This past Thursday was Ascension Day, which is a widely celebrated holiday throughout Europe. From what I could tell, it was more of an excuse for everyone to have off school and work to enjoy the weather than it was to observe a religious day. Since we did not have any school visits taking place Thursday or Friday, we decided to take advantage of the holiday weekend as well. On Thursday morning, ten of us left for Bruges, Belgium. Bruges is a historic medieval city that is known as the "Venice of the North". It was one of the most beautiful place I've seen and there is no other word for it than "quaint". Everything about it was perfect, we actually all said several times that we kind of felt like we were in Disneyland, and not in a real city, because everything about it seemed too perfect. Little did we know, Bruges hosts a world famous Ascension Day parade and re-enactment. We ended up catching it in the middle and watching most of the procesion. 
On Friday we all rented bikes in the morning and tooka 5 mile bike ride to see windmills and explore the neighboring town of Damme. It was nice to get some fresh air and exercise on a relaxing day after so much traveling. In the evening, I left to go back to Amsterdam with Alesia, Allison, Mary, and Stef. We spent two relaxing days souvenir shopping, having picnics in Vondelpark, and enjoying the Amsterdam nightlife. It was a much needed vacation and chance to catch up on sleep after the whirlwind we have had the last two weeks.
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