Willy Wonka

We went on our first field trip on Tuesday. The train left at 9:05 and we were headed to a little town called Leuven. On the train ride in we passed the Stella Artois brewery. It was huge! Stella is a huge name around here. They brew many of the local beers. When we arrived at the station, our sweet culture teacher, Marie-Therese, met us. She gave us a walking tour of the city. It was once a walled city and you could still see the path of the original design. It is also a college town. The schools are all on holiday but it was still interesting to see how different a college town is in Belgium. We toured the most beautiful library that the students use. The old cloth hall was a huge trade center many years ago. Now the college uses it as the admissions building. We saw the town hall, churches, and many other beautiful buildings. Then we had lunch all together. I had a traditional Belgian dish that was chicken in a pastry dough. It was almost like chicken-pot-pie but way better. Of course it came with fries....the best part! Anna and I also tried the beer they brewed at the restaurant.
After lunch we headed to the University hospital located in Leuven. We listened to a presentation about how the healthcare system works and differnt dietitians explained the areas of need nutrition wise in the hospital. We got to tour the kitchen too. They have a bakery and bake fresh bread every morning. All the food looked way better than any hospital food I've seen in the United States. We also toured the ICU. It was very intersting to see the differences and simularities in the hospital. We got back on the train and headed back to Brussels. Of course Anna and I had to get chocolate as soon as we came back into the city. We tried Elisabeth and were so not disappointed. They had nougat that was amazing and I had a chocolate with cinnamon inside. Yum! They have a festival each year called the Ommergang. We sat in a cafe and watched all the parade participants line up. It was so neat to see all the differnet costums and traditions. They paraded down the street and then had a huge play at the Grand Place. We loved hearing the music and seeing all the familes.
On Wednesday we had our culture class in the morning and brought our lunches. After our little picnic outside, we headed to Planete Chocolat. It was fabulous! We learned about the history of chocolate, how it is made, and got to make our own. We used dark chocolate for all the demonstations and then got to eat it all. It did not have a chocolate river but even without that I still felt like Willy Wonka. After our chocolate we came home to relax for a little while. Our house mother cooked spaghetti for all of us. We had a fun meal all together and then went out for a little while downtown.
Today we had our culture class this morning and then another picnic for lunch. After lunch we went on a walk with our teacher and she told us all about one of the huge local parks. Some of the class had a plane to catch so they left early. After they left we had ice cream with Marie-Therese. I had Cassis sorbet and it was great! Anna and I went to Jean-Philippe Darcis today for our chocolate treat. I had a raspberry macaroon. So good! On our way home we tried the Duvel beer. We wanted fries for dinner so we went to the stand at our metro stop and bought some. I don't know what they do to the fries here but they are so much better than any I've ever had. We have been eating them with the mayonnaise too something about it is also different. Dad, you would be proud! We are finished for the week and packing for the weekend now! More fun to come as we take off for our first weekend getaway.