I can't believe this trip is already over! :(
All I can say is that I don't regret anything on this trip at all. This is easily the most fun I could have had this summer, and I learned a lot more than I ever could have in a class setting.
I'm very glad that this group of people was pretty awesome, too. I heard that in previous years, people didn't really mesh well together until the last week or so. I don't think I could imagine being in a group like that! I've definitely had memories that I won't forget anytime soon here, and I've made lots of friends.
If you're reading this and you have a free summer sometime in the future, consider doing this program! I guarantee that you'll have fun.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 23: Antwerp
Today we took a train to Antwerp, the major port of Belgium. It was also raining really hard today! NOOO. :(
Our first stop was the Antwerp carillon, an immense tower built by the city. This was also a carillon that had been burned during the wars. Fires and carillons, man…
The upper part of the tower was renewed completely and used to be open to the public! However, a Romeo and Juliet-esque situation occurred, and a young couple flung themselves off the tower to their deaths. Young love makes you stupid, you guys. Wasn’t that the lesson of the book? Because that’s what I got out of it.
There is a wooden tower used for storing the counterweights. It is run by machinery now, but it was a manual process up to 1994. They are considering returning it to manual, and there are apparently a lot of volunteers, which is exciting!
The music box used for the time melodies was installed in 1660 and is one of the oldest originals in the world. The melody is changed once a year during Easter.
We then visited Our Lady’s Cathedral, a breathtaking cathedral with many paintings by Rubens. It was very fascinating and astounding to see these paintings in person.
Our last event of the trip was to take a boat tour around Antwerp’s port. The guide was giving a tour in three languages: Dutch, English, and German. However, he stopped speaking English at some point, so I’ll write down what I do have from his guide.
Antwerp’s port two oldest docks date back to 1811. King William I opened these, and one of these is now a museum. We also passed by some ports that Napoleon had decided to dig out in order to facilitate quick ship movement and transport, as well as to keep the water at the same level. There is a canal connecting Antwerp’s port to the industrial port of Liege, known as the Albert Canal. Some docks have a roof above the water to handle ships even when it rains (like today).
And that’s all I have! Seriously, boat driver? This was a three-hour boat tour! -___-
Anyway, today was our last day of class! I’ll have to put up my closing remarks soon!
Our first stop was the Antwerp carillon, an immense tower built by the city. This was also a carillon that had been burned during the wars. Fires and carillons, man…
The upper part of the tower was renewed completely and used to be open to the public! However, a Romeo and Juliet-esque situation occurred, and a young couple flung themselves off the tower to their deaths. Young love makes you stupid, you guys. Wasn’t that the lesson of the book? Because that’s what I got out of it.
 |
| I will say, though. There is nothing more terrifying than accidentally tripping and falling into this fence. |
The music box used for the time melodies was installed in 1660 and is one of the oldest originals in the world. The melody is changed once a year during Easter.
We then visited Our Lady’s Cathedral, a breathtaking cathedral with many paintings by Rubens. It was very fascinating and astounding to see these paintings in person.
Our last event of the trip was to take a boat tour around Antwerp’s port. The guide was giving a tour in three languages: Dutch, English, and German. However, he stopped speaking English at some point, so I’ll write down what I do have from his guide.
Antwerp’s port two oldest docks date back to 1811. King William I opened these, and one of these is now a museum. We also passed by some ports that Napoleon had decided to dig out in order to facilitate quick ship movement and transport, as well as to keep the water at the same level. There is a canal connecting Antwerp’s port to the industrial port of Liege, known as the Albert Canal. Some docks have a roof above the water to handle ships even when it rains (like today).
And that’s all I have! Seriously, boat driver? This was a three-hour boat tour! -___-
Anyway, today was our last day of class! I’ll have to put up my closing remarks soon!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day 22: Leuven University and InBev Brewery
Today we visited Leuven University to learn of its history and some of its current programs.
The Catholic University of Leuven was founded on December 9, 1425 by the will of Pope Martinus V. It is one of the oldest existing Catholic universities and the oldest university in the Low Countries. The university is modeled after the University of Paris.
In the 16th century, there was a flowering in the university with the rise of humanism, leading to an increased interest in going back to original texts. The Collegium Trilingue was thus established in 1517, providing classes on the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek languages. The University of Leuven also became a training center for Roman Catholic scholars. This attracted many scholars, such as Erasmus and Pope Adrian VI.
In 1783, Minckelars discovered the suitability of coal gas. The university was put under tremendous pressure for state interference, and the French banned the university in 1797. In 1816, the university was reopened as a state university, founded by William I of the Netherlands. Belgian bishops thus founded their own Roman Catholic university in 1834 in Mechelen, though this location later changed.
The university hall and library have burned down twice. The first time was in 1914, and over 300,000 books were lost. The second time was in 1940.
The University of Leuven actually has many branches in other locations. An institution was established in Congo, which was a Belgian colony at the time. After gaining independence, this became the University de Kinshasa in 1971. A campus was also founded in Kortrijk in 1965.
Leuven University was solely a French-speaking university until 1911, when the first courses in Dutch were offered. Later, in 1936, courses became analogue and were taught in both languages. In 1968, the university split into two independent universities…something that became legally official in 1970. The Dutch-speaking campus was situated in Leuven, while the French-speaking campus was located in Ottigans.
Our next stop was the InBev brewery, where beers such as Stella Artois, Jupiler, and Budweiser are currently made. We donned these awesome orange construction vests because…uh, I don’t know, actually.
