Tuesday April
Today the Czech students and Czech teachers, along with a couple Belgium teachers took a journey to Brugge and the seaside. The Belgium students had to stay behind to go to school but we had a beautiful, sunny day to explore a couple cities in Belgium. Our first stop was Brugge. Brugge is a beautiful, historic town with picturesque scenery. It is said that many people get married there because it is so pretty. We gave the students a walking map and set them loose to explore. If there is ONE place I would go back to in Belgium, would be Brugge.
One of the Minnewater canals. It is referred to as "the lake of Love". The Dutch word, "Minne" means love
me at the canal
The Beguinage.
This is a place where women can go live. They live their life as a nun, but they have more freedoms than nuns. They did not give up their status as laywomen and they got to keep their personal belongings. They were expected to earn their own living, so did jobs like embroidering, lacework, health care and education.
In Brugge, there are many lace shops. Brugge is famous for its intricate lace tapestries and clothing.
This is the former St. Johns Hospital. It is now used as various cafes and restaurants and a museum. The hospital was founded in the 12th century by the city and the rich middle class. It was used as an example for future hospitals, especially by the Germans.
We enjoyed a nice afternoon lunch at a "restaurant" in Brugge. L-R: Radka, Guy, Greet, Petra, and me
After lunch, Greet and I went to the Blood Church. As you go inside, you walk up some stairs and enter a small church. Inside the church, they claim to have a vile of Christ's blood. I stood in line and went up to see the blood. The Christian in me, wants to believe that it is actually from Christ, but the skeptic can't see how they took blood samples way back then of Christ's blood.
Market Square
This is the main market place. We had another lunch (this is probably why I am NOT losing weight)
Petra, Me, and Radka are enjoying a glass of Kriek, a cherry flavored Belgian beer.
Then we went to the main church in Brugge, where the famous Michelangelo, Madonna and Child is displayed. The inside of the church is very gothic and beautiful.
Michelangelo's Madonna and Child
Cheers :)
After a couple hours in Brugge, we got back in the bus and ventured to the seaside. We went to De Haan, a small town on the seaside. For many of our Czech students they haven't seen the sea, and if they have, they haven't seen it as big as we saw it in De Haan. For me, it reminded me of Washington States seaside...with its long sandy beaches and rolling waves. Petra (Czech teacher) commented that she had never seen the ocean as big as this....I know I take for granted living in Washington, with access to the ocean at any time.
I walked out into the North Sea and took this picture (above). The water felt great!
my Belgian Waffle at the seaside...yuuuuumy
In the afternoon we went to the Atomium. The Atomium was built for the 1958 World's Fair. It reminded me of the Seattle Space Needle. We were able to go up the elevator to the top of the Atomium and then down to the middle level. We had a Belgian Waffle at the cafe (yuuuummmy) and then down to meet up with all the students. 
Belgium Artist: Herge (author of TinTin painted many illustrations on the city walls of Brussels
Then as you walk towards the main city center, you come across what is left of the original "Prison". This building use to be the prison and parts of the surrounding barrier wall can be seen as well. Now, it is used as a museum.
After we went through Brussels, we walked through the rain until we got to the European Parliament. Belgium may not have a government at the moment (been over a year since they have had a government), the European Countries have their parliament in Brussels. The Belgium students met us at the Parliament and when we got inside we split into two groups. The Belgium students had a tour in Dutch and the Czech students had a tour in Czech. I was kinda out of luck. Since I don't know Dutch (my grandfather spoke fluent Dutch...not me) and my Czech is limited, I was only able to observe my surroundings and not gather much information. I did grab a brochure in English to bring back to the European history teachers at my school district. Even though I didn't understand the language, I was able to see some amazing things. I still feel VERY lucky to have been able to go on this exchange and be apart of this experience. To say this has been a once in a life time opportunity would be an understatement.
De Haan Seaside, boardwalk
All 60 Czech students
