Belgium

(No, I'm not feeling creative in post titles at the moment. Sorry. I toyed with "My Bulging Belly in Belgium" but it sounded weird...)

A couple weeks ago as the second part of our European Study Tour, our program took the Eurostar to Belgium. Upon arrival, we had about two hours before our first class, so we ventured about for lunch – and this ultimately became our only free daylight hours in Brussels the entirety of the trip, cool. And the impressions left on me of Brussels from that trip are the following: chocolate shops, cobble-stone streets, some pretty architecture, waffles, and lots and lots of annoying rain.   

Nim hanging out at the Royal Palace of Brussels

I found a treestar on the street!

The roomies explore Brussels... for an hour!

I do not like portion sizes in Belgium >:( 

Commence more classes on the EU. For days. And guest speakers. And guest speakers at Parliament. And silly group-work preparing presentations about the EU. And more speakers. And no free time.

One up-side to the program though was that all the b-school students studying abroad in Europe participated, not just us Londoners. Thus, I got to see some well-missed friends.

DSP (my business fraternity) does Brussels!

Everyone returned to their respective countries on Saturday, but as our train didn’t leave until 7 or so, we had the bulk of the day free. We decided to spend our free day in Bruges, which is about an hour away by train. If I only had a few words to describe Bruges, I think I would sum it up by calling it a fairytale city, because that’s what it was. Cobblestone streets, horse and buggies riding around, quaint little shops, and swans, lots and lots of swans. I kept my eyes peeled for Snow White or Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood the whole time, because I would not have been surprised in the least. (Consequently, after going to Bruges I watched the film In Bruges, which I would not recommend if you want to get a picture of Bruges, because the tone of the film is a 180 from the town. I would recommend it if however if you like to see some good ‘ole head smushing…).

Pretty Bruges

Lovely architecture

Like any European city, we got to see a number of lovely cathedrals. I should have started a tally at the beginning of my study abroad of all the cathedrals I’ve been to, but too late now, oh well!

One of many in the Dylan photoshoot in Bruges

I don't remember the names of all of them anymore, sorry.

Fortunately, unlike a certain chilly European city that I had previously been scarred from the week before, there was more to Bruges than just its cathedrals. Upon arriving, Dylan and I never walked more than 20 feet without popping into a chocolate shop and indulging ourselves in happiness. I like happiness.

Dylan and I stumbled across a Salvador Dali exhibit, which was really sweet. Later on we also went to a Juan Miro / Pablo Picasso exhibit, which was good but limited in the scope of works exhibited.

But mainly the best part about Bruges was just walking around the streets exploring. We didn’t stop at all to eat or rest in fears of missing a second of it, and as such I feel like we really got to experience Bruges in our short amount of time there.

As always, I will conclude my blog post with apologies about being late, and I know I am still 2 posts overdue to catch up on the 2 weeks following my time in Belgium, so I will jump on that soon. And as always, I will remind you to drop me a note if you get a chance. Seeeeyasoon.

To Be Continued....

Okay, I've been busy, but I promise, I'm working on my next blog post. In the meantime, to tide you over....

Anyways, this is how I imagine your emotions are before and after reading my blog posts. Just humor me, okay?

Snow: White as Lithuanians

One of the components of my program this semester is the "European Study Tour," in which each set of roommates is sent to a different European Union country to research their perspectives on certain economic issues and such, and then we all meet back the next week in Brussels to represent the country we visited in a mock-parliament debate. And of course, Arushi and I were assigned to Lithuania. So the weekend before last, Arushi and I set off for the thrilling city of Vilnius.

The tone for the trip was set before we even set foot in Vilnius as we realized we were some of the only non-Lithuanians on the flight. Then, as we arrived at the Vilnius Airport Thursday night, at the border control they were stumped by our Indian and US passports. They had to take time to look them up, and kept asking us, "Why are you coming to Vilnius??" sounding genuinely surprised and confused. That being said, I would now like to simultaneously introduce fun factoid number 1 about Lithuania while giving out a world record to Arushi. That is, I would like to take a moment to commemorate Arushi for being the first non-white person to ever set foot in Lithuania... ever. Lithuania is by far the least culturally diverse place I have ever been, it was uncomfortable. Arushi and I actually were so excited when halfway through our stay in Vilnius we saw one other non-white person, that we took a picture of him to prove it - not creepy I swear. But basically everyone in Lithuania is as pale as their snow, tall, blond, and blue-eyed - actually a number of people kept trying to speak to me in Lithuanian while we were there. Another observation about the people of Lithuania we had is the sharp difference between the younger and older generations. The older generations all speak only Lithuanian and Russian, are not particularly friendly, and ignored us (leading to a plethora of selfie pictures from the trip). Meanwhile, the younger generations could speak Lithuanian and English, and were very nice and friendly and helpful to us. 