The beer we know as Stella Artois actually precedes its name. This beer was first brewed in 1366, while the name Stella Artois was established in 1770. This brewery later joined Jupiler, forming the company InBev. Budweiser later followed. InBev produces 400 million hectoliters of beer per year. That’s a lot of beer…
Beer is formed by transforming starch into sugar and adding yeast and hops. These two ingredients are the primary contributors for aroma, taste, and color of beer. It’s obviously a lot more complicated than that, though: the temperature throughout the many processes can also affect the color, aroma, and taste dramatically. For example, if the hops are dried at 80 degrees, the beer it is used for will be the color of Stella Artois. If it is dried at 100 degrees, the beer will take on the color of a Leffe Blond. If the hops are dried at temperatures higher than 130 degrees, caramelization will occur, resulting in the very dark beers. Water is also a very important ingredient for beer: for every liter of beer, you need four liters of water. Water is used for cleaning as well as for the beer itself. However, different kinds of water need to be used for its different purposes: water has to be considered “soft” for cleaning, while water cannot have iron in it if it is being used for the beer itself.
There are two kinds of fermentation that can occur, depending on the weight of the yeast used. If the yeast is lighter than the beer, fermentation happens at 60-20 degrees. This is known as top fermentation and forms beers such as Leffe. If the yeast is heavier than the beer, a process known as bottle fermentation occurs. This fermentation can only happen in temperatures lower than 15 degrees, and forms many of the lighter beers and pilsners that we are familiar with.
After fermentation, the sugar turns into alcohol. Carbon dioxide and heat are added, and the base of beer is formed within ten days. The yeast is then removed and the temperature is lowered to 7 degrees for four days. After this, the temperature is lowered to -1 degrees and the beer is filtered.
It was actually very loud in the brewery due to all the machinery, so I couldn't hear everything he was saying. If you want to learn more about the art of beer brewing, you can look at this helpful diagram made by The Oatmeal.
The factory was extremely hot, and it was a very warm day in Leuven as well. Fortunately, we were all greeted by a bar serving Stella Artois on tap for free at the end of the tour. Hooray!
The Catholic University of Leuven was founded on December 9, 1425 by the will of Pope Martinus V. It is one of the oldest existing Catholic universities and the oldest university in the Low Countries. The university is modeled after the University of Paris.
In the 16th century, there was a flowering in the university with the rise of humanism, leading to an increased interest in going back to original texts. The Collegium Trilingue was thus established in 1517, providing classes on the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek languages. The University of Leuven also became a training center for Roman Catholic scholars. This attracted many scholars, such as Erasmus and Pope Adrian VI.
In 1783, Minckelars discovered the suitability of coal gas. The university was put under tremendous pressure for state interference, and the French banned the university in 1797. In 1816, the university was reopened as a state university, founded by William I of the Netherlands. Belgian bishops thus founded their own Roman Catholic university in 1834 in Mechelen, though this location later changed.
The university hall and library have burned down twice. The first time was in 1914, and over 300,000 books were lost. The second time was in 1940.
The University of Leuven actually has many branches in other locations. An institution was established in Congo, which was a Belgian colony at the time. After gaining independence, this became the University de Kinshasa in 1971. A campus was also founded in Kortrijk in 1965.
Leuven University was solely a French-speaking university until 1911, when the first courses in Dutch were offered. Later, in 1936, courses became analogue and were taught in both languages. In 1968, the university split into two independent universities…something that became legally official in 1970. The Dutch-speaking campus was situated in Leuven, while the French-speaking campus was located in Ottigans.
Our next stop was the InBev brewery, where beers such as Stella Artois, Jupiler, and Budweiser are currently made. We donned these awesome orange construction vests because…uh, I don’t know, actually.
The beer we know as Stella Artois actually precedes its name. This beer was first brewed in 1366, while the name Stella Artois was established in 1770. This brewery later joined Jupiler, forming the company InBev. Budweiser later followed. InBev produces 400 million hectoliters of beer per year. That’s a lot of beer…
Beer is formed by transforming starch into sugar and adding yeast and hops. These two ingredients are the primary contributors for aroma, taste, and color of beer. It’s obviously a lot more complicated than that, though: the temperature throughout the many processes can also affect the color, aroma, and taste dramatically. For example, if the hops are dried at 80 degrees, the beer it is used for will be the color of Stella Artois. If it is dried at 100 degrees, the beer will take on the color of a Leffe Blond. If the hops are dried at temperatures higher than 130 degrees, caramelization will occur, resulting in the very dark beers. Water is also a very important ingredient for beer: for every liter of beer, you need four liters of water. Water is used for cleaning as well as for the beer itself. However, different kinds of water need to be used for its different purposes: water has to be considered “soft” for cleaning, while water cannot have iron in it if it is being used for the beer itself.
There are two kinds of fermentation that can occur, depending on the weight of the yeast used. If the yeast is lighter than the beer, fermentation happens at 60-20 degrees. This is known as top fermentation and forms beers such as Leffe. If the yeast is heavier than the beer, a process known as bottle fermentation occurs. This fermentation can only happen in temperatures lower than 15 degrees, and forms many of the lighter beers and pilsners that we are familiar with.
After fermentation, the sugar turns into alcohol. Carbon dioxide and heat are added, and the base of beer is formed within ten days. The yeast is then removed and the temperature is lowered to 7 degrees for four days. After this, the temperature is lowered to -1 degrees and the beer is filtered.
It was actually very loud in the brewery due to all the machinery, so I couldn't hear everything he was saying. If you want to learn more about the art of beer brewing, you can look at this helpful diagram made by The Oatmeal.
