Visiting Belgium

     I had a chance to visit Belgium , thanks to Erasmus Project which my old highschool contributed . Before our trip began , I had known that it was a beautiful country which is famous for fancy houses , lots of historical places and ,the most renowned one , delicious waffles . When I landed in , rarity of people drew my attention . I was expecting lots of people but instead , airport was relatively empty even though it was around noon hours . We were a group of people , I was with my school friends and my teachers . Taxi was waiting outside to take us to Mater Dei Highschool in Overpelt . Roads were decent and there was no traffic because I learned that the close of the day in Belgium is around 3 pm . We arrived at school and went home of our host families. People were hospitable there . They took me out for dinner to a lovely pub-like restaurant . People were quiet and respectful . The other day ,  we came together to visit Antwerp . We went there by train . It was a 1 hour long trip from Overpelt to Antwerp. We visited the Cathedral of Our Lady . It was breathtaking with its gothic style . All of the artworks on the wall were astounding . We learn that it took 169 years to complete the cathedral . Its architects were Jan and Pieter Appelmans . After visiting the cathedral , we marched to the Rubenshuis ( Rubens House ) which is the former home and also studio of Peter Paul Rubens who is considered to be the most influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition . We saw his fantastic and also realistic paintings there . Then , we were given time to hang around and we walked around the streets of Antwerp . Talented street artist were performing and we enjoyed listening them . The whole city was full of architectural beauties which bear the stamps of their times . The most interesting one , according to me , was the Brabo statue . It is said that Silvius Brabo , a mythical Roman soldier, have killed a giant monster and have thrown the hand to the river Scheldt . I was so impressed by the details of the statue . After walking around the city , we marched to the Antwerp Central Station . It was colossal and again an architectual beauty . We got our train tickets and finally we got back to Overpelt . Antwerp was an unforgettable trip for me .

BETÜL YAĞICI 

2016 July, I was in Paris for a month. I went there to attend a French course. I was staying in buildings which are mixture of dormitory and apartment. There were many students and people who have different jobs. To go to my course from where I stayed I had to take one stop RER and one stop metro. There were many tourists in Paris. I met people from different countries. French people I encountered were very polite and nice to me. Yet, I found Americans very arrogant. I visited places alone most of the time. I didn’t visited touristic areas much as I wasn’t interested in. I preferred visiting streets and shops.  As touristic places I only visited Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and la Basilique du Sacré Coeur. I visited Eiffel tower first there is a huge green surrounding around the tower. Many tourists were taking pictures, some people were going for a walk around it. I sat on grass till the sun go down and lights open. 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Next I visited the cathedral of Notre Dame. There was a long queue to get in there. Females had to cover their shoulders to be able to get in the cathedral. There were security agents who were checking that. Glasses were coloured. Inside there were chairs to sit and pray in front of them there were a place where priest speak behind this there were a huge cross. In other parts of the cathedral there were many statues and in fornt of them there were chairs to sit and pray. To make offrengs you have to pay and buy a candle and burn it then put it in front of statues. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I visited la Basilique du Sacré Cœur. It was a big church. It was the same as Notre Dame. Yet, here behind where the priest speaks there was a big jesus painting on the wall. 

   

 

 

After visiting these places, I didn’t visit any other touristic places after that I mostly go to my course, study and walk around the streets. I visited different shops. In Paris you can’t see high building and shopping centres generally. Many shops are spread in the streets. I generally visited a bookstore called Gibert Joseph as I love books. It is a huge place where you can find every kind of books. If you go to Paris and if you love books I recommend you to visit there. In the last week of my stay I visited a big garden with a French girl I met. There were different kinds of trees and flowers. She took me to an Indian-Pakistani restaurant then we went to old parts of Paris. There were many shops and cafes. People in Paris generally sit in small cafes and drinks something, talk and watch the street.  Last day, instead of a taxi we took RER B to arrive airport Charles de Gaulle with a few Turkish people who came to the same course with me. It took long time but we finally arrived the airport. We got on out planes without a problem and arrived Turkey.