Happy Birthday, Ben!

7 September 2015
We walked the short distance from the school to the Waregem Station where we all joined in to sing "Happy Birthday" to Benjamin. It is special to celebrate your birthday with a trip to Ghent. The train was packed with people and for a moment we though we would not make it to this historical town.
The history of Ghent begins in the year 630, when St Amandus chose the site of the confluence of the rivers Lys and Scheldt to construct an abbey.
The boys, especially, enjoyed exploring the medieval castle and the relics of the torture chamber, a small guillotine with an authentic original blade, spiked iron collars, racks, branding irons, thumb screws, and a special kind of pitchfork designed to make certain that people being burned at the stake stayed in the flames. We saw all of this in a small museum in the castle, along with weapons and suits of armour. On a happier note, we climbed to the ramparts of the high building in the center, the donjon, our reward was a great view of Ghent's rooftops and towers. All the climbing and exploring left us quite hungry and we were of to lunch.
Walking on a full tummy is never a good idea and everyone was grateful that they could sit back and enjoy a tour along the canals of Ghent with our guide, Stoffel. 

Brussels

4 September 2015
The Atomium
Built for the 1958 world fair, the Atomium represents a molecule's nine atoms - magnified 165 billion times. As a symbol of the city, it provides a panoramic view of Brussels and its surroundings. The 9 spheres that make up the "atom" are linked by escalators. The Atomium hosts a museum and is also a venue for special events. We had great fun exploring this amazing engineering masterpiece, before moving on to the older parts of Brussels.
The highlight must be the Grand Place, built as a merchants market in the 13th century, it serves as the city center and is a great place to enjoy Belgian hospitality. A visit to Brussels just will not be complete without posing in front of The Manneken Pis for a "selfie". Hotel de Ville, The Royal Palace and the Cathedral of Saints Michel and Gudule were all on our itinerary for the day.
All too soon the day came to an end, but we will have fond memories of our day in Brussels especially the delicious evening meal of mussels at Taverne Greenwich, after all you must have "mussels" in "Brussels". The Greenwich is a protected monument and is primarily known as a chess cafe. Rene Magritte often played here with other well known figures of the surreal scene of Brussels. Once again we were in awe of this historical city and a return visit is a must.

Brugge

3 September 2015
Bruges is the capital and the largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium. This is the city that we were privileged to visit today.
The group of exchange students was divided into smaller groups and given tasks to complete. These tasks took them on a walking tour of Bruges. (Images of some of the tasks can be seen in this blog).
As if we did not walk enough for one day the strenuous task of climbing the 366 spiralling steps, winding some 83 metres into the sky, of the Belfry Tower waited for us after lunch. At the top of the tower we were rewarded with the awesome vistas of the historic World Historic Site that is the old city and the  surrounding country side.
I keep on repeating myself, but Bruges is the most beautiful city in Europe.

The Last Post Ceremony

2 September 2015
The day started with a bus trip to De Panne, a town located on the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders. There it borders France, which implies that it is the western most location of Belgium.  Here we played games and did some team building activities. No one was brave enough to swim.
After a tasty picnic we were back on the bus to visit Westhoek.

We were given the oppurtunity to learn more about the trenches and graveyards associated with WW I before heading to Ieper. The highlight of the day was when we attended the emotional Last Post Ceremony. Every evening at 20.00 hours the road running through the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is closed to traffic. Buglers of the Last Post Association step out under the memorial to play Last Post as a daily ceremony of Remembrance.
What a priviledge it is to spend time with our Belgian friends.

A Day at the races

Waregem Koerse is a series of horse races that take place on the first Tuesday after the last weekend in August. Every seven years this day falls on the 1 of September which is the first day of school.
2015 is a seventh year and the first day of school was a very short day as everyone in town goes off to the Waregem Koerse and so did we. The highlight of the day was The Grand Steeplechase of Flandres. Like anywhere in the world these races are a society event with some of the biggest prizes in Belgium.
The "kermis" assosiated with the Waregem Koerse ended with spectacular fireworks later the evening. The first day of school at Heilighart-college went down well.

Amsterdam is not for "sissies"!

