Day 10

We've been in Europe for over a week and I'm still not used to sales tax being included and having to pay to use the restroom. This week we travelled to Aachen, Cologne, and I'm currently in Brugge/Bruges. The two cathedrals that we got to see this week we're absolutely breathtaking and it hurts my head to think about how long it took to construct them. The variations in architectural style were interesting to analyze and Camella and I thought way too hard about how they put so much detail into something that's hundreds of feet above the ground. In Cologne we also got see the EL-DE Haus, which was a very somber place. The prisoners' writings on the walls were eye-opening and it was a harrowing experience. Our tour guide repeatedly emphasized about how important it is to learn from history and not repeat its mistakes, which I believe is especially significant in today's sociopolitical climate. Brugge is a wonderful little community filled with retired people and weird languages. I can safely say that I had never heard of Flemish before coming here. We walked in the rain and saw the canals, old buildings and windmills, and ate Belgian chocolate. Everybody here loves a variation of Nutella and having chocolate for breakfast makes mornings more fun. If anybody who reads this comes to Brugge, stay in the Snuffel Hostel. We only booked it because it has a fun name, but it's actually a really cool place. Flixbus also sucks. Every place that we've been to so far looks like it belongs in a painting. Europe is gorgeous.