A Week with Monique

(Week of May 16 - May 22)

Brugge Windmill

Taking pictures

The Brugge Belfry

Sunsetting on Brugge

Me and Monique

Gent from above

Me and Monique and Sint Baafs

Monique and the Heverlee Castle

I love this picture

The Group at the end of the year BBQ

Me and Liam

Me and Monique at Knokke

Relaxing on the Beach

She loves the beach

The disaster that was our trip to Berlin, helped to divide a second visit by Monique to the land of Leuven. She had arrived on Wednesday of the first week and we headed to Berlin the weekend after she got here. After we arrived back late Sunday (early Monday) we spent the rest of the trip traveling around Belgium to 3 new cities and 1 repeat.

We began her stay by traveling out to Brugge for a second time; the only difference between the two was the sunshine which was paramount this time around. While this trip gave Monique a second chance to visit the quaint little city and appreciate its narrow cobblestone roads and quiet cute back alleys, it also gave us both the opportunity to see parts of the city I had never ventured into before. On our ride out, while I slept, I had handed Monique the tour book and told her to pick out some things she would like to see which we didn’t get to last time. I awoke, upon our arrival, to her giggling smile, as she had found a number (100) of areas of interest which she wanted to explore with me.

Thus we began our second tour through the circular city that was once the major port of the Belgian coast. We started by attempting to visit the chocolate museum and for the second time in as many attempts I was unsuccessful, falling victim to the same error that I did last time – though it closes at 5, the last tour is at 4. A little disappointed we followed the game plan Monique had envisaged, our next step was to make our way out to the wind mills which lie on the edge of the city. The windmills are stationed on the edge Brugge’s of the medieval moat and up a hill which provided a panorama of the spires of the Belfry and the church towers. As we stared out of the city, the sun was high in the sky and the water from the moat lapped against the walls of the city – competing with the cars on the freeway nearby.

Once we finished with the windmills, we headed back into the city through the narrow backstreets and into the university section of town. Following the guided map tour full of bullet points and landmarks, we headed back through the city stopping at different cites from the University crest, to the bear mascot of the city, and the 16th century cannon which is stuck end up in the ground. We enjoyed the slow laid back stroll through city.

Our second trip in Belgium was out to Gent for only my second time this year, but 3rd in my career. My first visit to the city was on a group trip and was ruined by the appearance of our Dutch professor who proceeded to give us an assignment to complete before the day ended, coupled with the rainfall. This trip was much more relaxed than my first and I headed out trying to recall the major sites of the city and more importantly the major streets. We began at Sint-Baafskathedraal which houses Gent Altarpiece. Unfortunately it was under construction (like most of the roads in the main square) during our visit so we could only catch glimpses the real thing and had to settle for a recreation.

Afterward, we headed over to the Gent Belfort to see the city from one of its highest points. The Belfort lies in the center of the three main towers which make up the skyline. From the eagle eye view, for the first time, I sat and actually appreciated the views and attractions of the city. From our perch in the center of the city we were able to look out over the brown roof tops and spires of the other two towers.

Once we ventured back down from the tower, we headed about to see the smaller (literally and figuratively) sights. The backstreets and small canal were much nicer in the sunshine and throngs of people were out enjoying drinks at the waterfront restaurants. We slowly made our way (stopping for some speculous flavored ice cream) over to the Gravenstein Castle only to arrive a couple minutes to late to go for the tour. Thus we finished the day by wondering back through the city to the train station and back to Leuven for Stoovlees (beef stew) for dinner at Domus.

Our final trip during Monique’s visit was out to the Belgian shoreline to see the beaches the Flemish had to offer. Knokke was the name and though it was not nearly hot enough to be in bathing suits, we spent the afternoon in a dug out hole, catching some rays. We spent the day on the coastline under the sunshine. The relaxing day at the beach was a nice change of pace from the hectic travel which had previously ensued.

As the sun set over the waters horizon, the receding light also served as a reminder that the end of Monique’s second dour d’Europe was also coming to a close. With that in mind, we strolled back to the train station and by 9am the following day, I was headed in to Brussels international airport to see her off on her flight. Though I was sad to see her go, I only had a short time to reflect on her departure - final exams and papers quickly came storming in with the sunshine of June.

