aachen and antwerp

This weekend we visited Aachen, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium. We boarded a bus on Friday night around 6 to head to Aachen, Germany with the whole group (all of the kids on the Furman trip and our professor and his wife). We ended up getting there and checking into our hotel around 8 PM and got a delicious dinner. The next morning we got up bright and early and headed to Charlemagne's Cathedral. We went through the museum first, where the bones of Charlemagne and a fragment of the crucifixion cross are housed. It was really crazy and impressive to see the relics and I really enjoyed the museum. Afterwards we toured the cathedral, which was absolutely breathtaking. The pictures I have simply don't do it justice. Soon after we got to have some free time in Aachen, so we walked to a nearby park and got a kebob and some gelato and just enjoyed Aachen. It was a really nice town and not too tourist-y. We then loaded the bus and headed for Antwerp. In Antwerp we again settled into our hotel and walked to the big city center for dinner. We had delicious pizza and beer and then headed back to the hotel. The next morning we were up early for a 3 hour walking tour of Antwerp. Not my favorite thing since my feet are still in pretty bad shape, but it was still interesting. We got to see the river and the huge tunnel that runs under it (there are no bridges connecting the two sides!) and the red light district, which was honestly quite shocking. I'll spare you the imagery but needless to say I've never seen anything like that in the US nor do I care to see anything like it again. After the 3 hour (!!!!!) walking tour we had free time in the afternoon. A group of girls and I decided to go to the Diamond Museum in Antwerp. Antwerp is famous for its diamonds and diamond shops and dealers were everywhere so I was really excited. The museum was fabulous. I learned all these crazy things about diamonds (including that the mold for the glass Coke can is carved by industrial diamonds) and got to see a lot of beautiful replicas. The food in Antwerp was delicious as well. We tried chocolate, my first Belgian waffle, and these DELICIOUS homemade cupcakes. I honestly cannot tell you how all Europeans aren't fat. The food here is just so...tempting. We headed home from Antwerp on the bus, and on the way back got a glimpse of an old concentration camp. It was a pretty sobering experience, especially considering that today is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. There isn't as much memorial coverage over here as I'm sure there is in the states, but the connection of those two horrific time periods just really struck a chord with me and made me think. Again, I feel just so blessed to be able to be having all of these truly wonderful, learning, and life-changing experiences. I'm lucky enough that I have a family to support me and a military that keeps me safe, and I'm lucky to be an American. Today of all days, this is especially clear to me. I also got to talk to my sister Madison tonight, which is so wonderful because I miss her so much (Hayley, if you're reading this, SKYPE ME!). Being able to keep in touch with my family and friends has been great. I got to call my grandfather on his and my grandmother's 60th wedding anniversary earlier this week, and once again I was just humbled by the love and unconditional support I have. To all of you reading this- thank you so much for being you and loving me enough to keep up with me! I miss you all terribly. All for now- the workweek starts early again tomorrow morning!


Some pictures:

the bust of Charlemagne (with bones inside!)

in the cathedral

the group in front of the cathedral

the Antwerp river

the most delicious cupcake EVER!