Europe, Three Months, and Angeli: The Tourist

Bright and early started the first day of the program. But if anyone knows Angeli, then they know that she was late for the guided tour scheduled for that morning. She got off at Port de Namur metro station and looked around for the rest of the group. Much to her luck, she found them on a charter bus waiting in the traffic for her! From there started the splendid tour of the medieval Brussels.

The Royal Place

The guide, who was also a host father, was quite knowledgeable with Belgian history. His name was Francois van Kan. The bus parked at a beautiful building with tall columns and a statue in front. This place was called the Royal Plaza. All of the administrative work for Belgium and the monarchy occur in that building. According to Francois, if you want to kill Brussels (politically), then one should bomb the Royal Plaza. Angeli had traveled to several places with beautiful architecture, but this piece seemed different and special. Later she found out that this is where the king "works".

Notre Dame du Sablon

Stain-glass window in Notre Dame du Sablon

The tour continued to Notre Dame du Sablon which was a 15th century Catholic church in the middle of the city. Angeli was not surprised to find it beautifully carved in Gothic style. She learned that at one point in the history of Belgium, this church used to be the tallest. A silly thing kings did back in the day was try to build the tallest churches as a symbol of their wealth. She thought, what if they did more meaningful things such as feed the poor or build them a neighborhood, give them clothes, etc.? Nonetheless, they did what they did and now their church has become a tourist attraction. Inside, there were stain-glass windows of the richest colors. The sapphire blue color was practically mesmerizing.They say that it is no longer possible to make the same blue, that it is lost with history. Such wonders should not be mimicked anyways!

The EU Study Abroad group in the garden across from Notre Dame du Sablon

From there Angeli and the rest went to a garden with beautiful statues. Everywhere she looked, Brussels was a pretty garden with fountains, statues, and cobble-stone-like streets. It never seemed to dull her view. Even when the weather was foggy, misty, and gray (as it was the day of the tour) she loved everything she saw.

The Royal Palace

After that, she was back on the bus ready to tour the rest of Brussels. They passed a street that was filled with buildings of nothing but banks. The streets of Brussels were just beautifully symmetrical. The bus stopped for them to take pictures of the Royal Palace. She could only imagine what royal parties in the palace would be like. After that, they arrived at the Atomium. It was built out of steel for the World Trade Fair. Because the weather was not in favor, the Atomium was barely visible from the distance, but even then, one could see its grandeur. The group stopped for a few minutes to do tourist-y things and take pictures. One the way to the Atomium, they were able to get a quick glance of the King's home. Leopold II was the one who did most of the beautiful construction of Belgium, and the monarchy from then owned so much land just for gardens! They gave some land to build the Atomium later. After the small history lesson, the group had lunch at a restaurant. Lunch for Angeli was salad and fries! From there the group visited several places including the Cathedral St. Michel et Gudule, the Grand Place, and the Cinquantenaire. She was also fortunate enough to see the door on which Karl Marx posted a copy of the Communist Manifesto! Angeli was mesmerized by the reality of her learning. She was in the presence of where historical events had occurred. Events that shaped the world to what it is today. As Julius Caesar once said, "Experience is the teach of all things." Angeli was experiencing everything she'd never she would before!