Okay guys--this is VERY RAW FOOTAGE. I'm a horrible videographer (is that a word?), but hey, I was just having fun.
I will try and finish posting pictures from Belgium and London this weekend--fo' real yo.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Intermission
I need a break from the trip writing, so feel free to skip over this post, or get a little glimpse into the 'mind of Jennifer'. (It's a scary place--don't say you haven't been warned)
My top five favorite songs at this exact moment:
1. The Beautiful Occupation by Travis
2. She's a Jar by Wilco
3. I Was Just Thinking by Teitur
4. Tokyo by Bob Schneider
5. Take me as I Am by Wyclef Jean w/Sharissa
Five movies I don't mind watching more than once:
1. Bottlerocket
2. Meet Joe Black
3. Life is Beautiful
4. Amélie
5. Donnie Darko
Five non-fiction books I've read that I think others should read too:
1. Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller
2. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
3. We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Philip Gourevitch
4. Intimacy with the Almighty by Charles Swindoll
5. Black like me by John Howard Griffin
5a. As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl by John Colapinto
5b. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Five fiction books that I enjoyed:
1. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
3. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
4. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
5. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (although it's debatable on whether this is truly fiction)
Okay, I promise the next post will be more pictures from spring break.
My top five favorite songs at this exact moment:
1. The Beautiful Occupation by Travis
2. She's a Jar by Wilco
3. I Was Just Thinking by Teitur
4. Tokyo by Bob Schneider
5. Take me as I Am by Wyclef Jean w/Sharissa
Five movies I don't mind watching more than once:
1. Bottlerocket
2. Meet Joe Black
3. Life is Beautiful
4. Amélie
5. Donnie Darko
Five non-fiction books I've read that I think others should read too:
1. Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller
2. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
3. We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Philip Gourevitch
4. Intimacy with the Almighty by Charles Swindoll
5. Black like me by John Howard Griffin
5a. As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl by John Colapinto
5b. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Five fiction books that I enjoyed:
1. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
3. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
4. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
5. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (although it's debatable on whether this is truly fiction)
Okay, I promise the next post will be more pictures from spring break.
Brugge...the Venice of the North
Brugge is one of the most famous cities in Belgium because of it's medieval charm. It was really beautiful there. Ine and I had a great time making our 3 1/2 mile walk last 5 hours. (We got side-tracked...)
The Market Place
The Provincial court in the Market Place
Look up
We got lucky and found someone to take our picture.
A monastery for the Benedictine sisters (who still live here now).
Sorry, I forgot who this is...I should have taken notes.
Pictures from our boat ride
More pictures--don't you love it?
Interesting fact about Brugge: There is a church there that claims to have the blood of Christ. Yes, I'm serious. You can read about it here.
Now for a few silly pictures--which is bound to happen when there are statues around.
I was totally laughing, but I was trying to re-create the look on this guy's face.
The Market Place
The Provincial court in the Market Place
Look up
We got lucky and found someone to take our picture.
A monastery for the Benedictine sisters (who still live here now).
Sorry, I forgot who this is...I should have taken notes.
Pictures from our boat ride
More pictures--don't you love it?
Interesting fact about Brugge: There is a church there that claims to have the blood of Christ. Yes, I'm serious. You can read about it here.
Now for a few silly pictures--which is bound to happen when there are statues around.
I was totally laughing, but I was trying to re-create the look on this guy's face.
Antwerp
Well, I saw Antwerp every day since that's where Ine lives. So, these pictures are in no particular order and are from random moments throughout my trip.
A battleship in the harbor
All the buildings in Grote Square (Town Square)have gold statues on the top of them.
Brabo fountain (but it is turned off in winter) in the center of Grote Square
According to a legend, a terrible giant, called Druoon Antigoon, lived on the banks of the river Scheldt in ancient times. Whenever sailors on the Scheldt river refused to pay toll to the giant, he punished them by cutting off their hand. A Roman soldier, Silvius Brabo, managed to kill the giant. Brabo cut off the hand of the giant and threw the hand away in the river.
