After visiting my grandparents and dad, showing them pictures, talking about the trip and the engagement, I finally drove back home to Cedar Falls.
Not much was out of order. I haven't completely unpacked yet, since my plans to unpack and do laundry were interrupted by a very overwhelming need to sleep. A nap that was supposed to take two hours, however, ended up taking five. So I have not completed laundry or anything else, but at least I got some of the rest that I needed. I am making myself stay up for a couple more hours, before going back to bed. Hopefully I will sleep through the entire night. Tomorrow, I will need to try to stay awake until at least 10 pm, as I will be at work. Although working will help with the whole staying awake thing.
As for this blog, well, it has certainly served its purpose for this trip. The daily updates will not continue, however. I do have a couple of ideas planned for other content, but as this is a travel blog, and I don't travel every other week, I won't need to update it every day. I do plan to post about trips I take for pictures even in town (Big Woods Lake or George Wyth) and places around Iowa. So, check back every so often if you wish to see these posts.
Thank you for reading about my travels in Luxembourg. I really enjoyed myself and I will be going back as soon as I can!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Day 19 - A Long Trip Home
No pictures, sorry. Half the time I couldn't have the camera on anyway and the other half I was too busy to take pictures.
We started the day very early at 3:30 am. I had already packed most of my stuff the night before, so we just had to haul my stuff down the stairs, brush our teeth, I ate a banana, and we left around 4 am.
The Luxembourg airport isn't big, but we still got there two hours early to make sure that there were no problems. There weren't, and we proceeded to sit down and wait until the inevitable. Charel and I seem to always have the best conversations right before one of us is about to leave. It's a bit funny how that works.
The time came to go, and sadly I had to say goodbye. I did better with the crying part this time, but I still teared up a lot. There was a Portuguese family in front of us, minus the dad (who was saying goodbye to the kids). The little boy in front of us saw me, and started crying too (or pretending to cry, not sure which). I went through security finally, every time I looked back, Charel waved. After completing the process, I had one last look, he waved again, I blew him a kiss, and then, walked away. I focused on finding my gate, so that I wouldn't just break down in the middle of the airport.
I found my gate without too much trouble. There was a food shop there, and I was tempted to buy breakfast, but I then realized that my plane was already boarding and I didn't have any euro anyway. We took a bus to the plane, I found my seat, and we took off.
The plane ride was uneventful. We landed in Amsterdam and I didn't have much trouble in the airport itself. Even the first place you present you passport didn't even ask me questions besides "Where are you going" and then stamped it. At the gate, however, there was a completely separate area sectioned off. I first had to stand in line and get "interviewed" about our intentions in the US. This is where Charel had to answer a bunch of questions when he visited, but all the guy interviewing me seemed to care about was if I packed my own bags. After being cleared, I went through security (this is a theme), and they pulled my bag over to check something. Turns out, I had used a bobby pin as a bookmark and they couldn't tell what it was on the x-ray. So they only pulled my books out, at least.
I then went and sat in a different little area, to wait for them to call my row number. They did, and I finally boarded the plane to Detroit. I had an aisle seat again, although on the opposite side of the plane. In the seat next to me was a guy around my age, maybe a bit younger. After a bit of conversation, I determined that he was a Dutchie going to see his girlfriend in the US. I smiled at the coincidence of that (me leaving visiting my bf). It was his first trip to the US and I could tell that he was excited.
We finally took off from Amsterdam, and began the long 8 hour flight to Detroit. I read my one book for a little while before breakfast, but also answered my neighbor's questions about things such as how the meal worked and how the displays in the seats worked. He kept apologizing for his English (why do all Europeans do that?) and thanking me. He also seemed surprised that the drinks on the plane were free. I guess if you come from a place where you pay for water in a restaurant, you're surprised by that sort of thing.
The meals finally came by, and I got eggs. They were okay, but I should have gotten the chicken salad or something. It was still needed, as I was very hungry. After eating and them clearing the trays, I finally got tired enough that I could doze off for an hour. I only know I did because my neck hurt when I woke up. I managed to get another half an hour or so of sleep, but after that, I was too uncomfortable to sleep any more. At this point, there were still 4 hours left on the trip, so I got out my other book (a Dean Koontz one) and started to read.
Meal service came again about an hour before we landed. It was simple, just a warm cheese and tomato sauce sandwich. I was leery about the tomatoes, but I tried it anyway and it was really good. It tasted kind of like a pizza. I was starving, so I ate it pretty quickly. They also gave us a little cup of ice cream, which also was delicious.
