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!

A day in Bruges

On Thursday, we celebrated Belgian Independence Day by hopping on a train out to the lovely medieval town of Bruges.  We rented bikes for the day and spent much of the afternoon pedaling around the little town checking out the sites.

Despite the drizzly day, we still had a great time!

Doling out the bikes

The crew takes to the cobblestone streets!

Ready to roll

 To kick off the afternoon, a number of our group took a tour of De Halve Maan, of one of the oldest breweries in the area.

De Halve Maan

In the tasting room before our tour

Up into the brewing area

 It was interesting to compare and contrast the economics of the production and marketing processes for the De Halve Maan and the Hook Norton Brewery, which we had visited earlier in the summer.

Learning about the materials used in Belgium

The view from the top of the brewery building

Despite the clouds, it's hard to deny the beauty of this city!

After the tour students headed off for free time in the city.  But given the small size of Bruges, we often bumped into each other throughout the day.  A number of us visited the Chocolate Museum (Choco-Story), where we learned about the history and making of chocolate.  (A highlight was definitely the demonstration and tasting...)

The Choco-Story Museum

Program assistant (and photographer/blogger), Kip, at the enormous chocolate egg

Fay and Kip as cocoa beans!

Even with the cool weather, Bruges was a delightful place to spend a day.  A number of us had the chance to see the city by canal, which demonstrated why Bruges is often referred to as the Venice of the North.

Flowers along the canal

Scott and Amit taking in the sites

One of the many impressive towers in Bruges

A number of the students climbed the tallest tower in Bruges, the Belfry Tower (366 steps!) which provided excellent views of the city and the surrounding countryside (if any of you have pictures, send them my way!).

A few brave students attempted to get all they could out of their bikes and take a trip to the North Sea.  Unfortunately, it was a little farther than they expected, but they did get to see the iconic Bruge windmills.

Just one more day together in Brussels before we all head off on Independent Study and Travel Week!

To the Continent!

On Tuesday, July 19th, we headed into London from our Cambridge base to catch a train for the Continent.  The next three days we would be spending time in Brussels and Bruge (or Brugge or Bruges depending on who you ask!).  Getting there required a trip through the Chunnel on the Eurostar, which was a new experience for a number of us!

The Eurostar train

Getting settled onboard

Excited to head into the Chunnel

Our first night in Brussels we met at Steak Frit for a group dinner.  We're not all used to the long European style meals, but it was tasty nonetheless!

Part 1 of our very long table for 25...

Part two!

Wednesday was a jam packed day full of visits to the European Commission Visitor's Center, the European Commission Climate Directorate and Euroelectric (an organization that represents electricity producers).  It was a lot to take in, but provided some excellent connections to the both the Industrial Revolution class and the Environmental Economics course.

Part of the EU compound

While at the Commission, we met with two staff, Jo Vandercappellen, (who gave an excellent talk about the structure of the European Commission and how it's institutions have evolved in recent history) and Steven Blaakman, who spoke about EU transportation infrastructure and policy.

Our fancy EU goodies

 

Checking out the loot

Getting down to business...

From there it was on to the Directorate General for Climate Action where we met with economist, Ger Klaassen about his take on current energy and climate policy in the EU.

The lovely lobby at the European Commission Directorate General for Climate Action

Stop two for the day

Note takers...

A break in the activity... time for a picture!

After a quick lunch at the train station, we made our way to the final stop for the day: Eurelectric.  This organization represents a number of the electricity companies in the EU during the policy making process. Our presenters provided a great deal of information about the potential for widespread introduction of smart grids and the transition from fossil fuel to renewable forms of electricity to power Europe's future.

Our final stop for the day

Some pre-meeting mingling

The lovely view from Eurelectric's lobby

Preparing for powerpoint round four!

In the evening, we took a team of students who had won a data visualization challenge out to dinner in the city.  We went to the iconic Chez Leon, where they serve up some of the delicacies of Brussels: mussels and fries.

Brussels 'n mussels = yum!

A peek at one of their tasty mussel dishes

Following dinner, we sampled another of Belgium's delights: chocolate!

The beautiful chocolate display at Neuhaus Chocolatier

Tomorrow we're off to Bruges to explore the city by bike!