31 August 2015
The second day of navigating streets, where different rules apply for cars, trams, trains, pedestrians and bicycles, was less challenging. We managed to remain unscathed, while keeping in mind that the traffic comes from the wrong side of the road. We really did well in this city that is so different to our South African cities with much hustle and bustle and agreed that using and adapting to so many  different modes of transport within 24 hours of arriving, deserves a medal - we'll done to us all.
We were suitably impressed with our first stop of the day, the Amsterdam ArenA,  home of the Dutch football club, Ajax Amsterdam. We enjoyed the guided tour through the many areas of the stadium and learnt that the roof can close in 14 minutes, but that this closure impacts negatively on the growth of the grass. The Dutch solved this problem through the introduction of artificial light to overcome the lack of sunlight, while gigantic fans aid oxygen supply with irrigation coming from below the field's surface. In addition to sporting events, music concerts and exhibitions are also held here regularly. What was particulalry interesting was that it takes only 14 hours after a concert to replace  the entire grass surface and to have a surface suitable to play a soccer match on. Soccer, however is not the only sport played here. Sports such as American football and basketball have also been played here. All too soon it was time to head back to the centre of the city for lunch.
At the Van Gogh Museum we went on a journey and stood eye-to-eye with the artist and found his constant efforts to improve his skills admirable. He was an intelligent man with a passion for art and literature. We discovered that even today his life and work inspire artists all over the world.
We were grateful for a well-timed cruise on the canals which took us through the unique UNESCO World Heritage canal district. We were able to admire the majestic facades and gables, beautiful churches, the iconic Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge) and many more highlights.
All in all, our day had something for everybody, from sports to culture, to the outdoors, resulting in a somewhat weary group of travellers boarding the bus for our return to home base in Belgium

Enjoy

Waregem to Amsterdam: 30 August

Today we travelled by luxury coach back to Amsterdam.

Approaching Antwerpen we drove through a tunnel that went under the Schelde River - it was quite a strange feeling!

Kinderdijk was our first stop.
The sight of the traditional Dutch windmills made the two hour drive worthwhile.
Highlights of our first day in Amsterdam include cycling through the streets, countless sights and visiting Anne Frank House.
Whilst walking from Anne Frank House to Wagamama (this means spoilt child) Japanese restaurant,  we witnessed the unfortunate burning of a boat. Apparently the owner wanted to have a barbecue.
After a busy day we arrived back at out hotel at 23:19, happy, but absolutely exhausted.

Arrival in Belgium

After an 11 hour fight we arrived in Amsterdam and took a connecting flight to Brussels where we were met by a group of enthusiastic host parents. We all went our separate ways and spent what was left of the day relaxing, sight-seeing and catching up.
The weather was typical of a South African summer's day with temperatures peaking in the high twenties.

The fun is about to start!

We will be boarding shortly. Watch this space for updates of our trip.

22 April 2015: - Our last day in Cape Town

We woke up to another perfect day in Cape Town and headed off to Groot Constantia after breakfast. What a beautiful drive it was.

Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa and a provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia in Cape Town. "Groot" in Dutch and Afrikaans translates as "great" (as in large) in English.

Whilst on a cellar tour, we were exposed to the ins and outs of viticulture.  After the cellar tour our Belgian guests were treated to wine tasting while the Southdowns pupils were given some apple juice to enjoy. Conveniently we could get onto the hop on hop off bus on the Groot Constantia estate and we enjoyed a scenic drive to Camps Bay, our next stop.

What could be more enjoyable than lunch in Camps Bay with the tranquility of the mountains in the background and the breaking of the waves along the palm tree lined beach. 

Camps Bay

We left Cape Town with sad hearts and we would all like to return soon...

21 April 2015: - Hop on hop off

We could not but wonder if we would be lucky enough to enjoy another sunny day in Cape Town. To our delight it was a cloudless day and after breakfast we made our way to the Two Oceans Aquarium at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

With more than 3000 marine creatures on view – including sharks, turtles and penguins – the Two Oceans Aquarium is one of the finest aquariums in the world. Situated in Portswood Square at the V&A Waterfront, the aquarium showcases the unique marine life of the Atlantic and Indian oceans which lie on either side of the Cape of Good Hope.

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At long last we were given some free time. We could choose whether we wanted to stroll through the shops at the V&A Waterfront, enjoy a leisurely lunch or cruise through the channels around the upmarket residential areas of the V&A.

Built between 1666 and 1678 by the Dutch east India Company (VOC) as a maritime replenishment station the Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa.

From 1678 it was the centre of civilian, administrative and military life at the Cape, until the settlement grew and some functions and activities moved from the Castle. Today the Castle is the seat of the military in the Cape, and houses the castle Military Museum and Iziko Museums of Cape Town and it was our next stop on our visit to Cape Town.

The best way to explore Cape Town

The Castle