Bruges, Brussels, and Vienna (Oh My!)

"Wandering in itself is merely a form of self-indulgence. If it adds not to the stock of human knowledge, or if it gives not to others the imaginative possession of some part of the world, it is a pernicious habit. The acquisition of knowledge, the accumulation of fact, is noble only in those few who have that alchemy which transmutes such [things] to heavenly eternal gold..." 

 ^a quote I found in The Travels of Marco Polo while researching in world history class!

Can you see why I feel guilty for not sharing my recent travels with you all? If Marco Polo could write down in detail all of these inconceivable encounters he had in the East, I can write a simple journal entry about my visits to France and Austria!

First of all, can we just touch on the fact that my class and I left Brussels only a few days before the terrorist attacks on Paris?! The main organizer of these attacks is from Brussels. And I was just there. Like, while he was probably there.

That freaks me out a little bit.

Other than that crazy fact, in retrospect the trip was such a pleasant one! I was much better equipped for the cold weather this time, for one. Bruges was really gorgeous and reminded me a little bit of Amsterdam. There were cool shops and great restaurants. I ate well on that trip. I was able to try all of the obligatory foods—fries, mussels, and a Belgian waffle!

A lot of our time was dedicated to Remembrance Day and honoring the men who defended their country during WWI. I definitely found it interesting and worthwhile, though I didn't feel like I fit in at certain times (e.g. when everyone started singing the Canadian Anthem and I stood there like a mute weirdo.) Actually seeing the graves of so many Canadians who died was jaw-dropping, and I really came to understand it all after visiting the Hill 62 museum, which had actual photographs taken during the war.

Vimy Ridge:

Canadian soldiers returning from the Battle of Vimy Ridge, victorious

We went to the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ypres. It was beautiful to see representatives from all over the world lay their wreaths to honor all of the selfless people who fought in the war.

A copy of the original Flanders Fields poem

Largest WWI cemetery

Hill 62 trenches—they were super mucky!

On our last day of the trip, we went to Brussels. It was an unforgettable city! There was so much history behind it, and the architecture was so beautiful. We got to see the real Manneken Pis fountain—apparently it was in the prostitution district of Brussels originally. There are a lot of myths surrounding it, but our tour guide said the truth was that a fire was started and the little boy peed on the fire, putting it out and saving Brussels... weird, but interesting. It was such a cute, tiny little thing, too!

Tintin wall art

Tintin museum

Raphael and me! 

A pretty indoor shopping area - used to be where wealthy ladies shopped 

a place I bought fancy chocolate :)

Now off to Vienna...

my first independent travel (this means no adults!)

First of all, I hesitantly admit that I geeked out at the Natural History Museum. The rocks were extremely beautiful! I know it's nerdy but just look at some of the photos (though they don't do them justice):

a weird bird thing (I think the paleolithic ancestor of birds?)

random fact I actually didn't know about dinosaurs

(so cool!!!)

After the Natural History Museum I convinced my friends to go with me to the Sigmund Freud Museum, where I proceeded to geek out further. It was in his actual house!!! I was so excited.

an oddly shaped chair designed for him—he liked to read with a weird body position 

portrait of Freud by Salvador Dali!

What I liked most about the museum was that there was a section dedicated entirely to women! It talked about how important women were in the development of psychology, though they didn't previously receive enough credit.

That night we went to the opera. I cried. I'm not kidding. We saw Werther which was a love story. The protagonist's name was Charlotte! I cried during the scene when Charlotte's lover kills himself because he cannot put up with the fact that she is married to another man. It was awful, but I loved it.

I have to admit that it was a bit difficult reading subtitles the whole time, as the opera was all in French, but I still was invested in the story.

The next day, we had a lovely Venetian breakfast, watched the strudel-making process (and got free samples) and visited the Habsburg summer chateau. It is absolutely ridiculous to me how grand this place was—not to mention it was only for the summertime.

Sisi's waist was SO THIN! How is that physically possible???

this child's carriage is ridiculous and hilarious.

Quite frankly everything about this place was ridiculous and hilarious. How can people live in such a way? It's comparable to today's celebrities (except even more lavish.)

I'm saving up for this sweet ride:

Overall I had a great first independent travel! Everything went smoothly (luckily) and it was a great opportunity to explore what I wanted to do! I've never had such freedom to create my own itinerary. It's exhilarating and liberating! It's also great because I was able to do things I really wanted to do, rather than doing things somebody else wanted to do. I can't wait for my next trip (I'm thinking Berlin...?)

That's all for now, and congrats if you read this entire post all the way through!