Kapelle-op

Exchange: 15 – 22 of March
Belgian – Italy
Kapelle-op-denBos
Everyone had to be at school around 9 o’ clock. A few pupils
presented the schedule of the week with some background
information. Then the teachers gave an explanation about the
founding of the school. Our Italian friends also got a quick tour
around the school and a little bit of sport activities like baseball and
football. Then we had the break of ten o’ clock at school.
After the tour we went on a walk in the village of kappelle o/d bos.
We had our lunch next to the canal. Then we walked through the
fields of the village for about an hour. After this we to a pub called
‘de kring’. Here we played casino and other card games. At 5 o’ clock
we ate some real Belgian fries. In the evening we went bowling in the
‘wima’ in Antwerp. It was a calm day but still a funny day.
Brussel
On Tuesday we went to Brussels. We visited the Atomium and the
center of Brussels. We left in the morning by train, and then we took
the subway to the Atomium. We went inside the monument and took
the elevator to the highest ball. There we had a beautiful view of the
city. The Italians were very excited and were taking a lot of pictures.
After visiting the Atomium we took the subway to the centre of the
city.
There we started a walking tour through the finest places of Brussels.
We walked through the park and then we passed by the royal palace.
When we arrived at the Grasmarkt we had some free time to lunch.
Then we visited Manneken Pis ant the rest of the centre. After that
the Italians wanted to go shopping, especially to Abercrombie. Some
people went to Abercrombie and the others stayed in the centre and
went drinking something in a bar.
Around six p.m. we went back to the train station and took the train
back home satisfied.
Jona, Tim, Dries, Babette, Lyana
Fort of Breendonk
We departed at a quarter past 9 by bike at school. It was a beautiful
day, the sun was shining and it was warm, but not too hot. We had to
bike about 6 kilometers to the Fort of Breendonk. For some Italians,
this cycling tour was really tiresome. They were all exhausted at the
end of the day.
But because the subject of the exchange project was ‘Health’, and
cycling is healthy, we don’t regret this decision.
At the fort, we got a guided tour from an extremely enthousiastic and
insightful guide. He showed us around the fort and told us the story
of the people who were captured there. Everyone was listening really
attentively to the guide, because what he told was very interesting.
What we saw in the fort was shocking, but it is important to know
the impact of a war. We can associate the terrible things that
happened there to the theme of this exchange, because the people in
the fort lived unhealthy and were tortured.
After the tour we had lunch and after lunch we went, by bike, to the
palm breweries. The Italians (especially the teacher!) were very tired
(again) even though we rode slowly. Anyway we got to taste a real
Palm and got a guide around the brewery. This tour showed the way
they make beer. Beer is one of the famous delicacies of Belgium, but
it too much isn’t healthy!
In the evening we went to a local karaoke bar in Kapelle-op-den-Bos.
We sang and danced a lot; everyone had a great time.
Mechelen
Brugge
Our day started early on Thursday of our exchange week. We gathered at the
trainstation in Kapelle-op-den-Bos. We took the train to Bruges and after a 2h
ride, we arrived there around 10.15u. Then we were divided into 2 groups. And
each of them got a guide, who took us for a walk around Bruges. They showed
us the beautiful city-center of Bruges. For example, the Beguinage where a lot
of daffodils were flowering. The whole time, the guide told us interesting facts
on the city. After the guided tour, everybody had some free time. Most of the
Italian girls went shopping, and luckily a lot of people have enjoyed buying
some chocolate in de chocolate capital of Europe. After our free time(and the
struggle to get everybody together) we went to a park, where we could enjoy
the nice weather and play some soccer. And after relaxing in the park with our
Italian partners, our time in Bruges was over and we had to go back home. It
was a very nice day.
Mechelen
We went to Mechelen on Friday the 21st of March. Mechelen is a
small city, situated between the two big cities Antwerp and Brussels.
Badly it was raining but that couldn’t stop us! We left with the train
around 9 o’clock. When we arrived, we walked to the Grote Markt.
There we explained the city game we were going to play. We made it
ourselves. The assignments were little and every time they did
something, they had to take a picture as a proof. Here are some
examples:
Everybody had to take a picture in Media Markt and put it on
Facebook. This is one of the results! 
Here they had to dress themselves in
the colors of the Belgian flag. Nice,
isn’t it? 
After the game we visited the Sint-
Romboutstower. We climbed 514 stairs and when we reached the
top, we were astonished about the beautiful view! On the roof we
could even see the Atomium!We drank something in a little, local
pub and got some free time. Then we went home because we had to
prepare ourselves for the amazing party of that night!Everybody liked
the game and had also a great night! 