I had a long Easter break, and I went on my favorite trip thus far. Susan and I spent four days in Belgium, and we stayed with my Aunt Hilde. To clarify, she isn't really my aunt. She was my mother's foreign exchange student when my mom was in high school, and they are still very good friends. When Hilde found out I was going to be in Germany for a semester, she insisted that I come visit her, and she was also nice enough to let me bring Susan along.
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| My mom and Hilde when they were in high school. |
I honestly didn't know what to expect when I visited Hilde. I had never met her in person. My mother and grandma would say nothing but great things about her all the time, and my grandma has her senior picture still hanging up in her living room. I had talked to her on the phone and used Facebook to communicate with her, but I didn't know what it would be like when I saw her for the first time when she picked Susan and I up from the Brussels Airport. As soon as she saw us, she was super excited, and gave us huge hugs. It was then that I knew it was going to be a very good trip.
We flew into Brussels on Thursday evening, and my aunt lives in Antwerp, so we didn't really do much that night. She had Mexican food prepared for us, and I was ecstatic. She also made Susan and I goodie bags. Inside the bags were various Belgian chocolates and delicacies, but my favorite part was the book she made for each of us. It was filled with the history of Belgium, and had chapters on Belgian recipes, beer, and things to do in each city we were going to be traveling to. It's my favorite gift I have gotten over here in Europe by far. She put a lot of time and effort into the book, and it is one of the sweetest things anyone has gotten me before.
The next day we went to Waterloo and Brussels. Waterloo was interesting, because we got to see where the Battle of Waterloo took place. This June will be the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat, so Aunt Hilde thought it would be a good idea to see it. The hill itself was cool, but they were doing renovations to the museum, so there wasn't really anything else to look at. After Waterloo we went to Brussels. We went to the Atomium building, which Hilde said was the symbol of Belgium. It looks like a huge atom, and every part represents each province of Belgium. We also went to Mini-Europe, which is a little museum of all of Europe's major monuments or landmarks, but in miniature forms.
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| The Atomium Building |
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| Waterloo |
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| Mini-Deutschland |
On Saturday night we went to Hilde's mother's house in Knokke, which is on the coast of Belgium. Hilde's mother was super nice, and also spoiled Susan and I. Hilde's son, Louis, also came along with us. Sunday morning she had a very nice breakfast set up for us, and had gifts for us for Easter, it was so sweet of her. After breakfast and opening gifts, we all ventured to Bruges. Bruges is also a pretty city, and the weather was really nice. We walked around trying to find gifts for my grandmother and mom. By the end of the day I had bags of souvenirs, and I was surprised that it all fit in my suitcase. Before we left Bruges, we stopped in a waffle place. The waffle I had was so good. It had fresh strawberries on top of it, and homemade ice cream. By this point in our vacation I was in a food coma. Hilde and her mother would constantly shove food in our faces. I still feel like I can't look at a chocolate bar, or cake and be in the mood for it, because I had so much this past weekend.
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| Easter Morning |
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| Belgian Waffle |
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On Monday I was very sad to leave. Hilde treated us like we were her own children, and her mother and son were also super nice to us and welcoming. She was also sad to see us go, and said Susan and I were always welcome. I hope to go back whenever I come back to Europe.
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| Hilde, me, and her son Louis |
Now, it's back to reality. We ended our third course last week, and I received an A, so I'm really happy about that. This week we have started our fourth and final course of the program. It is already increasingly more difficult, so I will have to study a little more than I normally do. We also have an exam on Friday, so I am trying to prepare for that. After the exam, it will be nice to relax in Lüneburg for the weekend.
