Saw Jesus on Easter

March 29-April 1
Luxembourg, Luxembourg & Bruges & Brussels, Belgium


I think part of my Lent was having to not travel on the weekends. And thank goodness Easter brought with it the end to my traveling drought. I spent any free time I had the past two weeks trying to figure out where to spend Easter and I ended up with my last resort: Belgium. Then it turned out to be one of my favorite trips.


I was still figuring out my plans on Tuesday when I asked my Hungarian friend in French culture what her plans were. She was going to Luxembourg and Belgium with the girl from Ohio and California. I went to London with them, and the girl from California had invited me on the trip earlier. So I joined them. I booked an earlier train to Luxembourg because it was a bit cheaper than the one they were going on. On Friday, I got to the train station and couldn’t find the train number on my ticket, so I just matched it with the time to see what platform. There was only one 7:50 so I thought it was fine, despite being a little hesitant. After about 15 minutes I realized that I was headed to Switzerland and not towards Luxembourg. I accidentally got a ticket for the 7:50pm train and not am. It’s usually in military time, so I’ve gotten used to disregarding the am and pm. I got off at the next stop and bought a ticket back to Strasbourg and then another to Luxembourg. I had a connection on the way to Luxembourg which was a bus. When a small white van pulled up, I was a little surprised. It was not what the term “bus,” or the professional printed-off ticket was implying. Regardless, I hopped on and rode in the 8-person van the last hour and a half to Luxembourg.

Wall of Luxembourg >>> Wall
of China

The only reason I wanted to go to Luxembourg was because it’s so close and I’ll probably never go again. I could spend a hot sec there and then check it off my list. And that’s exactly what I did. There was the ‘Wall of Luxembourg’ as I deemed it and that’s about it. We walked along it, near it, ate lunch, and dipped. The only good thing was the fact that tickets from there to Bruges, even factoring in the cost to get to Luxembourg, were about $100 cheaper than leaving from Strasbourg.

The Whole City Was This Cute

If I'm Lost Look for Me at
An Art Museum 

I got to Bruges that night. The next day I went to an art museum. It wasn’t big but it still had impressive art and ranged from the 13th century to modern art. I then walked around. It was raining so I took every opportunity I had to go into stores. It's a tourist city so there were lots of cute stores. I then ate and went on a walking tour. It stopped raining and the tour was super informative. I learned that Bruges used to be a port city but then the sand bar went up and they lost their access to the coast. As a result, they lost their whole industry and became a poor city. Because of this, the city was never able to change architectural styles and modify the city, so the city center looks just like it did in the 13th/14th century. My favorite thing that I learned was that there was a convent that operated a brewery on the side. After the tour, I got a waffle from a place the tour guide recommended. It added to the holiness or holy week. I then walked, picking up some trinkets for the rest of the day.

The Basilica

On Sunday, I went to mass at the Basilica of the Holy Blood. There is a relic there that is believed to be a cloth with the blood of Jesus. I went the day before and it was a small church so I got there 35 minutes before to make sure I got a seat. When I tried to go in, a lady stopped me and when I told her I was there for mass she didn’t believe me. She then tried to convince me to not attend mass by saying that it was going to be 2 hours long, and they were going to lock the door so I couldn’t leave. After reassuring her that I was in fact ok with those falsified stipulations, she let me in… to an empty church. Less than five people were there. Mass was an hour (like I assumed), they didn’t lock the doors (because people came in late) and I stayed the whole time. There were 11 priests and they blessed us with the relic twice. Mass was at 11 so I got out around noon. I continued my exploration and ate Belgium fries. That evening I headed to Brussels.

All That My Dad
Remembered from Brussels

All of the museums were closed on Monday and Europe celebrates Easter Monday more than Easter Sunday so almost everything was closed. I just walked around the whole day trying to kill time before my 6:30 bus ride back. I saw all the landmarks, and most parks and walked two hours (one there and one back) to see a church. I clocked in a little over 16 miles.

I rode the 8-hour bus back and got back around 2:30. Bruges now tops the list

of favorite places I’ve been this semester with Brussels (due to circumstances)

is last.

Dream Combination

Locked In & Locked Out

March 15-28
School, Library, Lauren’s Apt. 

Let me start this by saying: I had it coming. I knew eventually I would have to do some schoolwork. The two weeks after my mom and Liz left I spent grinding. I know you don’t want to hear how hard it is to work on a project and do some readings while living in Europe, so I’ll save you. BUT… I did have a 3-day intensive class and got locked out of my apartment (I have every right to complain about that).

In Europe, they have intensive classes where the whole course takes place in the span of a few days rather than the whole semester. I had to take one because I was very limited on what marketing classes I could take here that would count. It was last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 8:30 to 5:30 (Friday it was 6:30). We were assigned groups and played a simulation that was supposed to mirror running a company over a few years. We had products that we had to research, design/redesign, launch, market, and more. The instructions were 69 pages if that tells you anything. To add pressure, we were competing against other groups and ranked by our financial results. There really wasn’t any lecture, just fast-paced grinding. We were kinda thrown into the wind and did our best. I’ve had better weekends here.

We Were Team S
RIP

On Saturday morning, we finished the simulation and then had to work on a presentation. It was due at noon and then my group presented at 2:30, so I went back to my apartment for lunch. When I leave in the morning for class, I always put my keys in my purse before and then grab and go, but when I come back I always put them down. So when I arrived, I put them down and when I left, I thought they were in my purse. This wouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that my door (along with every European door) locks automatically. As soon as I closed the door, I realized my mistake. I headed back to class and quickly texted the apartment people because when I moved in they told me there was an extra key. Class got done at 5 which was great, but the apartment people hadn’t texted me back. The French don’t answer anything past work hours and no one works on Sundays, so I thought I was screwed till Monday morning.

My Makeshift Bed
(Blanket not Featured)

Lauren (my A&M friend for those who need a refresher or haven’t read my previous blogs), kindly offered me shelter and food in her apartment. At some point during the 50-minute walk over (because I act like the tram doesn’t exist), it started raining and I almost booked a flight back home. At Laurens, I was treated to ramen, wifi, her clothes, and a spot on the floor. In return, she got free entertainment. At some point in the night, I was showing her OJ Simpson's TikTok account because when are sleepovers ever normal. Shortly after, I started watching YouTube videos on how to break into an apartment and was making makeshift tools out of my plastic water bottle to break in. After practicing on Lauren's bathroom door, I finally utilized the tram and tried breaking in. As soon as I saw the door, I knew it wasn’t going to work. After some failed attempts and only minor damages to my university ID card and water bottle tool, I gave up.

Sunday morning I got a call and picked up the spare keys. At 12:30 on Sunday, I finally got to enjoy my weekend.

Au revoir!

PS: We got 2nd to last in the simulation game after being last the whole time