How I Decided I Want To Be 18th Century Royalty

Today, I'm going to be doing a quick post because I've been up on Photoshop and I have to get up decently early in the morning because I need to go work out...

Today, after a lunch of duck, two different vegetable mixtures, a tater-tot-type potato thing, and little mirabelle halves (YUM), my host parents took me to see a big "château" with beautiful gardens and a huge palace type building. We went through a nice tour and they made us put these weird things on our shoes so that we didn't hurt the floors walking on it. Some people opted to just take their shoes off... It was bizarre seeing people walking through a sort of museum in stocking feet... I went pretty nuts with the camera too and got some beautiful shots. I think I may actually do a post on photo blog, which I haven't done since August... Check it out!!

After we finished the tour, my host mom and I went upstairs where they were doing a special exhibit of the dresses of an eighteenth century Austrian queen. They were amazing, gorgeous dresses and that is when I decided I need to be eighteenth century royalty. But then I just took pictures of all of them and will use them for inspiration next time I need a gown for a black tie event :)

Europeans really do museum exhibitions much better than Americans. At least Clevelanders. I'm sure we all agree that museum exhibits can be a bore and it's hard to drag your kids to the museum to see the latest. But the ones I've been to here have been ridiculously well done and interesting. I actually ENJOY going to exhibitions here. I look forward to it! It helps that I can take pictures... But even in each room of the palace, they had perfumed so the kitchen smelled like cinnamon and the salon smelled like lavender. It was really very well done. Not to mention breathtakingly gorgeous. They're just so creative. In one room, there was a film, but it wasn't just projected on a screen. There was a huge table that spanned the length of the room, very low to the ground, and there were countless candelabras and candlesticks scattered along the edges, and then the video was projected into the center so the candles made a sort of frame. But then it wasn't just that. There was a mirror hanging from the ceiling at an angle and you watched the video on that. So cool.

After we saw the exhibits, we went up to the tea room (oh la la!) and had our afternoon tea. Literally. I had an Earl Grey, and we ordered a little plate of cakes and chocolates. Which were, of course, delicious. The waitress was in an eighteenth century dress and the tables were all old fashioned and decorated. It was so cute. I love tea time!

Afterwards, we went out onto the grounds, and although we didn't go through them all, what we saw was still grand. The sky was gray and the snow was half melted, so it wasn't particularly gorgeous, but it was still worth seeing and I walked through, imagining myself in one of those glorious gowns and was struck with inspiration for an eighteenth century photo shoot when I get home. Chelsea and I are going to do it.

Then I went home, we had cheese and breads and salad for dinner with a layered chocolate mousse cake for dessert, I took a shower, and now it's midnight and I need to get to sleep! Bonne nuit !

Day 3 Is Exercise Day?

Today I woke up to the sound of a rooster "cockadoodledoo-ing" for the second day in a row, no joke. And I decided today that I would be good and go for a run. So I ran on this nice little path outside the house. I have no idea how far I went, but my host brother says it was about 5 kilometers which is roughly 3 miles. I say that's not bad considering I swear I could hear my body saying "Why are you trying to make me run at 4:30 in the morning??" You see, it was that time in the States, and my body is not completely adjusted yet. Then I took a shower, changed, and made myself some breakfast: Nutella sandwich. Yummm.

But then I had nothing to do... And when I have nothing to do I think. And when I think, bad things happen. Ha not really. But it definitely started to get rough and I began thinking about how much I miss my parents and family and friends, and I got a little upset, but I didn't cry! Kudos to me! That's when I decided it was time to do something productive. So I pulled open my lovely SLR camera (Canon T1i, fabulous) and did some picture taking. I took pictures of the house, the garden, the garage, the kitchen, all kinds of things (some really awesome edited ones are on my photography blog, check it out!) And perfect timing, that is when my host mom came home and we all had lunch together. That was followed by some quiet reading in the garden (cute, right?) and then the main event of the day: bicycle riding. My host mom went with me down the same path that I ran this morning, but we went much farther, into different cities and took the roads back home. Everyone is Belgium is so kind and friendly! Everyone that we passed greeted us with "Bonjour!" and a smile :) Belgium really is beautiful. Where I am staying, Fumal, is much more rural than what I am used to, but all the greenery is just lovely. There was a point where we were on top of a hill looking over the small town, with the trees and the hills... Oh how I wish I had a camera at that point... It was wonderful.

When we returned, we drank milk. The reason I bring this up is because it's very different here... Milk is not refrigerated until you open it. Which I find weird and I'm not sure I like it... Because when you first open a new bottle, obviously the milk is room temperature... Yuck. And it's not like in the States where there is skim, 1%, 2%, and whole. Here the milk we drink is "half-creme". Which means that there is less fat in it... But I don't think it's comparable to 1 or 2% because it's still quite thick and creamy... But it tastes ok when it's cold :)

I attempted to drink wine at dinner with the family today... It didn't go well. I don't know, I just don't drink! I don't like it and I am sorry, but I can't help it... Oye :/ By the way, we had zucchini soup for dinner. They really are completely taken with this whole zucchini thing...

This evening, my host brother and I spent a lot of time comparing music. It was a lot of fun because I learned about a lot of new bands. But it's very interesting, because the majority of Belgian bands sing in English. And A LOT of the music that he had was American. Actually, almost all the music I have heard here has been American music. Like Rihanna's "Umbrella" and such... C'est interessant!

I know I've been posting a lot these last few days, but everything is so new!! There's much to tell :)