If You Go To Berlin - Try The Costel

(May 14 – May 16)

Our Costel

The Berlin Wall

American Propaganda

Monique and the Berlin bear

Me and Monique

The Reichstag

My suggestion to Kara for baby dos

Hot Chocolate makes up for rainy afternoons

Walking the Wall

Communist architecture

Sums up our whole trip

Plastic bag = poncho

Two brick Berlin Wall memorial

Outdoor plumbing - typical Berlin style

The memorial to Hitler's bunker

The Jewish Memorial

The Communist stop lights

The "Michael Jackson" Hotel - where he dangled the baby

Paris Platz

The old remnant of the wall - chiseled away by tourists

“It can’t possibly get any worse than this…” – that was the expression which I learned the hard way to stop saying after our trip out to Berlin. Because for some reason when I say that, it become a challenge to the universe to try and see if they can sneak in one more surprise for me. It seems that sometimes Mother Nature and Father Time have different plans for me than I would prefer – my trip to Berlin became a testament to that.

Monique came to town for a second time last week and we spent the first couple days around Belgium, mainly seeing Leuven. On Friday, Monique, Liam, Erin, Francesco, and I rented a car at Brussels Zuid train station and took a road trip across the autobahn to Berlin for what was supposed to be a memorable car trip to a European city with an interesting bit of historical perspective.

The road trip out was probably the most enjoyable part of the experience for me as driving on the autobahn is nothing short of exhilarating – seeing as how the Germans average 200 km/hr (roughly 140 mph). I kept up with traffic for the most part but wasn’t able to push our rented Hyundai hatchback past 180 km/hr on the straightest stretches of the trans-German highway.

It wasn’t until we arrived in the “Bear” (mascot) City, that things really started to hit the fan – as the expression goes. We got our supposed hostel around 6 pm, parked the car in the back parking lot, and then headed in to check in.

“I’m sorry we don’t have a reservation,” the blonde haired blue eyed receptionist lamented in a kind voice. “Is there a chance you are Ida party of 5?” I stared back blankly at her – a moment of comedic sanctuary – before my mind catapulted into a hectic frenzy trying to figure out where we would be staying for the duration of the trip.

As it turned out, the German futbol championship was in town that weekend, so not only was our supposed hostel entirely booked, but every hostel, hotel, town house, garage, shed, and tent, were booked as Germans from all over flocked to the festivities of the capitol city. The closest city and accommodation could be found in Hannover (2hrs and 45 minutes away). It took us less than an hour for us to come to this realization and a little bit longer to come to the following: we came to see Berlin, we might as well see it. Thus for the duration of our weekend in Berlin, our hostel was our car (car + hostel = costel). The receptionist was nice enough to allow us to use the kitchen and bathrooms at the hostel and to keep the car parked out back. However, at the end of both nights in the city, the 5 of us slept in our rented Hyundai – luckily it was a hatchback which allowed us a little extra room when we dropped the seat in the back.

When I settled into the car that night, wearing almost all of the clothes, and uncomfortable on the ridged trunk-turned-mattress, I sat back and thought, “it can’t possibly get any worse than this.” It was then that the first drops began to fall, tip tapping on the roof of the car.

Those same rain drops also greeted us as we woke up the following morning (and continued all day) and proceeded to set about our overtired day. Borrowing some garbage bags to use as ponchos, we headed out for a free walking tour of the city.

Besides the weather and the exhaustion, Berlin was a fascinating city with a very unique vibe and history – a majority of which stemmed from the Cold War and the East-West divide. The scars of communism were as prevalent in Berlin as they were when we traveled through Bratislava and Budapest, made most evident by the sections of the infamous Berlin Wall which remain up as a tribute to the divide – and a two brick outline in places where it has been removed.

We started our first day in the rain on a free tour of the city. The tour was extensive and we saw most of the aesthetic in’s and out’s of the city. We started in the Paris Platz which is one of the most important squares in the city. We then followed the tour past the Reichstach, the Jewish Memorial, Hitler’s Bunker during WWII(which has been immortalized with a gravel parking lot), the Lufthasse headquarters, Bebel Platz, Check-point Charlie, the East-West divide, and a multitude of museums.

Once we finished the walking tour we made 2 additional stops on our trip ‘round the city. Upon the (terrible) suggestion of our free tour guide, we headed out to see the recently refurbished pieces of the Berlin wall – an outdoor exhibit in the rain. This past year, the city commissions, brought in all the original artists who painted the wall and had them remake their creations with new paint. The fresh vibrant color danced off the wall in a variety of different collages and creations made on the thick cement. It was an amazing experience that was only dampened (pun intended) by the consistent rainfall which had plagued us all day throughout our tour.

Once returned back to the city center (it was a hike to the remade paintings) we decided to stop at the interactive DDR Museum. We first grabbed a quick hot chocolate at Andy’s Restaurant and then headed to the museum which told the story of life behind the wall. The museum took many different approaches to show how the communist creations of the USSR affected the everyday lives of the people in east Berlin. The interactive experience included a recreation of a communist kitchen, a typical communist work day, and even the chance to drive a Trabant – the atypical communist car.