The factory was extremely hot, and it was a very warm day in Leuven as well. Fortunately, we were all greeted by a bar serving Stella Artois on tap for free at the end of the tour. Hooray!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Day 21: Leuven
Today we bid farewell to Oostende and its beautiful oceans. We took a train to Leuven, a medieval city that is currently a college student town (similar to Berkeley, I suppose).
Our tour guide, Patrick Pasteure, said that it was a medieval city due to the fact that it had a church and town hall, and that the streets all radiate from the center. The main street links the railway station to the town hall (although this is actually a fairly new road). You can tell which streets are from which period by how they move: streets that are very straight are usually not from the medieval period, as medieval streets had a tendency to follow the geography. This city has maintained its basic shape from where its medieval walls once stood as well. The bourgeois would live in mansions where the current city center is today, and the poorer folk would live in the outskirts. Even so, Leuven is a pretty small city in comparison to some of the others in Belgium.
Leuven’s main industry is the brewery (currently home to Stella Artois, Jupiler, and Budweiser). It has changed a lot in the last twenty years with many commemorative buildings to World War I. It should also be noted that Leuven was a city subject to bombing, and that almost all of the buildings were completely destroyed. Some original structures remain, but most of the buildings are reconstructed.
Leuven has a very interesting history to it. In the late 14th century, Leuven and Brussels were essentially competing for a duke’s attention. The city that the duke chose would become the capital of Belgium. Leuven was originally the stronger competitor, as it had one of the largest town halls in the world. However, two mistakes were made, both revolving around plans to make a cathedral of epic proportions.
An interesting thing to note is that the town hall and church are right across from each other. The church and state constantly competed for power. The town hall is shaped like a shrine, as it keeps the symbolic source of power inside: the liberties of the city. The church also has a shrine on the inside, also containing elements that define the city. The shrines of each building are also intended to defy the structure of the other building. Hah! Both the basic structure of the buildings survived the bombings of World War I. The details, however, did not. Many of the details seen on these buildings are reconstructed.
We got to go inside the church as well. The church of Leuven is an example of late Gothic architecture and would have been painted in the Middle Ages. This church is part of what was meant to be the huge cathedral in the 14th century. Patrick drew our attention to a very old version of a familiar painting.
It’s The Last Supper! Prior to this trip, I actually had no idea that other artists had thought to depict this scene. Shows how much I know about art, I guess.
This particular painting of The Last Supper by Dirk Bouts is an example of “primitive” Flemish art. There is a strong emphasis on decoration and detail, as was typical of the Baroque period. This painting is exceptionally clear compared to other Flemish primitives, but it is not entirely “natural” at the same time. The painting manages to both attain and transcend realism. This painting is also very serene in comparison to the dramatic take of the Last Supper painting we are most familiar with.
We then visited the University of Leuven, a prestigious part of the town. Originally, its only involvement with the church was that the church had helped with founding the university, but the University of Leuven is now a Catholic university due to the Catholic revival after the French Revolution. The present university is very much like its 19th century counterpart. The university also has a church, which is of late Gothic/early Roman style.
Within Leuven, there was a movement of women wanting to live a devout life without taking the vows of sisterhood. This movement spread within cities and churches throughout Europe, and was met with opposition by the church. Thus was the beginning of the Beguinage, an area that was completely rebuilt in the 17th century and still exists today.
Something interesting I learned today: the Belgians actually traveled to and had contact with China! In the 17th century, European missionaries (mostly Jesuits) went to China to convert their population. Their strategy was to convert the emperor, so they invested a lot of time into studying the Chinese language and classic literature. A strong interest in Chinese civilization developed as a result, contributing to the 18th century enlightenment. A man from Belgium actually ended up becoming one of the heads of the Chinese court. An astrolabe monument is dedicated to him.
It never occurred to me that Europe might have traveled throughout Asia and contacted the people there. It makes more sense now, considering that they are closer and on the same continent. You only ever hear of Asian contact with America in school. I guess that’s what an ethnocentric education does to a person.
We concluded our tour of Leuven by visiting the carillon, which is actually a Belgian instrument! If you go to UC Berkeley and you don’t know what a carillon is, something is clearly very wrong with you. Just so you know.
The carillon is located in the central university library, considered the “most American” building in Leuven. The library had originally been built in World War I, but was destroyed by German soldiers. There was a strong wave of solidarity to Belgium and Leuven after the destruction, and the library was rebuilt with the funds from 300 American universities, including ours!
There are many interesting statues along the front of this building. The center statue is of the Virgin Mary in armor killing the German eagle, and the corners of the building have animals that represent the elite countries. There are 48 stars in total on the clockwork, representing the 48 contiguous States of America.
The carillon itself was invented 500 years ago. After World War I, the carillon became very popular in the United States, as the Germans had destroyed ten. The reconstruction of the carillon in Leuven was supposed to be canceled, but Herbert Hoover, a man who brought aid to the starving Belgian population, paid for its reconstruction. When the building was bombed again during World War II, a woman from UC Riverside visited and raised enough funds—around 300,000 euros—to save the tower.
The clockwork music played by carillons was originally meant for the purpose of time, not entertainment. However, more bells were added, increasing the range of the instrument and increasing its capacity to play other songs. More bells were added to this particular carillon as a result of a competition between Belgium and the Netherlands. There were originally 48 bells to represent the 48 States of America at the time. The standard number of bells was 49, and Leuven’s carillon eventually grew to have 63 bells! However, it was beat out by Berlin when a carillon with 68 bells was constructed.
