i want a bean feast..

Hello! I hope the week has started off well! This post is weekend update, pictures, and the beginning of the school semester.
Thursday, after orientation and our CES courses' book pick-up, we returned to our dorms only to find Adam and Ellzey running (literally RUNNING) out the door with back packs shouting to us "we're going to Bruges!! we have our laptop- email us what ya'll end up doing!" so, we (amy, strat, jim and i) sat down with a map and a date book and figured out what would work best for the weekend- Antwerp or Bruges... we decided on Bruges for this weekend, so we booked a hostel for Friday and Saturday and researched the rest of the night..
Meanwhile, the boys barely made their train, didn't have a hostel to stay at, and realized that all the food places were closed when they got there. smooth, boys. so they went to the "night stop" and got: dutch sweet bread, stinky cheese, and "fish steak" in a can. I couldn't think of a more disgusting combination myself. They ended up staying at a really cool youth hostel apparently.
We got up early Friday morning to catch breakfast downstairs and our train, which wasn't too long of a ride... This is our train aisle. And this is amy sleeping on the train.
When we arrived in Bruges there was immediate construction which caused a problem with our website directions.. After 30 minutes of walking on cobblestone with a roll-away suitcase Amy and I decided the back packs are definitely the way to go!! We finally got to our hostel "Hotel Lybeer." It was skinny and tall with a maroon awning and an iron sign with a bear on it. The owner was at the front desk ready to greet us. He had salt and pepper hair and was constantly smiling. He wore the same outfit everyday we were there. Collared shirt under a olive green sweater with light brown trousers. This is the staircase leading up to our room- it was pretty much dangerous, haha. We open the door to our room to see 2 bunk-beds and one twin bed... not what we ordered, but it works! I liked the red flower bedding on the bunk-beds. Our room came with a "private bathroom" which was really funny. It was in the room. One corner was marked off with paneling walls that didn't go all the way to the ceiling. There was a step to get up into it and then there were shutter doors that fell of pretty much every time anyone tried to shut it. I thought it might be awkward with the guys being in there too, but it really wasn't at all. They were very respectful of us and gave us the privacy we needed. There was a hallway bathroom which came in handy whenever we needed to change. We did find each other laughing when there was an awkward pause and all you could hear was pee.. but i mean, we are going to spend 3 months with them, so we better get used to stuff like that. My favorite part about the room was the window. They opened up and we could stick our heads out and look down the street. This is right when we arrived and were just goofing off. That's (top to bottom) amy, jim, and stratton. This is our view strait out. I love the blue window and the murals. These pipes were in the corner of the bathroom.A bike outside our hostel.Once we got settled in, we wanted to go grab something to eat and see what Bruges was about! We went to "Hollywood Bistro" and it was really interesting. It was italian food and sandwiches. I ordered the house lasagna which was unlike any i've ever seen. it came out in a bowl and all you could see was cheese. The noodles were buried in cheese and mushrooms. It was amazing!! However, what was not amazing was the decorations, haha. Marilyn Monroe was the queen of the theme, hence the name "hollywood bistro".. but what got to me was the valentines decorations EVERYWHERE. Throughout the weekend we noticed that the hearts and streamers just kept getting worse. We asked someone if it was a really big holiday here and they responded as if it wasn't any bigger than any other holiday.. i guess they just really like paper heart doilies. haha. The restaurant was in one of the squares of the town which had a huge fountain with statues in it. It was really cool. This is the profile of the mermaid... i think it looks like an oil pastel.I put my camera on manual for this one and it obviously didn't turn out right, but i kept adjusting it and got a better shot... once i put them on my computer i decided i liked this one most of all.. it's kind of strange, but i like it.Also on the square was a tourist office where we got brochures and found out that there was a CHOCOLATE MUSEUM!!! so we had to go there. We walk in and pay and get the sample chocolate at the front desk.. I'm thinking, "good appetizer- now give me the chocolate!!" well, to make a long story short. Jim and I were expecting to be able to eat the walls and were extremely disappointed when we found out that it was walls covered in history with statues of monkeys and flies. We went through 3 stories in about 3 minutes. Jim was pissed... haha. At the end of the museum there was a chocolatier who made hazelnut cream filled chocolate candies for us. Needless to say it was the best part, regardless of the fact she did the presentation in 3 different languages.. impressive.After that we left in search of a chocolate store and on the way we passed this really cool fabric store! I loved it!And an antique store with glass owls in the window.We made it to the real deal. We all got chocolates. We all decided mine was the best- chocolate truffles! It was getting dark, so we decided to get a bottle of red wine to share, go to the hostel, eat our chocolate and play spades. We felt it appropriate to sit grampa joe style like in willy wonka. Amy and I had never played spades before and it was really fun!! We played a couple practice round and then we started the points. Somehow Jim missed the memo about table talk, but i'm not bitter! :) After the first real round i was writing down the scores and all of a sudden the door opened to our room and it was adam and ellzey!! haha, how did they find us? no one knows. david sent them an email on thursday telling him we might stay there, but still... how did he find it?! it was funny.

