moved there about 9 months ago from Holland where he studied ancient history at a university. He first took us to the Coliseum by metro. We had excellent views of the Coliseum and walked all around it. Unfortunately our tour did not go inside though. We also saw the Roman Forum, Pantheon, City Hall, Circus Maximus, and the monument built when Rome became a part of Italy. The monument is massive and very white. Tim told us that most Romans do not like it because it is so large and they think it is too bold I guess you would say. It’s beautiful but they feel it’s an eyesore.

The Monument

My favorite of course was the Coliseum but I also really liked the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus is where chariot racing used to take place. Now it is just a big field with somewhat of a track but it is cool to stand there and imagine what it used to look like.

Circus Maximus

Also some other places we saw during the tour were the balcony where Mussolini stood and the site where Michelangelo’s house used to be. After our tour Tim took us to a small pizza place just around the corner from the Pantheon. There pizza was amazing! After lunch I suggested we get gelato so Tim also took us to his favorite gelato place and joined us for a cone of gelato. I got coffee and chocolate gelato. Finally Tim left and pointed us in the direction of the Trevi Fountain.

The Pantheon

When we got there I wasn’t too impressed. I thought it would be in an open area and that the fountain would be massive. Instead it is tucked away in a corner with shops surrounding and it isn’t quite as big as I thought. There were also a million tourists surrounding it. We of course took pictures in front and tossed a coin into the fountain. Later that night we walked to the top of Pincio Hill to see the sunset over Rome. It was stunning. You could see the Pantheon, St. Peters Basilica, and the monument all in one glance. My friends Cat and Lauren also met us to watch the sunset.

Once the sun was all the way down and it was dark we walked to a nice little restaurant just past the Trevi Fountain. We shared a bottle of wine and I hade fettuccine alfredo. For desert we had more gelato. Gelato crushes ice cream any day! After dinner we walked around a little more and went home to bed.

Trevi Fountain at night