Here is the giant
Antwerp is actually named for this legend. The city name comes from 'hand' and 'to throw'. The 'hand' is the symbol of Antwerp. There are hands in the town flag. Also there are several sweets in the form of a hand.
There is also a great 'hand' statue. Taylor and I couldn't resist having a picture with this great, umm, monument.
Our Lady's Cathedral
Inside view
The 'Steen'
'Steen' is the Dutch word for 'stone'. In Antwerp the 'Steen' is the name of the little castle that can be seen at the entrance of the city center, on the border of the river Scheldt. The castle is called that way because it was one of the earliest buildings in Antwerp constructed with stones (at a time when most houses were still built with wood).
Ine and I doing what I do best--taking pictures of myself with friends
P.P. Rubens--Antwerp's most famous artist
Central Station
We ALMOST ate here.
An hour later, it caught on fire. I guess it was a good thing it was too crowded for us since we were hungry.
The movie theater where we saw 'Brokeback Mountain'. We were sitting next to 2 guys, so I'm wondering...For my guy readers, I have a question. Would you go see that movie with a guy friend?
It's the biggest theater in the world.
A battleship in the harbor
All the buildings in Grote Square (Town Square)have gold statues on the top of them.
Brabo fountain (but it is turned off in winter) in the center of Grote Square
According to a legend, a terrible giant, called Druoon Antigoon, lived on the banks of the river Scheldt in ancient times. Whenever sailors on the Scheldt river refused to pay toll to the giant, he punished them by cutting off their hand. A Roman soldier, Silvius Brabo, managed to kill the giant. Brabo cut off the hand of the giant and threw the hand away in the river.
Here is the giant
Antwerp is actually named for this legend. The city name comes from 'hand' and 'to throw'. The 'hand' is the symbol of Antwerp. There are hands in the town flag. Also there are several sweets in the form of a hand.
There is also a great 'hand' statue. Taylor and I couldn't resist having a picture with this great, umm, monument.
Our Lady's Cathedral
Inside view
The 'Steen'
'Steen' is the Dutch word for 'stone'. In Antwerp the 'Steen' is the name of the little castle that can be seen at the entrance of the city center, on the border of the river Scheldt. The castle is called that way because it was one of the earliest buildings in Antwerp constructed with stones (at a time when most houses were still built with wood).
Ine and I doing what I do best--taking pictures of myself with friends
P.P. Rubens--Antwerp's most famous artist
Central Station
We ALMOST ate here.
An hour later, it caught on fire. I guess it was a good thing it was too crowded for us since we were hungry.
The movie theater where we saw 'Brokeback Mountain'. We were sitting next to 2 guys, so I'm wondering...For my guy readers, I have a question. Would you go see that movie with a guy friend?
It's the biggest theater in the world.
Belgium or Bust...
It's raining, therefore I have no excuses to not work on this now. Without further adieu, my account of spring break.
I got there late on the 15th. Ine was there at the airport to meet me and it was great to see her. It was a little strange having her drive me around now. She's a good driver though--sort of. (Just kidding Ine!) When we got to her house, I met her parents, then went to bed. The next morning I slept in while Ine went to school. We rode bikes and got lunch when she got home, but it was a pretty lazy day since I had just spent a day traveling. Taylor was supposed to be there between 8-10 p.m. so we stayed up waiting on him. However, when he didn't show up by 11, we decided to go to sleep and just listen for the doorbell. Well, he finally made it sometime around midnight--I think. I'm not real sure what time it was because I was totally asleep when he got there, but I woke up and we talked a little, then he said he was going to do his homework. In actuality, he didn't do any of his homework and we talked more until finally falling asleep.
So, that was my first full day in Belgium. The next day, Ine, Taylor, and I headed to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. First we went to the Atomium. What's that, you ask? Well, it's this:
It was built for the International Exhibition of Brussels, that took place in 1958. We went up to the top. This was the view:
Ine and I with some old cars in the Atomium
The one of the left is the Urkel-mobile.