The only downside of the flight (besides the length) was a guy sitting two rows in front of us, in the middle of the plane. He was one of those people that likes to chat up their neighbors, loudly. He was asking questions of this guy from Wisconsin that were hugely based on stereotypes. They were the wrong ones, though. He asked about ice hockey (Canada) and the 12,000 lakes (10,000, and that's Minnesota). I'm almost surprised that he didn't ask about corn. I started ignoring him after awhile, or trying to, but he was so loud. He also demanded things from the flight attendants every 5 minutes, and I could tell that he was starting to make them angry. Eventually, though, he fell asleep. For a little while. I wonder if people like that know how annoying they are. Probably not.
As we approached Detroit, the questions from my neighbor increased. I couldn't answer all of them (this was my first flight back to the US, after all). He was really excited. It kind of reminded me of a puppy.
Our flight finally landed, and after the usual long wait to get off the plane, we were dumped out in a huge hallway. At the end, I wished my neighbor luck (he was still nearby) and I went into the US residents line.
The lady looked at my form that I had filled out on the plane, looked at my passport, and then asked me a couple of questions about what I had done in Europe and where I was going in the US. She asked me where I worked and asked me how I could afford a ticket. I answered that I had to save up for it. She was pretty friendly, and let me go on my way pretty quickly.
I then had to pick up my suitcase to recheck. I found that one pretty quickly, too. Then came another line, another agent, and another interview. This one didn't go as well. This guy was older, and didn't like the fact that I had met someone on the internet. Well, I think that's what he didn't like. He tagged my form and made me go to the right. To the right was another line, where the complete bag search was to be.
I should mention at this point that my plane for CR was already boarding. I realized that there was no possible way for me to make it on time. I had a minor freak-out moment (to myself, not out loud) and then talked myself out of it, as I knew that there were more flights later in the day. The line ahead of me only had 4 people, but I was forced to wait for almost half an hour before the lady got to me.
The bag search went pretty well. She first asked me questions (why did you go, who were you with, how do you know them, where do you work). She seemed perfectly fine with the internet answer, and when I told her about the restaurant job, all she asked was how long it took me to save for the trip. We reviewed my declared items list, and then she set about searching my bags. She did it in a way that it stayed organized (I had organized it well anyway) and she was friendly. At least I was relaxed for part of this trip. Well, after looking through everything and a few more questions (some about my artwork/origami I had) I was sent back out and to the Delta desk to re-book my flight.
The guy at the counter found an open spot on the next flight out, and informed me how lucky I was that it was open. I'm not sure how lucky I felt at this point, but I was grateful not to have to wait too much longer. I got my new boarding pass, thanked him, rechecked my bag, and went on my way to get in line for more security.
Thankfully, I was not stopped again at this one. I would have been a bit annoyed to have my bags searched again. I got through, turned on my phone, and then called my mom to tell her about the change as I walked to the next gate.
Even if I wouldn't have had my bags searched, there is no way that I would have made it to the plane on time. Not only did I have to walk across the entire airport, but it left 10 minutes early. The walk to get to the new flight was a lot more relaxed, as I had two hours to kill before the plane boarded. I bought a Mountain Dew (finally!) and then went to my gate.
I called Charel's phone for a brief conversation to tell him that I was on a different flight. I also left a message with my dad. When the plane finally got in, there were mechanical problems so boarding was delayed for about half an hour. We ended up taking off about 20 minutes late.
The last flight of the day was uncomfortable but short. The plane landed about 15 minutes late, so my mom was waiting for me as I walked out of the terminal. We got my bag, got into the car, and finally I got to her house.
After dinner at Hy-vee (chinese), I managed to make it to 7:30 pm before I passed out. That's 2:30 am in Luxembourg, meaning that I was up for nearly 24 hours. I ended up sleeping 12. The goal for today is to try to stay up until 10 pm. I work 12 hours tomorrow so that will make things interesting.
We started the day very early at 3:30 am. I had already packed most of my stuff the night before, so we just had to haul my stuff down the stairs, brush our teeth, I ate a banana, and we left around 4 am.
The Luxembourg airport isn't big, but we still got there two hours early to make sure that there were no problems. There weren't, and we proceeded to sit down and wait until the inevitable. Charel and I seem to always have the best conversations right before one of us is about to leave. It's a bit funny how that works.