Overlooking the city of Vilnius (in other words, overlooking snow and churches)

Friday morning we got up and went straight off to work. We met with a professor from the economics faculty at Vilnius University. After a short lunch break, we went off to our meeting at the Ministry of Economy for Lithuania, where we spoke to three consultants. Then we went to the Ministry of Finance for Lithuania, where we talked to an additional three consultants. Once those were finished we were relieved to have all the work-aspects out of the way for the trip, and could "site-see" for the rest. That night we actually went to a ballet at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Anna Karenina to be exact. It was INCREDIBLE. So worth the.... well, now would be a good time to introduce fun factoid number 2 about Lithuania - that being, it is superduper cheap. 4 litas equal 1 British pound, and I must admit it is really fun to look at a price-tag and be able to divide it by 4 in your head to realize how much you're actually paying. Like oh, this dinner at this nice restaurant is 12 lita... but wait, that's only 3 pounds yippee!! Or, ordering a pint at dinner costs 2 lita ie 50 pence (in London the standard pint at a pub is no less than 3 to 4 pounds). So, my tickets to see Anna Karenina at the fancy-pants theatre pictured below cost me a wopping 10 lita - in other words bus change in London. Sweet. 

The Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre... casual

As of yet, I  have also failed to complain share with you the {not so} fun factoid about Lithuania number 2 - it is miserably, miserably, want-to-curl-up-in-a-ball-and-die cold. Arushi and I really tried our best to have a positive, glass-half-full attitude about the whole getting assigned to Lithuania thing, so we really tried to give it a shot by going to see some of their "sites" and places and such. And one of those things Lithuania is famous for is Trakai Castle. Now Trakai is about an hour outside of Vilnius, so Arushi and I, again trying to hone in a "give-it-a-shot" attitude, decided to try to go anyways. Here is what this consisted of:

1. Walk 30-40 minutes to bus stop [in freezing sub-zero weather]

2. Take a sketchy bus with no air conditioning 1 hour to Trakai [in freezing sub-zero weather that bus didn't block out]

3. Walk 30-40 minutes from the very sketchy bus stop in Trakai to get to the castle [in freezing sub-zero weather]

4. Walk around and explore castle and try to take a picture but realize you can't because if you take your hands out of your gloves for a millisecond they will turn into icicles [in freezing sub-zero weather]

5. Immediately turn around and have to walk back the 30-40 minutes to the bus stop [in freezing sub-zero weather]

6. Hop onto a bus really quickly because a homeless person at the bus stop is following you, and ride back 1 hour in a bus that was even sketchier than the first to the bus stop in Vilnius [in freezing sub-zero weather that bus didn't block out]

7. Walk 30-40 minutes from bus stop back to hotel, refraining from crying in misery only because you're afraid your tears will freeze on your face and make you even colder [in freezing sub-zero weather]

Fahrenheit. This wasn't even the coldest it got.

Okay, yes, that was very melodramatic I realize, but in all seriousness I refuse to go to a place that is that cold ever, ever, ever again. But now that I've expressed how cold I was, I will also say how lovely Trakai was. Unfortunately, however, we didn't really get to catch Trakai in all its glory, and here's why:

Trakai Castle in the summer

Trakai Castle when we went. In other words, lake doesn't exist (In fact people were ice-skating where the lake normally is).

So my final consensus on our Saturday in Trakai is: Trakai is a lovely place, but not worth it if you're going in sub-zero weather as this will not only freeze the lake, but also will keep you in low spirits that won't allow you to properly appreciate its beauty. 

Finally, on Sunday, Arushi and I explored the Old Town part of Vilnius and the sites in the city itself. And by sites, I mean churches. Literally all there is in Vilnius is churches and snow, churches and snow, churches and snow. They were quite beautiful though. That night we flew home late, and had a very brief nap before having to wake up for class in the morning. Life never seems to slow down. 

Walking around Vilnius

Old Town square in Vilnius

At a giant market - the amount of meat was incredible/disgusting

I thought the locks on the fence was a French thing?

Overlooking the city

Sorry this post came so late, and that I continue to remain behind. I will do my best to post about my trip this weekend to Belgium as soon as I get a chance. I send my love back to the States, where I am sorely missing my family and friends. I hope everyone enjoys sitting down to the SuperBowl tonight (I will be watching here at a lovely 12:30am - class in the morning is going to be a blast).