Brussels for the Weekend

Last weekend, while not a typical one of my semester abroad, was probably one of my favorites! OK, I say that about nearly every weekend, but this last one was great for a very different reason.

I stayed in Brussels. I have a number of papers due in the next two weeks, including a 20 page one for my Nazi Germany class and 13 pages for my Intercultural Communications class. I also had a paper for Furman due on Saturday afternoon.

Friday rolled around, and a few of us decided to adventure to the Parliament Library. We made our way to our workplace, which felt weird since I wasn't dressed in work clothes and I had my backpack. We discovered where the library actually was, and walked into a hidden gem! Seriously, it is great!!! The entire ceiling is made of windows, so natural light comes pouring in. There were rows of tables for you set up at, or a couch area if you so prefer. Its great. Not too crowded, reminds me of the Furman library in the morning. We all settled in and got to work.

Around 1, we took a lunch break and headed to my favorite restaurant in Brussels: the Parliament sandwich shop! Not only can you get sandwiches here for a grand total of 2 euros, but they are delicious! It was a great lunch break, and then we headed back to the library until 5 to get more work done.

On Saturday, Cameron and I ventured to a cafe nearby to work for a while. That afternoon, we continued working at our apartment until around 6:30, when Mary Grace, Cole, and Sey came over for dinner! We cooked pasta with pink sauce (thanks a million to Mrs. Short for sending that over!) and just sat around the table for a while, eating and talking and laughing and just relaxing. That is probably one of my favorite nights in Brussels. It was perfect. After a while, we moved to the living room/board room and turned on the TV. This has been done a grand total of twice before Saturday night. The first time was the day we moved in. The second time was really random, Allie turned on a show about tigers? We didn't really watch it, but it still counts, I suppose. We found a few English shows, which was nice.

While it was a weekend full of homework, it was also really enjoyable to spend a "normal" weekend in Brussels. Dinner with friends is always great, and it made me look forward to more fun times, both here and back at Furman.