The time came to go, and sadly I had to say goodbye. I did better with the crying part this time, but I still teared up a lot. There was a Portuguese family in front of us, minus the dad (who was saying goodbye to the kids). The little boy in front of us saw me, and started crying too (or pretending to cry, not sure which). I went through security finally, every time I looked back, Charel waved. After completing the process, I had one last look, he waved again, I blew him a kiss, and then, walked away. I focused on finding my gate, so that I wouldn't just break down in the middle of the airport.
I found my gate without too much trouble. There was a food shop there, and I was tempted to buy breakfast, but I then realized that my plane was already boarding and I didn't have any euro anyway. We took a bus to the plane, I found my seat, and we took off.
The plane ride was uneventful. We landed in Amsterdam and I didn't have much trouble in the airport itself. Even the first place you present you passport didn't even ask me questions besides "Where are you going" and then stamped it. At the gate, however, there was a completely separate area sectioned off. I first had to stand in line and get "interviewed" about our intentions in the US. This is where Charel had to answer a bunch of questions when he visited, but all the guy interviewing me seemed to care about was if I packed my own bags. After being cleared, I went through security (this is a theme), and they pulled my bag over to check something. Turns out, I had used a bobby pin as a bookmark and they couldn't tell what it was on the x-ray. So they only pulled my books out, at least.
I then went and sat in a different little area, to wait for them to call my row number. They did, and I finally boarded the plane to Detroit. I had an aisle seat again, although on the opposite side of the plane. In the seat next to me was a guy around my age, maybe a bit younger. After a bit of conversation, I determined that he was a Dutchie going to see his girlfriend in the US. I smiled at the coincidence of that (me leaving visiting my bf). It was his first trip to the US and I could tell that he was excited.
We finally took off from Amsterdam, and began the long 8 hour flight to Detroit. I read my one book for a little while before breakfast, but also answered my neighbor's questions about things such as how the meal worked and how the displays in the seats worked. He kept apologizing for his English (why do all Europeans do that?) and thanking me. He also seemed surprised that the drinks on the plane were free. I guess if you come from a place where you pay for water in a restaurant, you're surprised by that sort of thing.
The meals finally came by, and I got eggs. They were okay, but I should have gotten the chicken salad or something. It was still needed, as I was very hungry. After eating and them clearing the trays, I finally got tired enough that I could doze off for an hour. I only know I did because my neck hurt when I woke up. I managed to get another half an hour or so of sleep, but after that, I was too uncomfortable to sleep any more. At this point, there were still 4 hours left on the trip, so I got out my other book (a Dean Koontz one) and started to read.
Meal service came again about an hour before we landed. It was simple, just a warm cheese and tomato sauce sandwich. I was leery about the tomatoes, but I tried it anyway and it was really good. It tasted kind of like a pizza. I was starving, so I ate it pretty quickly. They also gave us a little cup of ice cream, which also was delicious.
The only downside of the flight (besides the length) was a guy sitting two rows in front of us, in the middle of the plane. He was one of those people that likes to chat up their neighbors, loudly. He was asking questions of this guy from Wisconsin that were hugely based on stereotypes. They were the wrong ones, though. He asked about ice hockey (Canada) and the 12,000 lakes (10,000, and that's Minnesota). I'm almost surprised that he didn't ask about corn. I started ignoring him after awhile, or trying to, but he was so loud. He also demanded things from the flight attendants every 5 minutes, and I could tell that he was starting to make them angry. Eventually, though, he fell asleep. For a little while. I wonder if people like that know how annoying they are. Probably not.
As we approached Detroit, the questions from my neighbor increased. I couldn't answer all of them (this was my first flight back to the US, after all). He was really excited. It kind of reminded me of a puppy.
Our flight finally landed, and after the usual long wait to get off the plane, we were dumped out in a huge hallway. At the end, I wished my neighbor luck (he was still nearby) and I went into the US residents line.
The lady looked at my form that I had filled out on the plane, looked at my passport, and then asked me a couple of questions about what I had done in Europe and where I was going in the US. She asked me where I worked and asked me how I could afford a ticket. I answered that I had to save up for it. She was pretty friendly, and let me go on my way pretty quickly.
I then had to pick up my suitcase to recheck. I found that one pretty quickly, too. Then came another line, another agent, and another interview. This one didn't go as well. This guy was older, and didn't like the fact that I had met someone on the internet. Well, I think that's what he didn't like. He tagged my form and made me go to the right. To the right was another line, where the complete bag search was to be.