The carillon is very sensitive to temperature and is adjusted with the metal cords in the playing room. The bells are fixed and cannot be changed. It is played in a similar fashion to piano, but with foot pedals to play some of the lower (and thus larger) bells. We had the privilege of hearing the carillon player perform a ragtime piece, some Gershwin, and a popular slow song.
The person who will be my roommate this upcoming year took the carillon class. Maybe I will too, one of these days!
Our tour guide, Patrick Pasteure, said that it was a medieval city due to the fact that it had a church and town hall, and that the streets all radiate from the center. The main street links the railway station to the town hall (although this is actually a fairly new road). You can tell which streets are from which period by how they move: streets that are very straight are usually not from the medieval period, as medieval streets had a tendency to follow the geography. This city has maintained its basic shape from where its medieval walls once stood as well. The bourgeois would live in mansions where the current city center is today, and the poorer folk would live in the outskirts. Even so, Leuven is a pretty small city in comparison to some of the others in Belgium.
Leuven’s main industry is the brewery (currently home to Stella Artois, Jupiler, and Budweiser). It has changed a lot in the last twenty years with many commemorative buildings to World War I. It should also be noted that Leuven was a city subject to bombing, and that almost all of the buildings were completely destroyed. Some original structures remain, but most of the buildings are reconstructed.
Leuven has a very interesting history to it. In the late 14th century, Leuven and Brussels were essentially competing for a duke’s attention. The city that the duke chose would become the capital of Belgium. Leuven was originally the stronger competitor, as it had one of the largest town halls in the world. However, two mistakes were made, both revolving around plans to make a cathedral of epic proportions.
- The cathedral was built on a foundation of marshland, which proved to be a very poor foundation in general.
- The citizens of Leuven did not realize how much the cathedral project would cost and could not afford their overambitious plans.
An interesting thing to note is that the town hall and church are right across from each other. The church and state constantly competed for power. The town hall is shaped like a shrine, as it keeps the symbolic source of power inside: the liberties of the city. The church also has a shrine on the inside, also containing elements that define the city. The shrines of each building are also intended to defy the structure of the other building. Hah! Both the basic structure of the buildings survived the bombings of World War I. The details, however, did not. Many of the details seen on these buildings are reconstructed.
We got to go inside the church as well. The church of Leuven is an example of late Gothic architecture and would have been painted in the Middle Ages. This church is part of what was meant to be the huge cathedral in the 14th century. Patrick drew our attention to a very old version of a familiar painting.
It’s The Last Supper! Prior to this trip, I actually had no idea that other artists had thought to depict this scene. Shows how much I know about art, I guess.
This particular painting of The Last Supper by Dirk Bouts is an example of “primitive” Flemish art. There is a strong emphasis on decoration and detail, as was typical of the Baroque period. This painting is exceptionally clear compared to other Flemish primitives, but it is not entirely “natural” at the same time. The painting manages to both attain and transcend realism. This painting is also very serene in comparison to the dramatic take of the Last Supper painting we are most familiar with.
 |
| But then again, I guess there is more potential for books and movies from this version, huh? |
Within Leuven, there was a movement of women wanting to live a devout life without taking the vows of sisterhood. This movement spread within cities and churches throughout Europe, and was met with opposition by the church. Thus was the beginning of the Beguinage, an area that was completely rebuilt in the 17th century and still exists today.
Something interesting I learned today: the Belgians actually traveled to and had contact with China! In the 17th century, European missionaries (mostly Jesuits) went to China to convert their population. Their strategy was to convert the emperor, so they invested a lot of time into studying the Chinese language and classic literature. A strong interest in Chinese civilization developed as a result, contributing to the 18th century enlightenment. A man from Belgium actually ended up becoming one of the heads of the Chinese court. An astrolabe monument is dedicated to him.
It never occurred to me that Europe might have traveled throughout Asia and contacted the people there. It makes more sense now, considering that they are closer and on the same continent. You only ever hear of Asian contact with America in school. I guess that’s what an ethnocentric education does to a person.
We concluded our tour of Leuven by visiting the carillon, which is actually a Belgian instrument! If you go to UC Berkeley and you don’t know what a carillon is, something is clearly very wrong with you. Just so you know.
The carillon is located in the central university library, considered the “most American” building in Leuven. The library had originally been built in World War I, but was destroyed by German soldiers. There was a strong wave of solidarity to Belgium and Leuven after the destruction, and the library was rebuilt with the funds from 300 American universities, including ours!
 |
| Go Bears! :) |
The carillon itself was invented 500 years ago. After World War I, the carillon became very popular in the United States, as the Germans had destroyed ten. The reconstruction of the carillon in Leuven was supposed to be canceled, but Herbert Hoover, a man who brought aid to the starving Belgian population, paid for its reconstruction. When the building was bombed again during World War II, a woman from UC Riverside visited and raised enough funds—around 300,000 euros—to save the tower.
The clockwork music played by carillons was originally meant for the purpose of time, not entertainment. However, more bells were added, increasing the range of the instrument and increasing its capacity to play other songs. More bells were added to this particular carillon as a result of a competition between Belgium and the Netherlands. There were originally 48 bells to represent the 48 States of America at the time. The standard number of bells was 49, and Leuven’s carillon eventually grew to have 63 bells! However, it was beat out by Berlin when a carillon with 68 bells was constructed.
The carillon is very sensitive to temperature and is adjusted with the metal cords in the playing room. The bells are fixed and cannot be changed. It is played in a similar fashion to piano, but with foot pedals to play some of the lower (and thus larger) bells. We had the privilege of hearing the carillon player perform a ragtime piece, some Gershwin, and a popular slow song.