After we toured the Atomium from top to bottom, we took a tram downtown.
(sorry for the blurry picture, but I still thought it was fun)
First things first--Ine and I really needed to find a bathroom. So, we casually walked into a nice hotel and found their bathrooms. Taylor was waiting for us and got a great idea for a picture while waiting. There was a big mirror so we wanted to try and take our own picture in the mirror.
Here's a test shot. We were really focusing...
The result--we're complete dorks
The King and Queen's house
A statue of one of Belgium's most famous poets--don't ask me his name, I forgot.
New York has the Statue of Liberty, Copenhagen has the mermaid and Brussels has the... Manneken Pis.
A closer look
There are many legends about this statue, but the one I like the best is the one Ine told me. It is said that a general in a war was about to attack the city, but was peed on by a little boy. The general took that as a sign that he shouldn't attack the city, therefore he saved the city. Umm, yeah...He is dressed as a soldier here, but he has many outfits--over 600 according to one website.
In Belgium they don't call them "Belgium waffles". They call them "Brussels waffles". This is quite possibly my favorite picture from the day.
Ok, no laughing this time
A courthouse and church
A group picture--since Taylor jumped in without us noticing.
Taylor and I, while we were waiting on Ine in the information building
Pictures of the square
A few random pictures
Of course I'd never have taken this picture if I didn't live in Japan. It was funny to me because this is quite possibly the dumbest name for a Japanese restaurant.
Of course I'd never have known that without living in Japan.
I got there late on the 15th. Ine was there at the airport to meet me and it was great to see her. It was a little strange having her drive me around now. She's a good driver though--sort of. (Just kidding Ine!) When we got to her house, I met her parents, then went to bed. The next morning I slept in while Ine went to school. We rode bikes and got lunch when she got home, but it was a pretty lazy day since I had just spent a day traveling. Taylor was supposed to be there between 8-10 p.m. so we stayed up waiting on him. However, when he didn't show up by 11, we decided to go to sleep and just listen for the doorbell. Well, he finally made it sometime around midnight--I think. I'm not real sure what time it was because I was totally asleep when he got there, but I woke up and we talked a little, then he said he was going to do his homework. In actuality, he didn't do any of his homework and we talked more until finally falling asleep.
So, that was my first full day in Belgium. The next day, Ine, Taylor, and I headed to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. First we went to the Atomium. What's that, you ask? Well, it's this:
It was built for the International Exhibition of Brussels, that took place in 1958. We went up to the top. This was the view:
Ine and I with some old cars in the Atomium
The one of the left is the Urkel-mobile.
After we toured the Atomium from top to bottom, we took a tram downtown.
(sorry for the blurry picture, but I still thought it was fun)
First things first--Ine and I really needed to find a bathroom. So, we casually walked into a nice hotel and found their bathrooms. Taylor was waiting for us and got a great idea for a picture while waiting. There was a big mirror so we wanted to try and take our own picture in the mirror.
Here's a test shot. We were really focusing...
The result--we're complete dorks
The King and Queen's house
A statue of one of Belgium's most famous poets--don't ask me his name, I forgot.
New York has the Statue of Liberty, Copenhagen has the mermaid and Brussels has the... Manneken Pis.
A closer look
There are many legends about this statue, but the one I like the best is the one Ine told me. It is said that a general in a war was about to attack the city, but was peed on by a little boy. The general took that as a sign that he shouldn't attack the city, therefore he saved the city. Umm, yeah...He is dressed as a soldier here, but he has many outfits--over 600 according to one website.
In Belgium they don't call them "Belgium waffles". They call them "Brussels waffles". This is quite possibly my favorite picture from the day.
Ok, no laughing this time
A courthouse and church
A group picture--since Taylor jumped in without us noticing.
Taylor and I, while we were waiting on Ine in the information building
Pictures of the square
A few random pictures
Of course I'd never have taken this picture if I didn't live in Japan. It was funny to me because this is quite possibly the dumbest name for a Japanese restaurant.
Of course I'd never have known that without living in Japan.
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