The European School II is located in Brussels, a cosmopolitan city very different from our town, offering us a multitude of activities related to our work.
Belgian students showed the Galician students various representative landmarks of the Belgian capital. In the Grand Place, we visited during the day and enjoyed the majestic 17th-century buildings, with the Town Hall being the most spectacular. We visited the Church of Santiago, dedicated to the apostle buried in the Galician city, the destination of all pilgrims, Santiago de Compostela. Another Jacobean reference in Brussels is the Church of Notre Dame du Bon Secours, which operated as a temple dedicated to the apostle since the 12th century. On the facades of these buildings, as well as throughout the city of Brussels, we found signs alluding to the Camino, such as shells and staffs. The place is called Quartier Saint-Jacques, precisely evoking the importance of pilgrimage in the city’s past. Students from both schools prepared projects on the Camino de Santiago and the connection between Brussels and Santiago de Compostela.
One of the activities that students showed the most interest in was the Comic Tour, where they encountered Tintin, Astérix, or Lucky Luke. The hotel where the Ponteareas students stayed also made reference to comics.
To enjoy nature, we visited the Cinquantenaire Park and took photographs under its impressive triumphal arch. At the Cinquantenaire Museum of Art and History, we explored interesting exhibitions on Persian, Egyptian, or Roman culture.
