The Sun Comes Out in Bruges

Bruges is considered the Venice of the north. Not having been to Venice I can't really comment on how accurate that is. What I can comment on is how beautiful it is with all those canals. I never realized how much my environmental surroundings affect me and my overall outlook on life, the day, anything. Being near water and having sunlight are apparently both hugely important. Okay, on to more important things: 

Also, I lied, there were a few more pictures to show without the sun in them. But those are coming, be patient!

Real autumn colors! Woo hoo!

The photos above are of artwork we saw in a few museums while in Bruges. The bottom three are all prints done by Bruges artist Frank Brangwyn. Printmaking is one of those techniques in art that I am always blown away by. I never mastered it in any way so I love to look at how other people use their gifts with this process. These prints were actually fairly small, only 8 inches I'd say at the largest. I have a sweet spot for small works of art. The two top pieces were just cool. They were entitled "Snow covered cars" and it looked like they'd punched tiny holes from behind the paper to create the effect of snow. So cool!

These are from the chocolate museum. Honestly it really isn't worth the money or time to learn about the process. It would be if they gave you a ton of samples of the stuff. Buuuuut they do not. We were fooled. The best part about it was this quote from the 17th century, I highlighted it so you won't miss it.

As soon as we got to our room after a day of exploring, the sun came out. So we headed right back into it even though it felt like our feet were on the verge of falling off from all the walking.

Seriously, this city. In love. Dibs on one of those balconied apartments.

Our last stop of the evening was a small cafe near our B&B. I've been sampling hot chocolate in every cafe/bar we go to while Chris samples all the different beers. You may not think they'd differ for me but this one was a first. Chocolate on a stick that you melt into a milk/cream mixture and then add the whipped cream at the end. Delicious. Five stars.

The next morning we only had a few more things on our list: a belfry, a castle and a little bear. We got to two of the three but more on that in a second.

This, ladies and gentlemen, (okay, I know it's mostly ladies), is the Belfry. It's featured quite a bit in this movie that Chris and I watched and he's been excited about the climb to the top since we started planning this trip. I discovered in recent years that I have a slight fear of heights and although I'll jump right on a huge rollercoaster, I inexplicably cannot look over our 4th story balcony. Definitely could not pull off anything remotely close to Felix's jump. This climb has 366 steps and, after I chickened out at the little red door and turned around from there, Chris told me at one point it is so narrow that both his shoulders were touching the wall while he walked higher and higher. Sorry folks, that is just not gonna happen. But these are the views I got before my knees turned to jello. Then I went walking around while Chris finished the climb on his own. Poor guy, I literally turned around in between two levels and was like "k bye, can't do it, bye" ditch, and out.

I know what you're thinking. Wait, where'd this horse come from in the middle of a field? The castle I wanted to see is actually just outside of Bruges AND good news is its a bed and breakfast! Summertime, staying over night in Bruges again, found our next lodging for sure. And here she is:

Cute little thing, right?

On the way back I think I found my dream home. Just need to transplant it to the states. And look, it comes with a llama! He ran back and forth along the fence next to us while we passed, like a little puppy. I'll take him.

The only thing we didn't get to was Bruges' little bear. He's kind of like the peeing boy of Brussels but cuter. Our feet honestly hurt too much to try, especially when the downpour began promptly after the picture of the llama. (I just realized how super duper long this post is. If you stuck with me to the end, I commend you!)

The sun came out as we walked the last few streets home. This city was unpredictable and beautiful. It has also inspired me to start a little series for my painting...more on that (hopefully) tomorrow. We will be going back.

A New Favorite

I might have been a little biased, (this was my first glimpse of Europe and now we live here and all), but even after seeing all these amazing cities the past few weekends, I still loved Leuven more than them all. Until now. If you go to a city and it rains on and off, (on mostly, I'm talking 83% of the time), and you still love it? I think that makes it a contender for the new favorite of Belgium. Ah Bruges. Or is it Brugge? Anyway, I don't think I could live there because honestly it was super touristy even in October and even in the rain, but little trips? Mid-week even? I'm there. (Get ready visitors!) Here's some of the trip:

This is the Gruuthuse Museum, an actual residence at one point. It's located directly next to an enormous church, the Church of Our Lady. And even has a secret chapel. The family that lived here was considered something like royalty and you can see why:

There was a lot of jewelry on display. This necklace looked super familiar so I snapped a photo. No wonder, I have one just like it! (If you can't tell, mine is the one on the right...)

