Globally Legal

So, as most of you may know (or may not) it was my birthday on the 22nd of June and I turned 21. I am now officially legal all over the world. I will no longer have to ask my colleagues to buy me alcohol when I'm in the US. Fun stuff. It was a good day and a good time. The best being my present. I got to see Bon Jovi live for 3 hours non-stop in London's Hyde Park. So, I have seen them live before but let tell you what makes this super special

1) 65000 people! Imagine, as opposed to John Lennon I would say, "Imagine there is a heaven".
2) 3 hours, 3 whole hours straight. I must say that man has stamina. Phew!
3) The company I was with. Some of my amazing labmates. The awesome German lady, Lysann, the funny Portuguese man, Joao and the crazy but once again amazing portuguese girl, Nair.They were the reason I went and I have to say it was the best decision I have made.
4) I lost my voice without a pathogen this time!! For a week my voice was gone, no pathogens involved. No regrets though!

Overall, cheers to sunshine, beer, great music, the sexiest man alive and screaming my bloody lungs out. 

(Photo courtesy: Lysann)

Belgium Day 2

Day 2:

Starts off with breakfast in hostel. I met a lady (my room-mate) she woke me up for keys and I decided to join her for breakfast. There I asked her what her plans for the day was and she mentioned going to Ghent and Brugge (small towns in the outskirts of Brussels). I wanted to go as well, so I decided to join her.

We went off to Brussels-Midi station and booked tickets for 15 euros back and forth (cheap I know!!). We went to Ghent first. Small town, beautiful; town and people are once again concerned about energy conservation.

Bikes everywhere.

Heres something special. Have you seen shoes hanging from a wire in the city. If not here you go!

And, like any other European city there are plenty of beautiful churches.

and when you enter, you are not allowed to take pictures. I have learnt something called "shooting from the hip" and it turned out rather nice =D. Tee-hee thanks Brit

Amazing town square.....

Very typical Belgian architecture

 From there we went to Brugge, one of the most beautiful towns I have seen in my life. So serene, so amazing. I would retire there.

But first, I would like you to introduce " the smallest street in Brugge, it used to be a red light district. Its nice and cozy still."

And yet, some more chocolate.....

and did I mention random art??

...Soon after this point, my battery died. But all I can say is its one of the cutest towns I have every seen. Done and done!!

Belgium

Some notable things about Belgium, I think this would be interesting if you wanna visit in the future or something. I have not been to very many cities but here are some very peculiar things that I have seen in the cities I have been to.

# Art everywhere: This is kind of the essence of Europe in general but in Brussels each station has its own art, also stations are named after artists ex: Delacroix after Eugene Delacroix. There are also random pieces of clothing (banners) which hang across the town in Brugge. Art Art everywhere! Love it!

#People like to conserve energy: Huh, something us North Americans need to get a leg up on! We waste so much. Some examples of these are train doors that open with manual force rather than electrical force. Escalators that have sensors around them and only run if it senses people coming around.

# Snacks: I am sorry I can't help but comment on the food portions people have in Brussels. I went into a store (fast food kind of) and under the list of snacks was a "sandwich" which was 1/2 a baguette filled with fries and different sauces like ranch, mayo etc. I also saw a very small child (6-7 years appx) eat it at 11 pm at night. o.O