Final Day in Brussels

Friday, July 22nd, marked our final day together in Brussels before heading off on independent study and travel week.  We spent breakfast discussing the Keynes reading, then took the "1000 Years of Commerce" walking tour of Brussels.  It was expertly led by Chris, a London transplant who has made Brussels his permanent home.  We followed Chris for 2 hours in the on-and-off rain learning about the industries of the area and how things have evolved to today.  It was a great overview of the city and connected right into our economic backgrounds.

The ants go marching two-by-two

An old fruit ripening building

Detail of the tile work along the top of the building

Part of the pis series of statues in Brussels: Zinneke Pis (The Peeing Dog)

Manneken Pis - The Krishna Edition

More beautiful tile work indicating what this building used to contain

A detail shot of one of the panels

Taking cover!

Erik F rubbing the lucky mustache of former Brussels mayor, Charles Buls

The spectacular Grand Place

To close out our time in Brussels (and as a surprise to the students!) we took a chocolate making class at Zaabar Chocolates.

Ready for some chocolate tasting!

We learned about where coca beans are grown, how they are processed and converted to the delicious, sweet treat so many of us enjoy.  Once we learned a little about how to correctly temper chocolate, we got to dig in and give it a try.

Waiting for our chocolate history and processing lesson

All suited up to start making (hairnets rather than hardhats this time!)

The utmost concentration is required!

The trays are filling up!

Making a special spicy chocolate for the professor

Switching to truffles

Mmmmmmm, Belgian chocolate.....

Putting on the final touches...

Viola!

A number of students were off to start their travels Friday evening, but those of us who were still around managed to fit in a few games of bowling. 

Checking out the scores

Alice setting up (for a strike, I'm sure)

Professor Aaron battles a split

From here everyone heads off on travel week to spend some time exploring on their own and working on independent study.  A few of the destinations on the list are: Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway.  I hope to have some guest posts about all the amazing sights seen over the next week!