We decided that it was time to go eat so we walked a few blocks and ate outside on this patio with standing heaters. It was really good! Our waiter looked like the Night Fox on Ocean's Twelve... or Eleven. i don't remember. Anyways, after dinner we decided to go to this disco-tech thing. It was fun, we just danced around looking like idiots because 1) i was taking pictures and 2) we were americans, so we actually knew the words to the songs 3) when will we ever see these people again, ya might as well dance weird. The next morning I got up early, took a shower and got ready. Everyone was still asleep. This would be my dad coming out in me. I went down and had coffee and watched people. It was complimentary breakfast! I am getting a little tired of having salami sandwiches for breakfast, though. GIVE ME A PANCAKE! But the coffee was delicious! The owner in his green sweater was just sitting down watching everyone and refilling anything that needed to be filled..I went out to take pictures that morning.. It was about 9:00. This was our street.I walked to a park about 2 blocks away. It was really peaceful. Everything was covered in dew.This is my favorite door in Bruges, Belgium.
After about half an hour I went back to the hostel and we decided to climb the tower. On a clear day you can see the ocean... So we walked up the painfully steep spiral stairs that were about 3 feet wide and forever tall... i think like 300 steps? Anyways, they had rooms every once in awhile where people would have to stand there just so you could walk past them because you couldn't fit 2 people side by side at the same time. The view was worth it though!! Amazing.

The bells started ringing and Adam plugged his ears... pansy.

All of us at the top of the bell tower. Jim, Amy, me, Ellzey, Stratton, and Adam at the bottom.
We had to take a shades pic.
A church yard by the canal.. oh yeah, Bruges has a bunch of canals running through it, it was really pretty.
The reflection was so clear.Us on a bridge. We actually sat there for a long while because the sun felt so good on our faces...Strat and Amy. The Michael Angelo statue... After the church we went to a courtyard outside of an art shop.. this was the old couple walking out of it. precious. The wall facing the art store.We sat down again facing a canal and i wanted to get a picture of all of us. We didn't do much there. Jim threw rocks in the water and I was watching this group of kids while Strat and Amy figured out what were going to do that night. The kids were all dressed up in old people clothes. Running around speaking french. And there were a few kids our age in charge of them... they sat them down all in a row and said something and all of a sudden they ran everywhere in search of something! It was so fun to watch. I finally figured out what they were doing.. they kept running behind people and mocking what they were doing. It was so funny- the kids mimicking all the gestures and then watching the old people turn around and get tickled because they realized what they were doing.

This guy was on a random street.

Monday was my first day of class.. 8.30 to 1.30 and then 7 to 9. wow. long day! but it's the only long day. There were about 10 of us in the 8.30 class. We ate breakfast and walked to the University which takes about 20 minutes on foot. We get to the building and it's locked, but someone opened it up for us.. we get to the room and there's a class, but we realized we were on the wrong floor.. we get to our room and it's locked, someone opened that up.. no professor. haha.. really? it was funny. he finally came in about 5 minutes after we got there. he said they changed the room and forgot to tell everyone. haha. class went well for the first half and then we had a break. outside in the common area with the coffee shop they have these virtual keyboard computers which are touch screen, so i decide to check my email. well, there was no underscore so there was no way i could put in "lauren_rusten" so i decided to check lissa's blog. let me reiterate that these touch screens actually -click- to the right of your finger sometimes, to the left of your finger sometimes, and sometimes it just doesn't feel your finger. anyways. i clicked on lissa's blog and saw that she had put up another post! so i click on that and about 3 windows pop up with a you tube superbowl commercial. bad news. apparently these screens have speakers... really loud speakers.. so here i am touching the X button as fast as i can because it's blaring the "it's getting hot in here, i want to take off all my clothes" song from the commercial. good impression with the locals. in the meantime stratton and adam are just sitting there laughing at me listening to their ipods. slightly embarrassing. after it stops i turn to them and strat says, "you do look a little flushed and sweaty, haha." so maybe i shouldn't try those computers anymore? it was funny. overall the day was good. my night class with dr. waltman - american constitutional development- was actually very interesting! he is a great lecturer. Today was my free day. I woke up at 9.30, worked out, got ready, and by then amy was out of class. we rode our bikes down to the pie and coffee shop to do some reading. on our way back we stopped at a couple of antique stores and just looked around. Dinner is being served as I type, so I better go grab some grub!! We are thinking about Munich for this weekend.. I'm not really sure. Oh, and FYI... at the end of the semester there is a photograpy contest. So if you have a favorite let me know, and i'll keep track! thanks for reading and commenting!! have a wonderful night!