The person who will be my roommate this upcoming year took the carillon class. Maybe I will too, one of these days!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day 20: Bruges
Today we went to Bruges! We went to the archives and, uh...
So, funny story: I was working on these journals the night before, and I never noticed when my roommate with the key walked upstairs. By the time I decided to look at a clock, it was 1am. I frantically checked my room only to discover I was locked out. I knocked on the door, but to no avail. I kept checking every hour, and I was finally let into my room at 5:30am. As a result, I was very tired. My friends back home thought it was hilarious.
Even though I've pulled all nighters practically every day in high school and college, I somehow couldn't manage to make it through the parts of the day where we were sitting in one place for an extended period of time. "But Anna, that's practically any day in class!" Well, you're right. When we went to the archives, we were able to sit in the director's office and view documents that date back to the Middle Ages. Guess what happened.
What I do remember is that the archives building used to be a sort of courthouse and that different parts of the building were constructed at different time periods (I think the main part was from the 16th century, while additional wings were from the 17th century). The archives also has to work hard with restoring documents, as quite a few have been damaged either by time of through accidents during the wars.
Bruges itself is a beautiful city. It was very wealthy and had many liberties as a city of the Middle Ages, so Bruges was able to have many beautiful buildings. An example of this is the belfry tower where the documents used to be kept, which is the highest one in the area. Another building in Bruges is the Huis Ter Beurze, which can be considered the first stock exchange in existence.
Bruges had a distinct position in society, and there was a fear of merchants taking away that power. There was an increasing eagerness to establish a policy of its own within the city. When the conflict between France and England led to enforcement of boycotting the English market, a major uprising began with an intent to persecute and kill all representatives of the French king on July 11, 1302. This happened at night, so how did the citizens of Bruges tell who was a representative of France? The leaders of the uprising prepared a Dutch phrase to test the citizens: only those who spoke Dutch natively would be able to say it correctly. This phrase was, "schild en vriend," which means, "shield and friend". The professor had a few of us try and say it and needless to say, I failed. Using this phrase was a very effective way to determine who was and wasn't of French origin. The two guild leaders who conducted the uprising are immortalized today with a statue.
This uprising caused major anger in Paris, and the French king prepared an army of knights to attack Flanders. This caused some concern since at the time, nothing could stop an army of knights. They had heavy armor, and they were on horses to boot. The people of Flanders decided to take advantage of knowledge that they had and the French didn't: the geography of the region. They led the army of knights into an area that they knew would get very muddy with a rain. When the army charged, the horses sank in the mud and got stuck. This made it very easy for the citizens to come in and attack the now vulnerable French army. This struggle, called the Battle of the Golden Spurs, was the first time in European history that an irregular army defeated an army of knights.
Jan van Eyck also spent some time here due to the affluence of the area. It is said that van Eyck was chosen by the Duke of Burgundy to paint the Princess of Portugal. The Duke was apparently so pleased that he gave van Eyck enough compensation for him to visit Jerusalem, where he supposedly got a lot of inspiration from.
There was a very interesting hotel we stopped by. The hotel was apparently situated on top of where an old castle used to be and when they started digging for the foundation, they found some remnants of this castle. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit these castle ruins. It was pretty cool!
Bruges became wealthy due to tourism, and so they invested heavily into modern art. Sometimes it worked out well, and other times, well...it didn't.
The archives building was a very short stop for us. Even so, there was significance to it: this place was a model for the city hall in both Brussels and Leuven, both built by the same architect.
Our final stop on our city tour was the Basilica (look up name). Religion was very important back in the day, and there was constant competition among churches. The churches were either built very tall or had something spectacular in the church, such as a painting or a sculpture. A popular thing to have was a relic, which is a certain object with a high symbolic meaning. This usually comes in the form of a body part of a saint (which totally isn't creepy at all). Bruges claims to have the blood of Jesus Christ in this basilica, brought to them by crusaders. This chapel was built specifically to house this blood, and a Holy Blood Procession takes place every few years.
What a major stroke of luck that the object was open for veneration today! I'm not all that religious, and I'm definitely not Catholic in the slightest, but it was still amazing to see the vial with the supposed blood inside it.
Bruges was very fun! I'd like to come see it again sometime.
So, funny story: I was working on these journals the night before, and I never noticed when my roommate with the key walked upstairs. By the time I decided to look at a clock, it was 1am. I frantically checked my room only to discover I was locked out. I knocked on the door, but to no avail. I kept checking every hour, and I was finally let into my room at 5:30am. As a result, I was very tired. My friends back home thought it was hilarious.
 |
| I have the greatest of friends. |
What I do remember is that the archives building used to be a sort of courthouse and that different parts of the building were constructed at different time periods (I think the main part was from the 16th century, while additional wings were from the 17th century). The archives also has to work hard with restoring documents, as quite a few have been damaged either by time of through accidents during the wars.
Bruges itself is a beautiful city. It was very wealthy and had many liberties as a city of the Middle Ages, so Bruges was able to have many beautiful buildings. An example of this is the belfry tower where the documents used to be kept, which is the highest one in the area. Another building in Bruges is the Huis Ter Beurze, which can be considered the first stock exchange in existence.
 |
| Wikipedia: home of epic pictures of buildings. |
This uprising caused major anger in Paris, and the French king prepared an army of knights to attack Flanders. This caused some concern since at the time, nothing could stop an army of knights. They had heavy armor, and they were on horses to boot. The people of Flanders decided to take advantage of knowledge that they had and the French didn't: the geography of the region. They led the army of knights into an area that they knew would get very muddy with a rain. When the army charged, the horses sank in the mud and got stuck. This made it very easy for the citizens to come in and attack the now vulnerable French army. This struggle, called the Battle of the Golden Spurs, was the first time in European history that an irregular army defeated an army of knights.