Remember that secret chapel I was telling you about? This is it on the left. The right is the view from it. These people were seriously lazy.

But they do enjoy a unicorn here and there so I'll let the laziness slide (also who am I to judge; jobless for 14 months).

The church next to Gruuthuse doesn't only have the secret viewing room, it also contains the only work by Michelangelo that was removed from Italy while he was still alive. Belgium, you lucky duck. This Madonna and Child is the work that was sent out. Please excuse the glare on their right and left, this sculpture is behind bulletproof glass (!) kinda hard to work around that with all the lighting.

I'm leaving you on a very pretty note with the inside of the town hall of Bruges. That ceiling is ridiculous, right? Tomorrow you'll see Bruges in sunlight. Up until this point in our trip, it hadn't shown it's face yet so you're going to experience the joy right along with us...tomorrow. See you then!

Happy Friday

Chris played in his first soccer game with his new team. In fact, the day that he called around to find a team, he found one, they had a game the same day and he scored. It's a sort of hat trick, I'd say! 

Sorry for the low quality pictures. This iPod is pretty great but it's camera is about .3 megapixels. No joke.

Today I'm going to bring you a few fun links that I found throughout my internet wanderings this week and beyond. Every few weeks I'll do one of these simply because I know nobody has as much time on their hands as me so think of this as me finding (what I think is) the best the web has to offer you right now, narrowed down by yours truly:

       

                      

     

1. Flowers before and after, who thinks up this stuff? So creative.

2. A costume I'd love to go for.

3. Extra cute pumpkin carving ideas.

4. This idea helped me pick which clothes to bring with me to Belgium.

5. Walking around streets full of extremely stylish Europeans; this quote comes in quite handy.

6. Sooo I'm still looking at all things wedding. These grooms' faces are great, especially 10 and 23.

7. Oh my gosh, this dress. A little dress-up and whimsical, I love it.

8. Because I'm not quite prepared to commit to real dye.

9. Lauren Bacall's nickname.

10. It'd be nice to have the world at your feet.


Have a great weekend see you on Monday, we're off to Bruges until Sunday!

Revamp and some sweet Architecture

If you're reading this on an actual desktop or laptop it's plain to see we've updated the look a little. If you're scrolling through on a mobile device then maybe not so much but I do love the new little clocks, and oh! the favicon (the little teeny logo at the top left!) so take a gander :) Okay, on to more important things. These next few images are just a sample of the streets and center of town that I walk through on a daily basis to get anything done or to simply explore.

It's a little strange living here. Kind of like a dream, everything looks like it belongs on one of those travel blogs I visited while sitting at home, dreaming up vacations. Especially with no responsibilities. This entire experience feels dreamlike.

Today again we have sun. In fact I may just be brave enough to show you how sunny it actually is...

 

A little washed out but that's simply because there's so much SUN (oh and my computer's camera stinks) To end on a much prettier note I bring you my parents on their super late night out (midnight whaaat) last weekend. So fancy pants! See you all tomorrow with more little somethings new.

Sun and gardens in Leuven

Yesterday it was sunny for a bit so I took advantage and started to explore our own town on my own. Chris had mentioned there were botanical gardens somewhere in the city so I set off to find them. Turns out they're actually the oldest in Belgium and there are hundreds and hundreds of plants, flowers, and trees.

When I was standing next to this tree the wind picked up and all the golden leaves started to float down around me. Felt like fairy land.

It was the perfect pick up I needed since I've been unable to run. Walking around with Andrew Belle, Lovedrug and a little Josh Groban among the flowers can seriously turn any day around. After I left the gardens I kept exploring with my camera in hand; I'll bring some more of that to you tomorrow. Until then, have a beautiful day!