Today the whole group of JMU students went on a day trip to Brugge and Ghent, cities in Belgium. The bus departed at 9:00 am and we arrived in Ghent around 10. In Ghent we took a walking tour around the city. We saw St. Baafskathedraal and the Hent Gravensteen castle of the counts. We were even able to go into the castle. It was absolutely beautiful.
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| St. Baafskathedraal |
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| Hent Gravensteen Castle |
Also on the walking tour we stopped to see an alley way that is given by the city to the youth to express their ceativity through graffiti. It is known as Graffiti Alley and it is forever changing. Anyone is welcome to paint their art on the walls.
After the 2 hour tour we were able to go to lunch but only had 45 minutes. We found a cute cafe for lunch but the food took a while so we had to eat it very quickly. I had the soup of the day which was a tomato soup but with added spice. It was delicious but I was sad I couldn't enjoy it. We then got back on the bus and rode for about another hour to Bruge. I slept the entire bus ride. In Bruge we also took another walking tour. We saw the, Onthaalkerk Onze-Lieve-Vrouw or church of our lady, which is the tallest in all of Europe made completely of brick.
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| Onthaalkerk Onze-Lieve-Vrouw |
We also were able to go into Heilig Bloed Basiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood). It is divided into two chapels a lower and upper. The lower has only stone walls since it has been used for vasious things. The upper chapel though is extermely ornate. Every wall is covered in murals. It is in here that the blood of christ is kept in a gorgeous chamber sort of thing. I was able to see it which was very powerful. Just being in that chapel was amazing and knowing that the blood of christ himself was there made it even more surreal.
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| Heilig Bloed Basiliek |
After visiting the chapel we went to The Markt, the main square in Brugge. It is here that the Belfort tower is. You are actually able to climb to the top of the tower but it was closed on Sunday. After the tour ended we were able to have free time to do whatever we wanted in Brugge. Most of the group went shoping and bought chocolate since Brugge is the chocolate capital of the world. There were numerous chocolate shops and all of them were so nice. Brugge is also known very well for its lace. Lace was being sold in almost every shop. We finally boarded the bus for the last time at 6:30pm and rode for about an hour and a half back to Antwerp. I also slept the whole bus ride home. Classes start tomorrow and I am excited but nervous. Each class is a 3 hour block and we have 3 tomorrow! Wish me luck :)
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| The Markt |
