En Route to Oxford

Yellow Wall and Window, Burano, Italy

We just finished the touring portion of the trip and are on our way to Oxford, England for the remainder of the summer. We took our final exams yesterday (we take new courses once we get to England), and then some of us rented bikes and rode up to the North Sea. It was a lot of fun, even though it was raining. We ate lunch by the beach, then rode back. Last night I ate traditional Brugge mussels, had a waffle with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and drank one too many local Belgian beers. It was great.

Brugge is a charming little town, an absolute gem among the European cities I've seen so far. The facades on the short little buildings were wonderful; combined with the cobblestone streets, the winding canals and bridges, and the local residents all on bikes, Brugge is a beautiful city. They are very proud of the their chocolate, their lace, and their fried potatoes (they were invented in Belgium, not France!), and you can find these in little shops and restaurants all over the city.

I did not take a single photograph in Brugge, despite its beauty. I think this may have been due to several factors. First, I wasn't there for very long. We stayed just two full days, the first of which I spent most of my time in my room studying for the exams, the second day was spent on a bike, in the rain (during which I was worried sick the whole time about my camera getting wet). That's fine; I don't regret. Brugge will just remain a little nugget of European beauty unphotographed.

Instead I'm posting here a picture from the island of Burano, just outside of Venice, Italy. This is the island I spoke of earlier, where the colors of the buildings are just overwhelming. I'm not sure I quite captured that here--the yellow looks a little dull--but that was my goal.