In Bruges!!

Today, we went to Bruges, Belgium! We entered the bus around 9 am this morning and off we went. The drive from Pas-de-Calais was about an hour and a half, but it felt like 30 minutes because of the beautiful scenery and amazing conversations. When we arrived at Bruges we first went on a canal tour where we learned about the history of the town (which includes an old fish market) and we got to see a bunch of beautiful buildings while riding on the calm water. After the boat, I went to go buy some fries, and, let me tell you, they were delicious, perfectly crunchy and golden-brown. After the fries, we went and bought chocolates at Neuhaus chocolatery. This chocolate was the perfect dessert after the salty fries. After chocolate we went for a small walk, and we ended up at a waffle house. The warm waffle was a perfect antidote to the cold, rainy, and windy outdoors. After the waffle, we just enjoyed the city by continuing our walk and taking photos of everything we could see. Overall, the day was incredible as it included both amazing food and an amazing city. (Maja)

              Our Saint Martin hosts and the nice bus driver Mark with us in the Grande Place.

Visiting Bruges, Belgium today was such an amazing experience! It felt really special to get on a bus and an hour and a half later end up in a different country with an entirely different culture, new specialties and unique features. One of the most notable being the canals running through the entire city, which we toured right at the beginning of our visit. After that, we broke off independently and toured around the city for a few hours. Me and my group went to the Belfry, a medieval clock tower, and after visited different shops while walking around the town, where we bought Belgian hot chocolate and waffles which were both amazing. We had a great time walking around taking in the medieval aspects of the town and all the wonderful smells of chocolate and waffles that filled every street! It was such a great last day with our correspondents from St. Martin! (Coco)

I had some much fun in Bruges today! Initially, I was a little worried about the cold and the rain… BUT that worry quickly disappeared after we began to explore the city since it was just so much fun! When we crossed the border between France and Belgium, it was interesting to watch how the building styles changed so fast. I absolutely loved walking around the city with my baguette sandwich in hand and sunglasses on. Felt fab. I got full of sweets with an amazing hot chocolate (11/10) and a Belgium waffle (with caramel on top) and a chocolate sample. It was also funny how there were a lot of tourists in Bruges, especially after being in rural France for the past few days. Daffodils were still very popular from Northern France to Northern Belgium… must be a weather thing! Food =  perfection. Views = perfection. Exploration =  perfection. Smells = perfection (90% of the time). Def would return. Loved the use of flowers around the town! (Alexis)

Melody: Today, we all (including the French correspondents) traveled to Brugge, Belgium. It was a really interesting experience, going somewhere where I had minimal ability to communicate to going somewhere else where I had absolutely no ability to communicate. Nonetheless, I had a really fun time bonding with my correspondent and getting to know other correspondents. We visited a plethora of chocolate shops (the hot cocoa was incredible), an ornament shop, and a Belgium Zara. This morning, I had very minimal knowledge about Brugge (only that I could exchange my USD for euros there), but now I know that Brugge is truly somewhere where so many different people converge (and I still don’t have euros). After today’s adventures, I will be so sad to leave these correspondants, but I am extra excited to meet new people in the coming week.

 

Warren: Today was really fun. We got to hang out with our French Students and at the same time explore the city of Brugge. The city is full of history and interesting culture. We explored the churches, stores, and rivers that holds hundreds of years of history. We had a lot of laughs, and we created some great memories. The food that we had was exquisite; we had the chance to sit down and talk with our students.

Today we left Marquise with our correspondents to spend the day in Bruges, Belgium. It was exhilarating to travel outside the smaller village with Camille, my correspondent, but I was exhausted by the end of it. In Bruges, I was overwhelmed by all the languages interacting in the same place, but I found the multiculturalism fascinating. We visited bakeries, candy shops, chocolatiers, antique stores, and florists during our time there. The city was, of course, flooded with tourists, but I liked the change of pace for a day after being in a quieter town, though I found myself missing the quieter neighborhood at some points. Everything felt more peaceful with the dreary weather.

 

Liam: Today we went to Brugge and it was really fun! I was surprised at the amount of freedom that we were given, it was really interesting seeing Belgium and how different it is when compared to Calais and the States. For example the sheer amount of churches and boulangeries. We (my group + our correspondents) ate lots of food including burgers, waffles,  crepes, fries, and pizza. In the end I am really sad to leave Calais but excited to continue my journey in Paris.

Nathan: I finally got some dollars turned into euros, so I could buy souvenirs from Belgium. I had a great time today walking around and exploring the city of Bruges. I enjoyed the boat ride we went on. I saw a lot of attractions that Bruges has, and we learned about the history of the city. I found it very interesting when I was exploring a lot of stores such as a chocolate one we went to. The restaurant that I went to was very nice, and I am excited to explore more in Paris.