It feels like quite a while ago now I'm actually getting round to writing about it but I can assure that between Sunday 9th and Monday 17th was an action packed period for me and here's why.
Thursday started with an afternoon trip to Bruges. Upon telling Will, my ex-politics teacher about my trip to Belgium during the A level certificate back in December he described the place as 'the most romantic city' so I felt it was the right time to visit; being the day before Valentine's day. Following my calamitous visit to Ghent the week before, my trip to Bruges went swimmingly and I found the city much more enjoyable. It truly is a lovely city that reminded me somewhat of Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general with its waterways, cobbled streets, bridges and windmills. I only spent 2 and a half hours in the city but from that alone I can confirm that it is a must-see when you go to Belgium and I'm sure with all the museums and little shops that there is enough to do to last a full day.
After taking my first BlaBla Car* ride back to Brussels, I attended concert number two out of three during my time in Belgium when I went to see Childish Gambino at VK. Childish Gambino is the rapping alias of actor, writer and comedian Donald Glover famous not just as a rapper but also in his roles in hit US TV shows Community and 30 Rock. Gambino was in town promoting his new album, Because The Internet, which I'd purchased a few weeks earlier so I thought I'd check out his live show and what would also be my first ever rap gig. I have to admit that as an Indie/Rock fan I felt a bit out of place at first but I soon found a friendly group of American students who were great company for the night and we quickly became friends. With no support act, we were kept waiting in anticipation for over an hour but when Glover appeared on stage he most certainly did not disappoint. I've never experienced any gig quite like it before. The combination of a frenzied crowd, special effects, the live band and Gambino's unbelievable stage presence and energy made for an incredible show in which he played through (rapped through?) much of his two albums worth of material including personal favourites 'Sweatpants', 'Heartbeat', '3005', 'Telegraph Avenue' and 'The Worst Guys' before finishing with an encore accompanied by another MC in which he did an original freestyle. As hard as my new American buddies and I tried we didn't managed to meet Donald Glover in person afterwards (damn) but it was a gig I won't forget for a long time and I managed to get the set list as a nice little souvenir.
*BlaBla Car is a car sharing website that puts drivers and passengers in touch with each other. I paid three times less for my BlaBla Car journey back to Brussels than my train ticket to Bruges so it is something I'd recommend if you've got plenty of time to travel and you don't want to spend lots of money. Perfect for students!
 |
| Our friend got a backstage pass and met Gambino, so jealous! |
 |
| The drum stick I co-caught, I let one of my American friends have it |
 |
| Got the set list instead! |
So after a great Desperation Day (to non-How I Met Your Mother fans- 13th February is officially called Desperation Day,the day before Valentines), Valentine's Day reared its ugly head. Personally I've never really had a reason to celebrate the day and as a holiday I find it quite OTT so I wasn't really excited for it. For me, the main significance of the day was that it was the deadline day for Americamp applications so I spent much of the day rushing around the house sorting out my application to get it completed. I've applied to work as a Camp Councillor in America during the Summer in which I hope to specialise in teaching Swimming before travelling around the US afterwards. To sort this out, I had to finish my application, retrieve references from my three referees (Brian, Patrick and Lucy. If you're reading this now, thank you very much for helping me out as my referees), print, scan and sign documents and film an entire candidate video before the 3PM UK time deadline. Apart from uploading my video I pretty much managed it and my application is now being viewed by various camp directors stateside as we speak so fingers crossed I'll have an American adventure sorted for the summer. I'll keep you updated with the process and of course the experience if I get any further than this point.
Anyway, back to actual Valentine's Day stuff. After finishing all the hard work of sorting out my Americamp application, I decided to reward myself by joining BMPH3 on a Valentine's Day Pub/Bar Crawl through Ixelles, an area just south of Brussels city centre filled with many great bars. Like the hash runs I've grown used to, it was just as fun and silly as I'd expected and I must say I had a great night experiencing some of the nightlife Brussels has to offer even if it was Valentine's Day and most of the bars were filled with loved-up couples!
 |
| A random selection of photos from the pub crawl |
On Sunday, we drove an hour South popping over the border into France for a day trip to the Northern city of Lille. While Marie-France and the kids spent the day with friends, I took the opportunity to have a look around the city. As a tourist there isn't a great deal to do in Lille meaning I had to resort to killing time by playing Piano in Gare Lille Europe for about 30 minutes (yes, they have a piano in the train station!) and using the WiFi in McDonalds however I did find enough things to do to last an afternoon including wondering around the Citadelle, Lille Zoo, the Grand Place and the Palais de Beaux-Arts. In the evening, I met up with Ollie and his sister Jess. I've mentioned Ollie before in Review of 2013-Part 2: The FOT! Awards but as well as writing an awesome blog (which you can view by following the link in this page's sidebar) he is also my Mallorcan host family's first Au Pair, a lover of all things sport and come September I'll follow in his footsteps by becoming a Southampton Uni languages student so we have a lot in common. I met up with him and Jess, who was also visiting over the weekend, before we joined Ollie's friend Charles for a drink. For me this was the most enjoyable part of the visit and considering it was the first time I'd met the three of them we got on really well together as we talked about such things as our issues as Brits living/working abroad, cultural differences with the French and our differing experiences of Au Pairing for the Torres Bustillos in Mallorca. Seeing how Ollie is enjoying his Year Abroad as a Third Year language student renewed my excitement for starting my degree in September and come the end of day I didn't really want to leave. Guess I miss being around students!
 |
| Playing Piano in the train station |
 |
| Lille Zoo |
 |
| Me with Jess and Ollie |
 |
| Same again except in front of the Porte du Paris |
Monday night capped off an excellent week or so with my 3rd gig in 8 days when I returned to Le Botanique, the venue in which I saw Bombay Bicycle Club, to see Aussie singer/songwriter Vance Joy for the first time. Vance Joy's (A.K.A James Keogh) popularity has soared through the roof in recent months back in the UK thanks to his catchy single 'Riptide' and at less than 10 Euros for a ticket, I couldn't really say no. Despite arriving about 15 minutes into the set (stupid public transport), I found the gig really enjoyable as Vance and his band played through the entire contents of his new EP 'God Loves You When You're Dancing' as well as tracks that will feature on his debut album set to be released this year. The gig had a very 'festival crowd' vibe about it as not many people knew his songs that well but when he finished with 'Riptide' the crowd really started getting involved, singing and dancing to the one song they recognised making for the best moment of the whole set. People were so fired up by the set closer that many stayed for a good 10 minutes after chanting "WE WANT MORE!" yet not receiving any, a reaction I'm guessing they weren't expecting. No encore but no encore was required. I too hung around afterwards to chat with the band and meet Vance himself who I can honestly say are some of the nicest musicians I've ever met and I hope they get all the success they deserve in the near future.
 |
| Meeting Vance Joy after the gig |
 |
| Vance Joy's drummer has one of the best mustache's in the music industry |
So that was my awesome week. Like some of my posts tend to be, this has come out as a bit of an essay but well done if you got to the end of it, give yourself a sticker. One more week left before I return home so I have at least one more post lined up for you before then.
Speak soon!
FP
#FraserOnTour
 |
| Louise got the face paints out on Monday. She's a clown and I'm Harry Potter! |
No comments:
Post a Comment