Jan van Eyck also spent some time here due to the affluence of the area. It is said that van Eyck was chosen by the Duke of Burgundy to paint the Princess of Portugal. The Duke was apparently so pleased that he gave van Eyck enough compensation for him to visit Jerusalem, where he supposedly got a lot of inspiration from.
There was a very interesting hotel we stopped by. The hotel was apparently situated on top of where an old castle used to be and when they started digging for the foundation, they found some remnants of this castle. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit these castle ruins. It was pretty cool!
Bruges became wealthy due to tourism, and so they invested heavily into modern art. Sometimes it worked out well, and other times, well...it didn't.
The archives building was a very short stop for us. Even so, there was significance to it: this place was a model for the city hall in both Brussels and Leuven, both built by the same architect.
Our final stop on our city tour was the Basilica (look up name). Religion was very important back in the day, and there was constant competition among churches. The churches were either built very tall or had something spectacular in the church, such as a painting or a sculpture. A popular thing to have was a relic, which is a certain object with a high symbolic meaning. This usually comes in the form of a body part of a saint (which totally isn't creepy at all). Bruges claims to have the blood of Jesus Christ in this basilica, brought to them by crusaders. This chapel was built specifically to house this blood, and a Holy Blood Procession takes place every few years.
What a major stroke of luck that the object was open for veneration today! I'm not all that religious, and I'm definitely not Catholic in the slightest, but it was still amazing to see the vial with the supposed blood inside it.
Bruges was very fun! I'd like to come see it again sometime.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day 19: Ypres
Today we took a train over to the city of Ypres. This city was completely demolished by war destruction during the first World War, so pretty much all the city was completely reconstructed to look like it did back in the day. We received a very fascinating lecture on World War I as well as a city tour by Wounter Sinaeve.
Belgium had a rather unfortunate position during World War I. While they were a neutral country at the time, the Germans invaded France by going through Belgium. Why? The border directly between France and Germany was heavily guarded by French soldiers, so the only way to hit France was to go through Belgium. The Belgian army was taken completely by surprise, but they decided to fight back. They opened the dikes and completely flooded the area. This strategy worked: the Germans were stuck in the mud. Unfortunately, this also led to a standstill in the area since the French were not able to push the Germans back. An invasion that was supposed to take a few days lasted several years.
Ypres is a town of peace and...cats? Yes, there used to be a lot of cats in this town! Ypres was a town dedicated to the production and selling of luxury textiles. The basement of the current WWI museum used to be the depot for these textiles before being shipped off. There would be a lot of mice and rats in the basement, so Ypres released cats into the basement to take care of the rodents. When the textiles were shipped, they had another problem: there were way too many cats and kittens. The citizens of Ypres did what any rationally thinking group of people would do: they took the cats to the belfry and hurled them off the tower. They have cat parades every few years, and they also throw cats off the belfry during this festival! Not real ones, thankfully.
With the portrayal of the Germans as "barbarians" and "evil", many young men were quick to enlist for service in the war that "would be over by Christmas". Even though you had to be 16-17 to sign up, there were many instances of 14-15 year olds who signed up and died in combat. Why would this be the case?
First of all, the problems with the uniforms? They're not TF2 related, but I can totally relate with marching band uniforms. World War I started in the summer, and woolen uniforms get uncomfortably hot and sweaty underneath when it's warm out. While they are a blessing when it's cold, God forbid it start raining. The cloth used in uniforms would absorb a lot of the water, making the uniforms extremely heavy. There was also the problem that the WWI uniforms weren't exactly what you would consider camouflage, but I don't think Cal Band really has this problem.
"A sober person would throw it." Indeed! Just so you know, the Demoman is one of my favorite characters to play. :)
The British developed the grenade model we're more familiar with: the Mills bomb. The design was actually very innovative: the lines of the grid were very thin so that upon explosion, the squares would fly out, acting as bullets and increasing the damage radius.
Grenades were developed to include shrapnel and cause increased damage. A soldier fighting in WWI could now damage and/or take the lives of a few hundred in the trenches as opposed to a few targets.
Gas also became a new weapon. The Hague Convention of 1899 had been signed by the European countries, stating that "The Contracting Powers agree to abstain from the use of projectiles the object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases." This didn't stop Germany from developing chemical warfare, though. After all, the Convention stated that the use of projectiles containing gas--there was nothing in it preventing the use of chemical gas entirely. OH GERMANY, YOU SO SNEAKY.
A man by the name of Fritz Haber developed chloride gas in 1915. It was very effective, as the gas was heavy enough to stay close to the ground but could still move freely in the direction of the wind. The chloride gas was highly effective: not only would it wipe out every living thing in no man's land, but hundreds of soldiers would suffocate from a seemingly harmless wind. You can imagine that this was probably very frightening.
Of course, the opposition would begin to use this new weapon, as well as try to make it more deadly. There was also the question of how to prevent yourself from suffocating during a gas attack because honestly, how are you going to stop a cloud of gas? The suggestions given at the time were to:
We then got to walk through the interactive museum "In Flanders Fields". Our guide told us that the goal of this was to show that in the end, no one really "won" World War I. I think they did a pretty good job. I personally had to get through the museum really quickly: it encapsulated the pain felt by so many very well, and I honestly thought I was going to cry for some parts of it (like the Christmas Truce parts).