I should mention at this point that my plane for CR was already boarding. I realized that there was no possible way for me to make it on time. I had a minor freak-out moment (to myself, not out loud) and then talked myself out of it, as I knew that there were more flights later in the day. The line ahead of me only had 4 people, but I was forced to wait for almost half an hour before the lady got to me.
The bag search went pretty well. She first asked me questions (why did you go, who were you with, how do you know them, where do you work). She seemed perfectly fine with the internet answer, and when I told her about the restaurant job, all she asked was how long it took me to save for the trip. We reviewed my declared items list, and then she set about searching my bags. She did it in a way that it stayed organized (I had organized it well anyway) and she was friendly. At least I was relaxed for part of this trip. Well, after looking through everything and a few more questions (some about my artwork/origami I had) I was sent back out and to the Delta desk to re-book my flight.
The guy at the counter found an open spot on the next flight out, and informed me how lucky I was that it was open. I'm not sure how lucky I felt at this point, but I was grateful not to have to wait too much longer. I got my new boarding pass, thanked him, rechecked my bag, and went on my way to get in line for more security.
Thankfully, I was not stopped again at this one. I would have been a bit annoyed to have my bags searched again. I got through, turned on my phone, and then called my mom to tell her about the change as I walked to the next gate.
Even if I wouldn't have had my bags searched, there is no way that I would have made it to the plane on time. Not only did I have to walk across the entire airport, but it left 10 minutes early. The walk to get to the new flight was a lot more relaxed, as I had two hours to kill before the plane boarded. I bought a Mountain Dew (finally!) and then went to my gate.
I called Charel's phone for a brief conversation to tell him that I was on a different flight. I also left a message with my dad. When the plane finally got in, there were mechanical problems so boarding was delayed for about half an hour. We ended up taking off about 20 minutes late.
The last flight of the day was uncomfortable but short. The plane landed about 15 minutes late, so my mom was waiting for me as I walked out of the terminal. We got my bag, got into the car, and finally I got to her house.
After dinner at Hy-vee (chinese), I managed to make it to 7:30 pm before I passed out. That's 2:30 am in Luxembourg, meaning that I was up for nearly 24 hours. I ended up sleeping 12. The goal for today is to try to stay up until 10 pm. I work 12 hours tomorrow so that will make things interesting.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Day 18 - Last Day in Luxembourg
Tomorrow, I will leave from Luxembourg airport at 6:10 AM local time.
I have most of my stuff packed already, I just need to put a few things in the bag, and that's it. We will have to go to bed early tonight, as we have to wake up around 3:30 AM to get me to the airport.
Today was pretty uneventful. We spent the day hanging out and relaxing around the house for the most part. Aside from packing, that is. We did order sushi for dinner, and ate it with Charel's sister and her boyfriend, which was nice. We tried to teach Charel and his mom how to use chopsticks, but it was almost a lost cause.
Tonight's entry is short because I wish to spend time with my fiancé. Wow, I have to get used to using that word...
See you all soon, with one last update about how the flights went. Likely after I sleep.
I have most of my stuff packed already, I just need to put a few things in the bag, and that's it. We will have to go to bed early tonight, as we have to wake up around 3:30 AM to get me to the airport.
Today was pretty uneventful. We spent the day hanging out and relaxing around the house for the most part. Aside from packing, that is. We did order sushi for dinner, and ate it with Charel's sister and her boyfriend, which was nice. We tried to teach Charel and his mom how to use chopsticks, but it was almost a lost cause.
Tonight's entry is short because I wish to spend time with my fiancé. Wow, I have to get used to using that word...
See you all soon, with one last update about how the flights went. Likely after I sleep.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Day 17 - Long Day in Paris
Today started early, at 5:30, in order to catch the bullet train to Paris, France. It is a two hour train trip, versus a 4 hour drive. Charel's mom and sister came with us, so we weren't alone on this trip. We drove to the station, parked, and walked to the train. We all sat in seats facing each other, with a little foldout table in the middle. There wasn't much leg room, but the car would have been worse, so I wasn't too worried about that.
The train left at 6:40 am. It was dark outside and the lights in the train were on, so all I could really see was my reflection. As most of the conversation was happening in Luxembourgish, I didn't really talk much. I drew a little picture in Charel's book of an epic stick figure guy. I didn't really do much else on the train besides stare out the window. Every so often Charel would tell me about the area we were riding through.
