March 21-26: Wrapping Up; Belgium & France

So after being home for two days we decided that we were so sick of London that we should go to Belgium and France and see some adorable towns and awesome World War I sites!!

But for real? Belgium is my new favourite place on Earth. I couldn't get enough of it and granted, I would probably get sick of it after a while but I love how small and quaint everything is! PLUS, they have the best

Lace,

[French] Fries,

Belgian Waffles,

AND

CHOCOLATE!

And, yes, I'm proud to say I bought and tried all of the above :)

Day 76 - MONDAY

March 21st

"Welcome to Brugge!

Here, have enough chocolate to feed a small army!"

We hopped on our coach at 6 AM to go to Dover port only to miss the 8:30 ferry and have our 9:40 ferry break down. So we had to wait two hours for the 10:50 ferry which meant we would miss our Chocolate Museum tour. Luckily, Dursteler rocks and called the place and got us in for the next morning.

Also on this trip, I started my pants boycott a little early and just wore dresses and skirts the whole time! Best decision ever :)

We checked into our hotel, explored the city a little bit, and had dinner. On our ventures in the city, we came across the World's Best Hot Chocolate. Guaranteed.

A complicated process of dropping a cupcake-sized
cup of chocolate filled with chocolate chips
into a cauldron of warm milk

Bigger than my face.

Being in Brugge, Belgium, every other shop on the street is a chocolate shop. So, by the end of the night, we were all sick to our stomachs because of the 7000 pounds of chocolate we had just consumed so we went back to the hotel and got healthy dinners  and watched Dan In Real Life :)

Day 77 - TUESDAY

March 22nd

"Sick of chocolate yet?"

Chocolate Museum made me feel like a fatty.

Needless to say, YES, I was sick of chocolate. But, actually that's not saying a lot considering I don't like chocolate to start with. Crazy, I know. So we did the Chocolate Museum in the morning and then got to explore the town again on our own. We shopped a little bit, I got a handmade lace apron (Belgium invented Lace) and then Shelbi and I went on the boat tour of the town because Brugge is like Venice, built on a system of canals! It was a beautiful day and so cool to see the town!

Oh, and before the boat ride, we went to this cafe called Caramel and got real Belgian waffles. I got mine, with of course, caramel because I was so DONE with chocolate. And, in case you were wondering, they are WAY more AMAZING than anything you've ever had before. These people don't mess around. This is serious business. I was a very happy girl.

Donkey's got nothing on Belgium..

Boat tour of Belgium!

Then, we jumped on our loyal coach and drove to Iepes, France (pronounced like 'Eep') to visit Flanders Fields Museum! This was the real reason why we took this trip and, lemme tell ya, it was totally worth it. I'm a history major but I've never been able to get super excited about AMERICAN history except when my grandpa would tell me stories of when he was in World War II and THEN, hearing it first hand, made it exciting to me. So, of course SEEING it first hand was going to be interesting. And sure enough, I've never been so touched and in awe about WWI. The museum was one of the coolest experiences of my life and suddenly,a lot of things began to make sense (history wise). Stories and little details that I find absolutely FASCINATING came to my attention and I just loved every second of it. Also, it just made me think of my grandpa and his stories and made me remember how my love for history began. And, donuts afterwards didn't hurt either :)

Maybe I'm not as sick of chocolate as I thought ;)

Day 78 - WEDNESDAY

March 23rd

"Lemme tell you aboot a war"

We woke up in Amiens, France, went to see the tallest cathedral in France, Amiens Cathedral, then shopped and I got to practice my french! Yay!

Pretty, no?

Then it was bus ride to Somme Battlefields where we had a Canadian tour guide who had thee BEST accent and kept saying ABOOT and I would giggle every time :) The Somme Battlefields were beyond amazing and surreal. It was an interesting and super educational trip that I wish everyone would make at least once in their lifetime. I was so cool to be able to walk IN the trench of the British and see all the monuments raised for the dead bodies found in No Man's Land. Then to see  German Front and realize that there are still active mines just made it all so real. A somber mood fell over the group like I've never seen before. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I never wanted to leave.

Somme Field

Unfortunately, we had a ferry to catch. But, I'm still so thankful for the time we did spend there. It was nice because right before we left, we took a huge group picture on the battlefield. A picture to commemorate our last major trip together. It was bittersweet to say the least.

And a huge sign that this adventure is coming to an end. I still can't believe how fast it has gone by and that in only 19 days I'll be stepping off a plane in Phoenix Airport into the loving arms of my family. I can still vividly remember the day I left and I cut the hug with my mom short for fear of not wanting to let go if I held on too long. And of course to fight back tears. As much as I have LOVED my time here, it's definitely time to go home. Please, 3 weeks, go by fast, okay?