When we finished at the museum, soggy and downtrodden, we headed back to our costel, stopping first to pick up food at the grocery store to cook in the kitchen while we played cards. Once the cards were finished, we packed up and again headed back to settle in for another “relaxing” night of sleep.

The following morning we woke up and for the first time in 2 days, used the car for its actual purpose – to drive to the center of the city in order to quicken our touring on the second day. The sun was a welcomed sight and warmed our spirits (and our backs) as we set about the city. We spent the early morning retracing our footsteps from the day before and re-taking pictures which had previously been grey and rain washed.

Because the line outside the Reichstag was so long we decided to take a tour of the Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. The city-block sized monument is a large and intimidating compilation of large cement rectangles (which almost resemble coffins) and become easy to walk through and lose your way. We spent over an hour walking through the memorial and then another in the museum which accompanied it. The museum was designed to tell the personal stories and experiences of the Jews under the Nazi regime – and it did so memorably.

After the museum, we decided to slowly make our way back to the car, taking time to enjoy some of the good weather which had finally joined us (it figures the day we had to drive home). It was thus that at 3 pm we set out back to Brussels, first stopping to drive past the refurbished wall one more time in order to catch the colors in the sunshine. With the walls behind us, we began the voyage back.

My hope, through leaving so early was that we would arrive back in Brussels with plenty of time to take a train back to Leuven for the night. However, the universe had alternative plans for us as we headed home – turning a 6 ½ hour drive into a 10 ½ hour nightmare. On the plus side, flowing in and out of phantom traffic over the course of the trip gave me an added boost of confidence in my ability to drive manual. We unfortunately arrived home so late, that most of Brussels was closed down and it took the 5 of us an 85 euro cab ride to get back to Schapenstraat. At approximately 3 in the morning, we stumbled into the Nachbahrhuis, and I for one was exhausted. Though Berlin itself was fascinating with its aura and history, the circumstances of the trip unfortunately made our experience less than stellar (not the Jersey City accent for “stella”). However, it was only the good company that kept my spirits up throughout the trip – and kept me from driving the car off the road.

Scotland - The Flight That Almost Wasn't

(May 6 - May 8)

The Wallace Monument

Tim, Matt and I atop the monument

The monument on the hill

The view from the top of the snaking River Forth

Matt, Tim and I in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Mile in the sunshine

The Edinburgh Castle at Night

The Royal Mile at night

The Mereat Cross

Heart of Methlodian

St. Gile's Cathedral

JK Rowling's inspiration for Professor McGonagall in the Grey Friar's Kerkyard Cemetery

The memorial to Grey Friar's Bobby

JK Rowling's favorite coffee shop

The beautiful architecture and landscape of Edinburgh

He stood, staring out over the Scottish landscape – the winding river River Forth, a snake in the grass, cutting through the green pastures of the countryside sitting beneath the baby blue sky patched with bright white clouds – and could picture in his head the advance of the English army and their peril as they were funneled through the valley and forced across the bridge. The magnitude of their numbers meant nothing.

Inspired by the moment which had come to grip him, his voice bellowed out: “Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace. ‘William Wallace is 7 feet tall.’ Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his ass! I am William Wallace! And I see, before me, an army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight? ‘Fight against that? No, we will run, and we will live.’ Ay, fight and you may die, run and you'll live – at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take OUR FREEDOM!”

As he finished he gazed out over the breathtaking landscape, over the bridge where the battle ensued, and over Scotland which struggled for its freedom, his compatriot grasped him on the shoulder and said: “Alright are you finished? Can we go inside now?”

Tricked you didn’t I? No? Well I tried. I was hoping to convince you I was telling the story of William Wallace’s brilliant victory over the English at the battle of Stirling. In reality, that was just me, giving Mel Gibson’s speech from Braveheart when we arrived at the William Wallace Monument on the outskirts of the Stirling – I think it was entertaining for Matt and Tim to say the least.

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That’s right Scotland was the place of travel this past weekend as Matt, Tim, and I set out on a trip to the UK to visit our English speaking brethren. Most of the Loyola crew had already headed out to Scotland previously and their ravings over the beauty of Edinburgh were enough to convince us to take the voyage.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the Land of Scots, as we arrived late on Thursday night in Edinburgh and after finding our hostel, hit the hay for the evening. We had decided that while Edinburgh was supposed to be a gorgeous city, we had to travel out to Stirling to see the Wallace Memorial and the beauty of the Scottish country side.

We awoke early (an extra hour early courtesy of me forgetting about the time change) and started on our way to Stirling. Stirling has both historical and symbolic significance to Scotland as it is the place where on September 11, 1297, William Wallace – “the Guardian of Scotland” – staged a strategic battle against the English – defeating them and providing momentary freedom for Scotland for the first time.