We then got to witness a tradition in Ypres: the Last Post, a bugle call performed at the Menin Gate every night since 1928. The only exception to this was the four year German occupation during World War II, when the tradition was banned. When the Polish liberated the city, the tradition resumed despite the fighting, kind of as a statement that the end of the war was coming.
One crazy train ride later, we made it back to Oostende. Today was a very eventful day.
Belgium had a rather unfortunate position during World War I. While they were a neutral country at the time, the Germans invaded France by going through Belgium. Why? The border directly between France and Germany was heavily guarded by French soldiers, so the only way to hit France was to go through Belgium. The Belgian army was taken completely by surprise, but they decided to fight back. They opened the dikes and completely flooded the area. This strategy worked: the Germans were stuck in the mud. Unfortunately, this also led to a standstill in the area since the French were not able to push the Germans back. An invasion that was supposed to take a few days lasted several years.
Ypres is a town of peace and...cats? Yes, there used to be a lot of cats in this town! Ypres was a town dedicated to the production and selling of luxury textiles. The basement of the current WWI museum used to be the depot for these textiles before being shipped off. There would be a lot of mice and rats in the basement, so Ypres released cats into the basement to take care of the rodents. When the textiles were shipped, they had another problem: there were way too many cats and kittens. The citizens of Ypres did what any rationally thinking group of people would do: they took the cats to the belfry and hurled them off the tower. They have cat parades every few years, and they also throw cats off the belfry during this festival! Not real ones, thankfully.
 |
| Cats everywhere are not amused. |
- The salary of a soldier was much higher than the one you could gain from a factory or other job.
- A new uniform that would look sharp and attract attention from girls must have been very exciting to hear about.
- Many young kids took this as an opportunity to travel to a country they had never seen before.
First of all, the problems with the uniforms? They're not TF2 related, but I can totally relate with marching band uniforms. World War I started in the summer, and woolen uniforms get uncomfortably hot and sweaty underneath when it's warm out. While they are a blessing when it's cold, God forbid it start raining. The cloth used in uniforms would absorb a lot of the water, making the uniforms extremely heavy. There was also the problem that the WWI uniforms weren't exactly what you would consider camouflage, but I don't think Cal Band really has this problem.
 |
| JUST TRY AND TELL US APART. |
Anyway, the war had come to a standstill. People began to wonder, how can we keep this war on the move again? As Wounter showed us, a rifle wasn't very practical to stay on the move--the relatively small amount of damage done as well as the long reload time just wasn't worth the risk. Engineers began to develop new forms of hand grenades to increase the amount of damage done from a distance. The first of the new models was a German stick grenade. The grenade would be lit at the wooden end and then thrown within the next five seconds to the opposite lines. It looked something like this.
Uh oh. What does this remind me of...
"A sober person would throw it." Indeed! Just so you know, the Demoman is one of my favorite characters to play. :)
The British developed the grenade model we're more familiar with: the Mills bomb. The design was actually very innovative: the lines of the grid were very thin so that upon explosion, the squares would fly out, acting as bullets and increasing the damage radius.
 |
| The Soldier has these grenades, but that shouldn't really be surprising. |
Gas also became a new weapon. The Hague Convention of 1899 had been signed by the European countries, stating that "The Contracting Powers agree to abstain from the use of projectiles the object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases." This didn't stop Germany from developing chemical warfare, though. After all, the Convention stated that the use of projectiles containing gas--there was nothing in it preventing the use of chemical gas entirely. OH GERMANY, YOU SO SNEAKY.
A man by the name of Fritz Haber developed chloride gas in 1915. It was very effective, as the gas was heavy enough to stay close to the ground but could still move freely in the direction of the wind. The chloride gas was highly effective: not only would it wipe out every living thing in no man's land, but hundreds of soldiers would suffocate from a seemingly harmless wind. You can imagine that this was probably very frightening.
 |
| There is NO WAY that you can stop that. |
- Throw yourself on the ground, which was dumb considering the chloride gas just sinks anyway.
- Hold your breath, but most human beings can't do that for a good half hour.
- Hold a handkerchief to their nose and breathe through it, which would work for a short time, but wasn't entirely infallible.
 |
| CURSE YOU EUROPEAN FILMS. |
One crazy train ride later, we made it back to Oostende. Today was a very eventful day.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 18: Medieval Gent
Today we took a tram to the medieval city of Gent, where human activity coincides with the existing geography. Gent was a major port and an important industrial city for its time.
There are instances of multiple groups of people coming into this region to live. While there is evidence that there have been people here since prehistory, the first reports of people living in Gent are from Roman antiquity in attempts to expand the Roman Empire. The second settlement of people are from the 6th century, when clergymen from southern Italy traveled north to go to Ireland. Remember St. Patrick? Anyway, these monks then traveled throughout the rest of Europe to spread Christianity. The clergymen were apparently so charmed by Gent that not one, but two abbeys were created—two abbeys that were in constant competition with each other. Finally, a third settlement of businessmen found their way into Gent in the 19th century. These businessmen haven’t left Gent since.
First of all, it should be kept in mind that more people lived in this city in the Middle Ages than they do today. In the 14th century, Gent had a population of 64,000, and it was still expanding. Gent was also the biggest industrial city of its time (its competitor being Bruges). Given the implications both of these factors have, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Gent needed a sound and well-organized infrastructure to function. There were many of these “structures” that were pointed out to us throughout the tour.
