So yesterday, the Fourth of July, we got up and out to go to 2 museums in Brugge. My group first went to a chocolate museum. It explained the chocolate making process and history, and why Belgian chocolate is so good. At least, that's what they told us it said. It was already like 85 degrees and the museum was in a 4 story Belgian house in the middle of the city, we had walked 15 minutes to get there, there was no ac, and ~60 people flooding into the house/museum all at once. So it was kinda hard to pay attention. The chocolate they gave us though was really good! (I'd have brought it home but it's so hot, it would be melted 😕)
From that museum we went to the Oude Steen Objects of Justice museum, and museum devoted to medieval torture weapons. It was really interesting and really really disturbing. All of the descriptions made me cringe, but most of the things they had on display were original to the time period, and the building it was in was "probably the oldest house in Brugge, and also a 12th century prison" So that was cool. The tour guide was really funny and nice too.
Around 12 we got done with the 2 of those and had until 3:30 to explore the city on our own. I had arranged to meet Lynn, our exchange student for next year at the market place in the center, just a 2 minute walk from the museum. Daniah, Asia and I all went and met her and her parents and sister there. We all introduced everyone, then Lynn came with us and the rest of her family went to do errands or something.
I had been a little worried she wouldn't like us, would have too much of an accent to understand, or just not have anything to talk about, but everything worked out perfectly! The four of us went to a church that has the only statue carved by Michelangelo north of the Alps. It was pretty, but the rest of the cathedral is in the process of being restored, so there wasn't much else to see there.
We continued on from there to a few different shops, looking for souvenirs for ourselves and friends and family. Asia and I got a few things there, then we all got either waffles or fries, of course. We all had a fun time, got along just fine, and it was great!
Daniah insisted we go to "all" the chocolate shops, so we could find the best, but we stopped after a few, since there was so much more to see in the city than chocolate over and over. We all got some to bring home, and got a little freezer bag to keep them from melting. It actually worked too, and mine are only a little bit damaged.
Around 2, with an hour and a half left, we decided to go up the belfry. The stairs were kinda tricky, and Asia didn't want to go all the way, which was too bad, so she stayed at the middle floor while the other three of us went all the way up. It had been a half hour wait in line, and 366 spiral steps to the top, but totally totally worth it. You could see for miles and miles. All the red roofs and there was a river and it was just amazing. The bells were all in the tower too, and so pretty and loud! I had left my nice camera with Asia, I didn't want it to get hurt if I fell up the stairs (a real possibility, I do that sometimes even when they aren't slippery spiral stairs... 😉) I did take pictures with my iPod though.
We made our way back down and were a little less than half an hour early back to our group meeting spot. It was still "wicked hot" and Asia and I had sparkling iced tea, which was quite good but it didn't taste like regular iced tea. Lynn had to go back to her family, and we said goodbye, but see you in 2 months!
We went back to the hotel, showered super quick to get rid of all the sweat and grossness we had aquired from climbing up and down 366 steps in 90 degree heat, and put on our uniforms for dinner and a concert. The concert was at this hotel castle thing that was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't have time to take pictures, and it was killing me because the light and the clouds were literally perfect. Our bus got there first, (more on that later, I'll tell yall in person about this one) and everyone was warming up. Then the band played, we went, orchestra, and Stars and Stripes combined piece for the finale.
The castle was a restaurant and there was a pond and fields and it was very old and gorgeous. There was a cow pasture on the side of the driveway from the parking lot to the castle and I overheard one of the boys saying to his friend, "oh my god, those huge-ass goats just freak me out honestly." But like, they weren't goats. They were cows. Cows. I told Margaret Daniah Asia Alex Reid and a few other people and we all had a hearty laugh about that one. They were cows!
After it was over, everyone was freaking out as to how bad everything went, since we didn't have enough to time warm up and all the solos across the board went badly, key changes just didn't happen, and tons of other things. Everything that could go badly, went badly. But we got on the bus and the directors congratulated us on our "fantastic" job. Okay....
There was a guy there in a sash with the German/Belgian colors on it, and he made a 3 page speech, which was probably important but it was in Dutch. So that was great... No one knew who he was either, but he looked important. I asked around, one kid, Alex, told me it was the prime minister. Since we had been so bad, my face must have looked horrified, cause he laughed and said how I was like the third person he got with that one. Thank you Alex...
(On the bus home, so tired, such a mess.)
We got back at like 11:30, cleaned up the hotel room, and passed out. So tired. Every day here is a Long Day, they always feel like 3 days in one honestly. It's exhausting. But it's a lot of fun too!
Tonight we are going to Notre Dame, Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, and then a river cruise! I'm so excited 😄
~Taylor
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