We arrived in the city around noon and headed out to the Wallace monument from the start – which turned out to be a good decision seeing as how it was literally a hike to get to. The castle-like monument jutted above the tree-line – the dark brown and grey stones dug directly out of the hill on which it was perched. After making it to the base of the hill we scaled the mountain and arrived at the monument. Though the view from the base was impressive, the ultimate vantage point was provided by the top level of the 207 step memorial. The gorgeous landscape (described above) was a welcome sight worthy of the trek outside the city center.

Once we finished with the monument, we ventured to the city center and headed about the silver city (pun on Stirling [I’m aware it’s spelt differently]). Crossing over the famed Stirling Bridge, we made our way up to the castle. The citadel provided an equally impressive view over the small city except from the opposite angle. The castle has stood as a focal point for both the city and Scotland as it lies at one of the crossroads of Edinburgh and Glasgow. From the castle, we headed into town, passing through the winding cobblestone roads and back down toward the train station. We stopped by the old town jail, the famed Stirling Bagpipe store, the indoor mall, The Church of the Holy Rude, and then headed back to the main station and back into town .

After a day touring through the gorgeous small city, we headed back to the capitol of Scotland - Edinburgh. Once we got back, we rested for a bit and then walked through Edinburgh at night. After wandering about for a bit, we found ourselves on the Royal Mile, the famous shopping street which once served as a direct line for the Royalty to move from the Royal residence to the shelter of the castle in case of an attack.

The next morning we had a planned day to tour through Edinburgh and spend the whole day seeing the city before we boarded our flight later that night. We got up for the 11am Free Walking Tour and set out for the 3 hour tour. The tour was outstanding and in depth and took us through most of the major sights of the city. We began on the Royal mile – this time in the beautiful spring sunshine which accompanied our visit. The tour then moved to the Mereat Cross, where announcements and punishments in the medieval days were made, and where Tim was used to provide an example of medieval punishments. We slowly worked our way up the Royal Mile’s most famous landmarks, from the cross we moved to the St. Gile (Scotland’s Patron Saint) Cathedral, to the Statue of Charles II, passed by the Heart of Mithlodian (the stone work in the shape of a heart which the locals spit on for good luck), and the Writers Museum.

Once we finished on the Royal Mile, we headed over to the University section of the city in the Grass Market. The number of pubs which line the square are famous for hosting Scotland’s bachelorette and “stag” parties – thus our tour guide told us not to mind the cross dressing gentlemen. After the Grass Market we headed to the coffee shop where JK Rowling first rented an apartment and began writing down her ideas for the first three of the Harry Potter septet. Across from the coffee shop is the Grey Friar Kerkyard Cemetery where she got some of the ideas for her character names. Up until this point in the trip, Matt, Tim and I had an amazing time in our trip through Scotland. However, it was right about the time when we got to the Grey Friar’s Bobby statue (the story of the most loyal dog in the world), that Tim received an e-mail on his blackberry that said that due to the volcanic ash and the closure of French and Spanish airspace, our flight at 7pm was cancelled.

With our flight cancelled, we threw out our plans for the rest of our time in Edinburgh – like to see the million pounds at the bank of Scotland, or to see the angel playing bag pipes in the Cathedral, or to visit the castle which overlooked the city – as we finished our free tour of the city and ate at the recommended restaurant (trying haggis for the first time). We then began formulating plans for our additional stay in Scotland. We headed back to our hostel that we had to check out of and pleaded with them to let us use their computers, to which they complied. After contacting a number of our friends in England and Ireland – and mainly all of the UK – we tried to figure out where we could stay for the next 3 days, because another flight to Belgium wasn’t scheduled to leave until then. After much debate we decided the first thing we needed to do was figure out our flight. However, when we couldn’t get in touch with Ryanair on the various phone lines they offered, we decided to head into the airport to fix the flight.

“Oh no you’re flights not cancelled, it’s actually boarding” – that was the line that the pointy-eared blonde haired man behind the desk gave us – “it must have been a glitch in the system.”

The shock was almost immediately followed by panic as Matt, Tim and I, fumbled for our passports and rain through the check in, customs, the passport check, and then the entire terminal (our flight was on the second to last gate). Roughly 20 minutes after we were told that our flight was still on, we were sitting in our seats in trying to comprehend the frenzy which had just taken place – simultaneously upset but grateful. The only unfortunate part of the trip was that we wasted our last afternoon in Edinburgh figuring out plans, when we could have been seeing more of the city. I guess that’s just one of those experiences that you can only have when backpacking around Europe – hopefully it’s one I’ll never have to repeat!