Flitting around: Belgium

So a few weeks ago we popped over to Leuven and Brussels in Belgium. It was a tad spontaneous on my part, on the Friday a few of my friends were like "we're going to Belgium today, wanna come?"And I said yes :)
Leuven is a cute little town about three hours from Tilburg. It's well-known for its nightlife, as it's a student city in a big way. However, because we're geniuses, we arrived a) during exam time and b) at the end of the high school year. So we were partying with tons of 16-year-olds. And some who looked like suspiciously young 16-year-olds.
But the bars were amazing, and we were a massive group, so we made it work. One of the Canadian girls knew a few Belgians who had been on Canadian exchanges, so we got to chill with the locals.

This is the square with all the bars on it. Clubbing European style :)

YAY for Belgium! The gang in Leuven

The stunning Town Hall

In the morning we checked out the sights of Leuven, including the HQ of the biggest beer brewery in the world. Then we were off to Brussels! It's an awesome city. We trekked all over, seeing every single building possibly worth seeing, and of course eating delicious waffles. 

We also tracked down Manneken Pis, the famous peeing boy, plus to be thorough the girl and the dog versions. There are various stories about the origin of the peeing boy, and it's had a pretty interesting existence. It regularly gets dressed up in costume, on special occasions he pees beer, and in the 1700s he was knighted by King Louis XV, so French soldiers had to salute him! 

That night we hit up a typical Belgian pub. Delirium is famously awesome.
One thing that's particularly amazing is its selection of beer.
It holds the world record for the largest beer selection commercially available!

Breakfast! I get insanely excited by the fact that most hostels feed you.
We stock up :)

We emulate the dog version, Zinneke Pis :P
The background graffiti is something we saw all over Brussels-
there's an organised street art Comic Book trail,
and the Recylcart Art Centre, with walls and walls of street art. 

Outside the Royal Palace, one of our stops on what became
 The Epic Building Tour

So that's a wee snapshot of our Belgian experience, and a happy start to me attempting to take on Europe (:

Tot ziens! 

Crazy Carnival

So Carnival is originally a Catholic celebration, celebrated mostly in the south of the Netherlands. For five-ish days just before Ash Wednesday, people pretty much go mad. Everyone dresses up, drinks and parties, and there are parades everywhere!
To get the full experience, we went 'carnival-hopping', to see the cities that are meant to have the craziest carnivals! Friday and Saturday in Tilburg, Sunday in Maastricht, then Monday popping over the border to Cologne/Koln in Germany.

Starting off the craziness in Tilburg (In case you were wondering, I was an elf/robin hood/peter pan, depending on who you talked to)

On our way, training it to Maastricht. Being at stations and on trains with people in elaborate costumes and at various stages of drunkeness was an experience!

Speaking of elaborate costumes! Often the ones we saw in the crowd were even cooler. The parade was also open for random people to join in and meander along with the rest. 

Partying it up with the locals! We stumbled into the hall where one of the marching bands was letting loose, so got to listen to some live traditional music. Until suddenly everyone was in a conga line...

Pretty Maastricht

Taking advantage of a friend of a friend's couch... until security kicked us out at 2.30 and we had to move to her bedroom floor. All part of the experience :)

Cologne floats were way more hard core. Plus everyone threw chocolate and flowers into the crowd. It was a massive lollie scramble, which was super fun. I developed pretty sophisticated tactics for beating the competition. 

  After four days of partying, we managed to get in some sightseeing- this is the beautiful Cologne Cathedral. 

And these are some particularly cute houses in the 'medieval district' that we found after traipsing across the city for hours. Plus there are two Kiwis and two Canadians being silly in the foreground.

So that was Carnival! As if I didn't need more evidence that the Dutch knew how to have a good time. 

Tot ziens x

Welcome to Tilburg!

Welcome to my blog! I'll try and write interestingly about all the things I'm up to over here in Europe. So far it's been a whirlwind :)
Tilburg is a really cool city, full of bikes, cute brick buildings, and lovely people. People talk about the famous Dutch bluntness, but so far everyone's been super nice. I've also met heaps of exchange students, from Kazakhstan to Canada, from Argentina to Slovakia.

Tilburg fun facts:

- the name first appears in 709 AD, a good 500 years before people arrived in New Zealand woooaaaahh. 

- the city is big on logistics, because it's smack bang between a massive German industrial city and a major port. 

- coming into the city you see a million-euro sculpture. It's a house that turns in a big circle. Yup. 

 Bikes, bikes, more bikes- my goal is to make it through the year without being run over by one.

 Tilburg central, so cute!

The turning house, say what?

University- where I'm spending most of my time. Truly. 

I'll update more soon (:
Tot ziens!