We arrived in the train station around 8:50 am. After getting off the train, we walked through the station. It was filled with all kinds of shops, which I wasn't too surprised about. I went to go to the bathroom, as I walked past a counter, I heard random French being yelled in my direction. I was horribly confused, but at least someone in my party knew what was going on, as Charel's mom came and handed the lady who had shouted 50 cents. Apparently, you have to pay to use the bathrooms. Well I felt a bit like a fool but at least now I know...
After waiting in a line to buy tickets for the metro/buses for all day, we proceeded to walk towards the metro. Charel's sister was walking a bit ahead of us (a theme of the trip), Charel and I together, and his mom behind us a bit. We heard a cry, a thud, and turned back to see her face-down on the floor. A guy had walked in front of her, cut her off with his suitcase, and she had tripped over it. Her entire left eye was bruised, her glasses bent pretty horribly with a huge scrape across the lens, and a couple cuts next to her eye. We gave her as much first aid as we could. Charel and his sister took a sanitizer and treated the wounds (all with rapid-fire Luxembourgish), and I set to work bending her glasses back in some functional shape. The guy who had tripped her took off about halfway through (at least determining that she wasn't going to die), with a sarcastic and angry "merci" shot off in his direction as he walked away.
We didn't have much choice other than to get on the metro and try to find a pharmacy at our stop. Fortunately for us, there was one right as we came up onto the street. Pharmacies in Europe are a bit different than in the US. In the US, they're usually attached to larger chains like Wal-Mart or Walgreens. Here, they are stand-alone shops, usually owned by the pharmacist themselves. They also all have a green light-up medical cross displayed outside their shop, so they are pretty easy to find. The pharmacist came over and disinfected the wounds again, but there wasn't much he could do for her besides that, as the cut was in a place that wasn't able to be patched up. She said she was doing okay though, so we continued our plans, although paying a lot more attention to her the rest of the day.
Jardin de Luxembourg and the Eiffel Tower
We walked past the Théâtre de l'Odéon, and into the Jardin du Luxembourg, a garden named not for the country, but the nobleman who had his house there when the palace on the grounds was built. There were lots of statues, gardens, ponds, and seagulls. It was very pretty, but I'm sure that it is even more-so in summer.
After we left the gardens, we took the bus to the place everyone has to see: the Eiffel Tower. Before starting the trip, I had thought to myself "OK, get a few pictures of the tower, but make sure you don't get sucked into a tourist trap and spend lots of time there." Well, the thing is huge, and actually quite beautiful. Again, this is the sort of loss of scale you get from watching things on TV or seeing pictures. So, of course, not only did we take pictures of it, we went up to it. Charel and I decided to go up the tower, while his mom and sister did not want to, so they went off on their own for a bit. We stood in line for half an hour, since only one of the lifts was actually working. We had thought about going all the way to the top, but we decided on 2nd floor only, which turned out to be a good decision since the wait was so long. Especially not since, as we were about to go inside to wait for the lift, Charel's mom walked up alone. His sister, as we had guessed, had gone off to do her own plans. We were actually surprised she stayed with us as long as she did.
As we had already paid, we went up the tower anyway, and his mom went to go sit down. When we finally got to the second level, we began to walk around, and to see the buildings of Paris. Let me say this, Paris is HUGE. It was a bit cloudy and pretty hazy, so we couldn't see everything, but I doubt we would have been able to anyway. 12 million people live there, so it is now the largest city I've ever been to. I do wish the wind wouldn't have been as strong, but we took shelter on the opposite side of the tower and it wasn't too bad. I took lots of pictures of the river, the buildings, and the general area.
As almost all of you by now are aware, this is the place where Charel asked me to marry him (I said yes, of course). I don't wish to give you all the intimate details, but no, he did not get down on one knee and make a scene, and no, it wasn't a complete surprise. Actually it wasn't much of a surprise at all. But I'm still incredibly happy about it, of course.
After we descended the tower, we met up with Charel's mom again, and went to go find something to eat. She had a good idea of where she wanted to go, but Charel quipped to me quietly, "it's probably been 30 years and it's not there anymore", we weren't too sure on where we would end up eating. The direction we were going required taking the metro, so we set off to find it. We found the station, but it required a ton of stairs, something that she isn't quite good at. The first car we got into had really loud accordion music, which seemed to fit perfectly with the day as it had felt like a circus so far. Especially getting in the thing, as I had the door close on me a bit. Turns out that it was an actual guy playing the accordion. He was very good at it. Sadly after he stopped, it was quiet again aside from unintelligible comments in bored French through the intercom.
