July 2-5

So much to share, so little time!

 

First things first. The play on Wednesday was great, upsetting but extremely well done. The story begins as a mystery (three characters, 2 male 1 female were named Gabriel). Needless to say it was a bit difficult to follow but, a revelation in the middle tied everyone together. To summarize, the story was about a family that was torn apart because the father is a pedophile who ends up killing the female Gabriel's younger brother. The pedophile's son, Gabriel, on a quest to learn about his father, goes to Australia and meets the female Gabriel and they fall in love. While driving and discussing their pasts the two characters realize how they are connected and the shock results in a car accident which claims Gabriel's (male) life. The remainder of the play depicts the subsequent events. It was extremely depressing but very powerful and well acted. The film critic came Thursday morning and he led an interesting discussion on the performance. In his opinion, the play was extremely creative. I agreed that the play was well-done but I felt that it was extremely similar to the Greek tragedy “The house of Atreus”, and I pointed out the many ways in which the two stories are identical. He said he hadn’t thought of it but he found validity in my argument and said that he supposes the best stories of a dysfunctional family should find roots in the Greeks. So, yes I enjoyed class.

 

Now to the fun part…….

 

Thursday afternoon we left for Belgium. I knew nothing about the country, so while waiting for the boys to get ready I read a travel guide (the library in the house has books on each European and UK country…super helpful). I found out that there is a famous statue in Brussels and “no trip is complete without visiting Brugges”.

 

After a quick 2 hour train ride, we arrived in Brussels and dropped our belongings off at the hotel. Since we had no set plans, we decided to walk around and try to find the fountain I had read about. We ended up stumbling upon the heart of the city, their government building and a major square (named Grand Place…and said with a French accent). It looked like they were setting up for an event, and upon investigation we found out that Ommegang festival was being held in the square that night. It is a celebration of Emperor Charles V (16^th century) and involves hundreds of citizens dressing in the garb of that time. It was only 5 and the show started at 8 so we decided to eat dinner outside, and by dinner, I mean local cuisine. I got a waffle (there are 2 kinds, I went with the square, classic Belgian waffle with ice cream, but tried my friends small sugared one..mine was better). Then we found the fountain. It is called “mannequin pis” and is a little boy peeing. Citizens dress it up so there are pictures of this kid peeing wearing an Elvis costume, soccer jerseys, bull fighter attire etc. I thought it was hilarious. Then we returned and watched the parade which included horses, a knight, fire works, and other amusing costumes.

 

The boys decided to get Belgian beer platters after (5 beer samples because Belgium is known for that). I am not a fan, so I just had a sip…peach beer was pretty good. Then one of the boys and I were tired so we went back to the hotel while the other 2 explored the night scene of Brussels.

 

We got up at 11 and hopped on a train to Brugges. Since we only had 5 hours before we had to go back to Brussles for our train to Paris, we decided to see the main attractions. We went to the Grand Market. I am not exaggerating when I say this is the most incredible town I have ever seen. It is comprised entirely of Renaissance architecture and Venice-esque waterways. The area is known for fries, chocolate, and mussels so, we sampled all of the above. I really enjoyed walking around the streets and people watching in the main square. Since we had some time to spare we decided to go to the Dali museum. They had an impressive collection and even had some pieces on sale (but I didn’t want to blow my millions and I am not really a fan of Salvador Dali’s graphic work..can’t really picture it hanging in the family room).

 

We made it back in plenty of time for the train to Paris and met up with the rest of the gang (total of 4 girls 4 boys…great for hotel arrangements). The hotel was in the business district, but right next to the metro so, traveling was really easy. Since I know the Louvre area the best (thanks to the trip with daddy), we decided to go there for dinner the first night.

 

In the morning, I went to Saint Chapelle and the Catacombs with two of the boys who had also been to Paris in the past. We didn’t feel the need to revisit the Louvre with the newbies and I hadn’t visited these two attractions during my last visit. I thought Saint Chapelle was breathtaking and I made a video of a 360 degree view of it to show you when I get home. The Catacombs were somewhat troubling at first but after a few hundred feet you sort of get used to it. My friend Jesse studied Latin when he was in high school and I am decent in French, so between the two of us, we were able to translate nearly every inscription on the walls (they were written in both languages so we were able to help each other out).

 

We met up with the rest of the gang at 2 and headed over to Versailles. I was appointed tour guide, so I led everyone through the castle and around the grounds. I took a group of friends to Marie Antoinette’s house (the Trianot and Petit Trianot and the Hamot). It is over 1 mile from the front of the castle, and on the way back we found that the palace gardens were closed so we had to walk all the way around Versailles. Grand total of 5-6 miles on the day. I was glad I wore my running shoes.

 

That night, our last in Paris, I thought it would be fun to check out the skyline of the city. There is an incredible view from Sacre Coeur (I hadn’t been there on my first trip, so it was another place I wanted to see on this visit). We had dinner up on the hill and thought it would be fun to check out the Moulin Rouge all lit up. After taking some pictures in that neighborhood we went into a nearby night club (dancing NOT burlesque..who do you think I am?!) It was really interesting to see the difference between our culture and that of Europe in that we dance differently and our men are a lot less inclined to dance with other guys.

 

Then it was time to return to London, and after a 6 hour bus ride I arrived safely at 21 Pembridge gardens. It was a wonderful weekend and I am looking forward to the week.

 

We are thinking of Scotland for this coming weekend- Long ride to Loch Ness and then spend a few days in Edinburgh.

 

I hope everything is going well at home and that it finally stopped raining there (Note: it has not rained once in all my time here and is just finally cooling off..it was 70 degrees today instead of 90!) and I hope that you can excuse the length of this post..I just had so much to say.

 

I miss you and love you and wish the internet was better so I could send pictures. But alas, no such luck.

 

Love,

Hope…your favorite UK resident/Euro traveler/blogger