Catching up!

Wow, I haven't blogged in over a week. I've really missed it! Our trip to Amsterdam was a short trip with the whole group. We stayed at the Marriott-amazing. We were all way to excited about the pillows. When we got to Amsterdam Friday morning, we walked around the city. I read about a place on TripAdvisor called Pancakes!Amsterdam. Of course we had to try it, so we went for lunch. Emily and I split our pancakes so we could have savory and sweet. The savory pancake was spinach, goat cheese, and pine nuts. It was one of the top ten things I have ever eaten. Amazing. We also had the apple, cinnamon, and raisin pancake. It was also very good. The Heineken Experience had been highly recommended so we went for the tour. It was great to see the brewery and try the beer. I liked it way better than the Guinness beer! After the tour we took a canal tour of the city. It was very interesting to see the city by water. It was getting late after the canal ride so a few of us went to dinner together. I had a warm goat cheese salad that was great. We were so exhausted and headed back to the hotel to get a good night of sleep.
When we woke up on Saturday, I started feeling awful and so did a few of the other girls. I thought I would be fine so we headed out for the day. Anna and I had a great brunch and then shopped at the flower market for a few minutes. Our next stop was the Van Gogh Museum. It was the most crowded museum I have ever been too. I still enjoyed it though. The paintings were gorgeous. We started walking back to the train station right as it began to rain. Instead of walking we took the tram back and then hopped on the train to come back to Brussels. We went out for dinner and then came home to bed Saturday night.
Sunday morning I woke up ready to go to the Sunday market they have downtown. As I reached for my alarm, I realized how awful I felt. Apparently several stomach bugs have been going around Brussels. Several of us caught them but I had the worst case. The next four days are a total blur for me. I had a fever, stomach pains, and could not keep anything in my system. All I wanted to do was sleep. I have never wanted my own bed, my own doctor, or my parents so bad. This was the worst stomach virus I had ever had and the most sick I have been in years. I went to the doctor in Brussels and he basically told me my body would just have to fight the symptoms. He prescribed some medicine and some rice water. The most nasty thing to drink ever. I spent the week asleep and trying to feel better. As terrible as the week was, I am glad I was sick here and not during the three weeks we were constantly traveling. I don't think I could have done it!
By Thursday I was feeling much better and regaining my strength. July 21st is Belgium's Independence Day so we were out of school for the day. Anna and I went to the festival near the Parliament buildings in the morning. I even ate some bread! Then we boarded the Chunnel and went to London for the weekend. We arrived in less than two hours. We found our hostel and left our bags. Our hostel was right off the Piccadilly Circus Tube line. The hostel was a little small and strange but it was clean and in a very central location. We walked around for a little while and then bought tickets for the London Eye. We took our ride on the London Eye and had a great view of the city. For dinner we stopped at a place near the hostel. Then we headed to bed to get some rest.
I was feeling much better on Friday. We had a great breakfast and then walked to Buckingham Palace. We waited for the changing of the guard and watched the whole ceremony. It was way longer and more elaborate than I had expected. I really enjoyed it. Next we toured Westminster Abbey. The church was beautiful and they had a whole exhibit of pictures from William and Kate's wedding.We also saw Big Ben before going to the Tower Bridge. The bridge was gorgeous. We walked around the area for a little while and had dinner at a restaurant by the water. After dinner we went to the Globe Theater. It was so cool! We saw Anne Boleyn from our standing seats in the yard. We thought we would only stay for a little while since we mainly just wanted to see the theater. But once the play got started we loved it and ended up staying the whole time even when it started to rain. It was a fun end to a very tourist day.
Saturday we started the day by going to Notting Hill. Such a cute neighborhood. I could live there for sure! We started at one end of the Portobello Market and made our way to the other end. They had a huge selection of goods form antiques to fruit to clothes. We enjoyed looking at all the vendors merchandise. After we went to Harrods to enjoying the beautiful department store. One of my favorite parts was the Food Hall downstairs. We had a great lunch when we got there. Next we started at the top and worked our way to the bottom floor. We saw everything in the beautiful department store. High tea was next on the list of things to do. We went back near our hostel and I had tea and scones. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. We bought discounted tickets for the musical Jersey Boys. The musical was so great! We really enjoyed all the music and it was fun to have a relaxing night in the theater. We ended up getting gourmet burritos after Jersey Boys was over. They were so good. We had been craving Mexican, yum yum yum.
Sunday was much more relaxing. We slept in and then went to a restaurant for the traditional English breakfast. The sausage, beans, eggs, and toast was good but I would take a scone over it anyday! We shopped around for a little while and then made our way to the train station. The Chunnel brought us back to Brussels and we made our way home.
Today we had a tour of Ghent, a small city about an hour away from Brussels. It was a cute little town. We had a walking tour and then was the Adoration of the Lamb painting in one of the churches. It was a nice way to spend the day. Anna and I came back to Brussels and finished our paper for our culture class. Six pages on mayonnaise. We had a great time writing it and can't wait to try making our own mayo when we get home. I can't believe our last week in Europe is here. This time next week I will be back in the United States. We are savoring our last week here and making the most of it. After not eating last week, I have a lot of chocolate to catch up on! I am so thankful to be feeling like myself again. I can't wait to finish out our last week abroad!