This past week included me cooking brussel sprouts for Thanksgiving then heading to Brussels, Belgium for the weekend. Thanksgiving was celebrated much differently this year as the US holiday is non-existent in the UK. Half of my professors were on strike this week so I didn't have a morning class which gave me some time to run my own Turkey Trot 5K to get me in the Thanksgiving mood. My day carried on as any other day with my accounting class and then my bagpiping class where our lecturer kindly let my class full of Americans out early so we could go celebrate. That night my friends and I got together after making our favorite Thanksgiving dishes to celebrate together. In addition to the brussel sprouts, I made my mother's pumpkin chocolate chip muffins that I love. In order to make this delicacy, I went to 6 different grocery stores until I finally found canned pumpkin (the American classics such as pumpkin and cornbread barely exist here). My mother was also kind enough to wake up at 5:30 am when I called asking for the recipe. I also celebrated with my flatmates on Tuesday with all the delicious Thanksgiving classic foods. Neither celebration consisted of Turkey as that is another item we learned doesn't exist in the UK but both celebrations were delightful and centered on the true meaning of Thanksgiving and coming together.
The next morning I woke up at 4:10 am and headed to Brussels, Belgium. The wake up wasn't too bad (not only because I had done it the past 2 Fridays) because I had 5 other friends of mine from Gonzaga on my flight which made it nice to Uber to the airport together. When I arrived in Brussels I experienced my first hiccup of abroad: my gate-checked carry-on didn't make my connect and was still in Amsterdam. Long story short the bag never got to me and I wore the same outfit the entire weekend... but I didn't let that get to me and was able to enjoy myself in Brussels. My friend from University of Denver, Taylor, was meeting me later Friday night. I spent Friday exploring the city via a walking tour and searching out all the Christmas markets. The walking tour gave me a great base knowledge of Brussels. My new knowledge ranges from facts about the statue of the peeing boy the town is obsessed with to how the EU's headquarter are in Brussels and run the town. The tour also told me the best place to get fries in Brussels; fries are a Belgium staple (make sure not to call them French fries or you may get kicked out of the country!). After venturing around the Christmas markets (and maybe eating one or two Belgium waffles), I checked out the Cathedral. The Cathedral was very fun to see as the inside held over twenty different nativity scenes made by all different ethnic communities from around the city. On Friday night every square in the town was lit up with a light show. The light shows projected off the building and churches. One square, in particular, had a large Christmas tree and nativity scene in its center which really got me in the Christmas spirit. I enjoyed the day by myself as I had the freedom to do whatever I pleased but I confirmed that I enjoy being surrounded and travelling with friends much more.
Saturday and Sunday were filled with Christmas markets, chocolate, and sightseeing. Of the many chocolate shops we came across, my favorite has to be Mary. Mary is not only the first chocolate shop opened by a woman but it is also the chocolatier for the King of Brussels-- it's all in the name. Our caloric intake consisted of mussels as Belgium is known for their seafood (specifically their mussels), some classic Christmas market mulled wine, famous Belgium beer, more waffles (duh), and the best hot chocolate I have ever had in my life. I am pretty sure that the hot chocolate in Belgium has forever changed the way I look at hot chocolate. This is no Swissmiss, let's just say that. This hot chocolate is very thick and rich. DELICIOUS! Mom, can you make me Belgium hot chocolate the next time I come in after playing in the snow? The whole town was in celebration-mode for the Christmas markets. After we randomly ran into friends from University of Denver in Grand Place, a parade broke out complete with men on stilts and a marching man. The architecture of the city was very similar to Amsterdam which makes sense as the two cities are in close proximity (about 100 miles). Our Airbnb also had the ideal location right next to one of the larger squares of the Christmas markets (they were spread out throughout the city) and looked right out on Saint Catherine's church. The rest of our days were filled with seeing the royal palace and a few of the cities parks and gardens.
I had a fun weekend catching up with Taylor as we ate and drank our way through Brussels. Seeing a good amount of European cities at the point in my semester I started to pick up on the similarities and differences between cities and regions of Europe. I am leaving this week feeling very thankful for the amazing flatmates I get to live with and friendships I have been able to foster and make while abroad.