About
These are my adventures, however mundane or extraordinary, during my stay in Belgium.Following
Today for brunch, Megan, Brigette, and I all went to Nosh. It was all our last Nosh meal in Leuven. Afterwards, we went to the Botanical Gardens for the last time; unfortunately, it rained the whole time. However, afterwards we grabbed our last waffles and then it stopped raining all of a sudden. Typical Belgium.
In the evening, we all went out to the Oude Markt for the last time.
Today I had my Medieval Mysticisms exam. Since I feel like I did well on it, I grabbed an 80 cent Belgian chocolate milk from the nearby Carrefour Express and enjoyed it here, one of my favorite spots in Leuven (when it’s sunny).
After this, it was back to the books unfortunately for my Philosophy of Being exam tomorrow.
First thing I did when I woke up today was head to the gym. After a short workout session and a quick lunch, a HUGE thunderstorm struck. Since it’s been soooo hot and humid here, this storm was quite a blessing since it cooled down the town.
However, it prevented me from accomplishing my errands today because apparently stores just close down when the rain is too intense… what an absurd place. Things like this shouldn’t shock me since I’ve lived in Leuven for a little more than 7 months now, but I was still surprised by this. Anyways, I returned to the huis and studied the remainder of the day for my upcoming final exam.
Today I slept in late and was planning to have a lazy day… until I realized that my first exam is on Saturday and I gotta get crackin’. So, since it was hot and relatively sunny, I decided to sit outside STUK and try studying.
Now, I sat outside the cafe because I heard a rumor that it had shut down. However, to my delight I had discovered was actually false when two nice Belgians decided to unlock the gates and let me study inside. Even more fortunate, there was a live band playing and the floor was cleared a bit in order to allow couples to dance. I think it was some sort of special organized event because there were a lot more old people in the cafe than normal.
Today I slept in, went to the gym, and then was lazy in my bedroom. I also hung out outside and read since it was 81 degrees and super sunny today. Where was this weather in Palma Mallorca!?
Today I slept in rather late. I took a stroll down the beach (even though it was a bit chilly and cloudy) for a bit, and then I walked down to the nearby horse farm, which was probably my favorite part of the day because these BEAUTIFUL horses just walked right up to the gate as soon as I arrived so they could be petted.
For dinner, we all went out to the town. I got a burger, which was surprisingly the cheapest thing on the menu. Afterwards, we all went back to the room to pack and get ready to leave tomorrow.
Today was mostly cloudy with a little rain. However, since yesterday was so boring, we decided to try exploring the island. We stayed in the Alcudia region, one of the oldest/more famous regions on the island, so we decided to visit the old port town for a day. It’s an old fisherman’s village with the ancient Spanish/Roman walls still intact. We had lunch in the town and walked on the old town walls.
Afterwards, we went back to Bahia de Alcudia (where we were staying), and I went to the pool to hang out for a little bit before it began to rain again. Later in the evening in order to escape the room, we went out for drinks at a nearby bar that had live entertainment (an Amy Winehouse imatator, which was pretty funny) and ice cream. We also walked along the beach. Until we had to literally run away from the oncoming rainstorm.
Today we slept in late, and then we went to the beach. Unfortunately however, it was rather cold and cloudy our entire time there, so we tried going back to the pool at our hotel. That was also not the best option since it was still cold and cloudy. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the hotel.
Today we left Barcelona for Palma Mallorca. The flight was quick, but it was Ryanair, so of course it was not very enjoyable. It was cloudy when we landed, and it was cloudy the rest of the day.
Once we were settled into our hotel/condo, which was much later in the evening than we anticipated, we went to the grocery store and stocked up on food and drink for the rest of our stay and spent the evening in our wonderful room.
Today we went on one of those “hop-on, hop-off” double-decker buses that tour you around the city, and we rode it all day. We saw the Olympic stadium (that was closed because a Shakira concert was being set-up), the Barcelona home stadium, Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell. I got a little sunburned on the bus since it was the sunniest day of the trip.
My favorite was Park Guell, which was another Barcelonian thing designed by Gaudi. It was gorgeous; everything was white with tiles and it looked like a gingerbread-candyland thing.
For dinner, we went to the port area for a delicious paella dinner. It differed a little from the Cuban paella I have had before many times, but it was still really good and really filling.