Religion played a very important role in Gent's history. After all, some of the first settlers here were monks from the original abbeys in this area. There were many churches, as everyone had to attend service. It was amazing...they were practically right next to each other! Each church was representative for different parishes, and they were HUGE. There were also the mendicants, who served as social reformers and believed that religion should be close to real people. The mendicants were the go-between for the rich and the poor.
In terms of social structure, there were 54 institutions for the purpose of social help. These include hospitals, housing for the elderly and the widowed, and shelter for wanderers, among other things. The only surviving social institution is the House of the Alijn, a house for the elderly since 1350. It was constructed as the result of a war between two families: the Rijn and Alijn. Like most things here, there is a myth and reality to the place.
The myth is that a man from the Rijn and a man from the Alijn fell in love with the same girl. The man from the Rijn killed the man from Alijn and ran away with the girl to avoid execution. Or something like that. The reality is that there were many more reasons besides that reason, which may or may not have actually been a reason. Wut. For a repatriation of sorts, the family members of Rijn had to build that house instead of finding the missing man from Rijn. It was a win-win, I guess: The Rijn family didn't have to see one of their own become executed, and the city got a snazzy new building!
Establishing political structure is always a challenge, isn't it? Things depended heavily on the budget of the city and how to make people pay taxes. These decisions were made in the town hall and the belfry. In this sense, the regional counts had more power than the king did himself. The Count of Flanders was very important due to the economic prestige of the place and was made ruler of the Byzantine Empire. Still, there were many tensions among the townsfolk, and many statements were made of political importance via statues on houses and monuments.
The economic heart of the city is the harbor. Here, you can see many of the buildings that have been around for a while and what they were used for. The professor told us how you can tell the difference between authentic buildings and those that have been reconstructed: the authentic buildings have limestone still intact, while the newer buildings have brick. Simple enough, I suppose.
In the central square, there is a statue of a hero pointing to the direction of England. Gent needed England a long time ago as the city was controlled by France. There is a story of a man who tried to escape and open a port to England. But as they say, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Or was it just that all heroes die in the end? I don't know, pop culture. You tell me.
There is also a building dedicated to the Socialist movement. Karl Marx actually came from Germany to Belgium to start the movement and finish his Communist Manifesto. The current mayor of Gent is actually socialist, and it's apparently a running trend in that office.
Gent was very beautiful. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been raining ridiculous amounts, though. And maybe even then, if I had an umbrella.
There are instances of multiple groups of people coming into this region to live. While there is evidence that there have been people here since prehistory, the first reports of people living in Gent are from Roman antiquity in attempts to expand the Roman Empire. The second settlement of people are from the 6th century, when clergymen from southern Italy traveled north to go to Ireland. Remember St. Patrick? Anyway, these monks then traveled throughout the rest of Europe to spread Christianity. The clergymen were apparently so charmed by Gent that not one, but two abbeys were created—two abbeys that were in constant competition with each other. Finally, a third settlement of businessmen found their way into Gent in the 19th century. These businessmen haven’t left Gent since.
First of all, it should be kept in mind that more people lived in this city in the Middle Ages than they do today. In the 14th century, Gent had a population of 64,000, and it was still expanding. Gent was also the biggest industrial city of its time (its competitor being Bruges). Given the implications both of these factors have, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Gent needed a sound and well-organized infrastructure to function. There were many of these “structures” that were pointed out to us throughout the tour.
Religion played a very important role in Gent's history. After all, some of the first settlers here were monks from the original abbeys in this area. There were many churches, as everyone had to attend service. It was amazing...they were practically right next to each other! Each church was representative for different parishes, and they were HUGE. There were also the mendicants, who served as social reformers and believed that religion should be close to real people. The mendicants were the go-between for the rich and the poor.
In terms of social structure, there were 54 institutions for the purpose of social help. These include hospitals, housing for the elderly and the widowed, and shelter for wanderers, among other things. The only surviving social institution is the House of the Alijn, a house for the elderly since 1350. It was constructed as the result of a war between two families: the Rijn and Alijn. Like most things here, there is a myth and reality to the place.
The myth is that a man from the Rijn and a man from the Alijn fell in love with the same girl. The man from the Rijn killed the man from Alijn and ran away with the girl to avoid execution. Or something like that. The reality is that there were many more reasons besides that reason, which may or may not have actually been a reason. Wut. For a repatriation of sorts, the family members of Rijn had to build that house instead of finding the missing man from Rijn. It was a win-win, I guess: The Rijn family didn't have to see one of their own become executed, and the city got a snazzy new building!
Establishing political structure is always a challenge, isn't it? Things depended heavily on the budget of the city and how to make people pay taxes. These decisions were made in the town hall and the belfry. In this sense, the regional counts had more power than the king did himself. The Count of Flanders was very important due to the economic prestige of the place and was made ruler of the Byzantine Empire. Still, there were many tensions among the townsfolk, and many statements were made of political importance via statues on houses and monuments.
The economic heart of the city is the harbor. Here, you can see many of the buildings that have been around for a while and what they were used for. The professor told us how you can tell the difference between authentic buildings and those that have been reconstructed: the authentic buildings have limestone still intact, while the newer buildings have brick. Simple enough, I suppose.
In the central square, there is a statue of a hero pointing to the direction of England. Gent needed England a long time ago as the city was controlled by France. There is a story of a man who tried to escape and open a port to England. But as they say, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Or was it just that all heroes die in the end? I don't know, pop culture. You tell me.
 |
| OH YOU. |
Gent was very beautiful. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been raining ridiculous amounts, though. And maybe even then, if I had an umbrella.
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