Our Week and Weekend

This week Josh and I were in "headstart," a class where you learn about Belgian culture and history, and learn to speak French. It was definitely an interesting course and we enjoyed ourselves. It's interesting to see the differences between European and American culture. I was able to learn some French, so at least I can communicate and read things. Now I just need to be confident when trying to speak French to someone. HAHA All in time. Josh already knows how to speak French, but it was a good refresher course.

Friday we took the bus to downtown Mons and ate at a traditional Belgian resturant. Food was great and we had a great time hanging out with everyone. Afterwards our teacher gave us a tour of downtown Mons. It was nice to go on a tour with someone who is a native. She was every knowledgeable about the history of Mons. We went inside the Collegiale St. Wadru, which is gorgeous! We also saw Le Beffori, a clock tower which was previously a watch tower when the town use to be attacked by foreigners.

Collegiale St Wadru

Le Beffroi

Saturday we went to Waterloo and saw where the Battle of Waterloo took place. It was a really cool experience and mind blowing to be at the exact location where that historical event took place. The weather could have been nicer, it was pretty cold and windy, but it was an awesome experience nonetheless. The battlefield is now farmland, but is a huge amount of land.

La Butte du Lion (226 steps...UGH!)


Battlefield

Battlefield

Josh at the top of the La Butte du Lion

Me at the top of the La Butte du Lion (freezing!)

Today we went to the fresh food and flower market in downtown Mons. We bought some flowers, meat, and bread, and definitely will be going back. We walked around the Grand Place, which was very peaceful and serene with the church bells ringing.

Flowers I bought at the market