Day 3: Brugges and Ieper

Monday, May 12, 2008

BRUGGES and IEPER

After a much needed nights rest to recover from our jet lag,
we all hopped onto the bus Monday morning to travel to the small tourist city
of Brugge, Belgium. Since today was the national holiday of Pentecost, there
were not too many businesses open. We mainly toured the city to see what the
Belgian culture had to offer. We first went on a boat tour of the city and we
saw some very beautiful architecture in not only the churches and government
buildings, but also in all of the houses. They had various architecture styles
that are derived from both the Roman and Gothic eras. After this initial tour
as a group, we all split up into smaller groups to go on various adventures
throughout Brugge. Most of us went into the cathedral to see a statue of
Madonna With Child, sculpted by Michelangelo. After that some of us went to a
chocolate museum and others went to a brewery to see how the process works and
for a general tour of the brewery. We also managed to find time to do some
shopping. Many students visited the popular chocolate, clothing, and souvenir
shops.

In the afternoon, we all got back on the bus to go to
another tourist town, Ieper. Here we toured the In Flanders Field Museum, which
was dedicated to the involvement of Belgium in World War I. After this tour, we
checked out the rest of the town, including the wall surrounding the city and
various shops and restaurants. To conclude the night, we watched a ceremony
that was in the honor of the fallen soldiers during World War I. This is a
similar ceremony to the changing of the guard in Arlington National Cemetery in
Washington, D.C. This ceremony has taken place every single day since it
started when the memorial was built. 
After the ceremony, we boarded the bus for a hour and a half trip back
to Leuven.  Even though we returned late,
some of us still had energy to explore the Leuven nightlife, while others of us
rested up for another busy day tomorrow!

By: Matt Carton, Mitch Heisler, Lindsey Bruntjen, and Trent
Pflaum  

Posted by Meredith Blumthal