City Island and Cathedral of Notre Dame
We had to change lines at the Châtelet station, a huge station with, annoyingly, tons of stairs. I felt like we had walked a couple of miles before we finally got to the connecting line.
When we finally got to our destination, the place we had intended to go had, indeed, closed down. I was told that it used to be a huge mall, with a restaurant on top of it. We saw a café right next to it, though, and decided to go there. Our waiter told us that it had closed in 2005.
The menu at the café had English, so I didn't have to have it translated. The waiter and the two Luxembourgers conversed in French for awhile, about the store closing and Luxembourg (he had heard them speak English to me and assumed they were American too), and other things. We ordered our food (I got a beef patty with a fried egg on top). As we waited for our food, Charel and I told her about the engagement. She seemed quite happy about it, which I'm glad about. We got our food soon after that. My burger patty was a bit rare, but it wasn't bad. The egg on top made it quite good, actually.
After lunch, we began to walk towards the island in the middle of the Seine River. This is the island that has most of the city buildings on it, making it one of few cities with their government buildings on an island (another one is Cedar Rapids, my hometown). As we walked along the road, Charel's mom wished to look at the flowers in the shops on the street, so she sent us ahead of her to head towards the island. As this was nearly 3 pm, it was finally late enough in the day to call my parents and grandparents to tell them of the good news. I only spent about 10 minutes total on the phone, since the rate per minute is pretty high for the international phone that I have. We met back up with Charel's mom after that, and went onto the island.
We first walked past the Judicial Palace, and then to the other end of the island where the Cathedral of Notre Dame stands. This is also an impressive building. There were a ton of tourists here as well, of course, and we had to get the obligatory shot of me in front of it. After spending about 10 minutes trying to teach Charel's mom how to use my camera (I had it in point-and-shoot mode so it wasn't supposed to be hard), we got a shot of Charel and I, as well. Not quite framed as I would have liked, but that's not really a big issue. There aren't a lot of pictures of us together this trip, mostly because we were alone a lot of the time and my good camera isn't quite the kind you can hold in front of your face and click. After watching some kids chase pigeons around (and wanting to join them), we went inside the cathedral.
There were also a ton of people inside. I've mentioned churches aren't really my thing, but I do enjoy some of the art and music that came from that era of history. This is a very large cathedral, but it is not nearly as open inside as the one in Strasbourg. The large stained-glass window is impressive. However, I was way more impressed by the cathedral in Strasbourg. Plus, the presence of that many tourists tends to kill the whole vibe of silent magnificence. I think that, if there were less people, and more of the restorations done, it would be a completely different experience, but for this time, it was cool, but not awe-inspiring.
After Notre Dame, we returned to the northern tip of the island, where we proceeded to look for a boat to tour the river with (we had seen many already during the day). We found one a short distance away (down more stairs!). The price, like everything else so far in Paris (and Europe in general) was a bit expensive for my taste, but there were no complaints from my hosts, so I let most of the exasperation go. The boat itself was a two-level deal, lower level inside and top level outside. We left Charel's mom downstairs and went to the top level, where it was pretty cold. The desire for better pictures, however, trumped the need for warmth. You're welcome. Besides, at that point, I was more concerned about resting my tired legs than the wind that continued to blow in our faces.
Boat Ride on the Seine
The boat first set off towards the west, after making a U-turn. Our "narrator" for the trip spoke in both French and English, and for the first time that day, I could actually understand the English over the speaker. Actually, it was very good. She even had the "th" syllable down, which is something not even Charel has mastered (it usually gets replaced with d, f, or s). She informed us later that she is not a professional, but she sure sounded like one. There were also some rowdy high school students behind us, as well as an American couple. The guy a nice camera, but an almost irritating way of using it, just pointing it at things and clicking 4-5 times, rather than line up a good frame. Oh well, not everyone can be a photographer, despite the fancy camera.
The first thing we passed was The Louvre, which, I hope, most of you know as the very famous museum. It was stated that, if you went every day, it would still take you 3-4 months to see everything. It was incredibly big. I told Charel maybe we can spend a few days in town just to see the museum, as museums are actually his second love (his first is Rome) and he seemed to like that idea. Something for the future, I suppose.
We then passed other famous places that I didn't quite know the names of, but Charel certainly did. I did have to point out at one point that Americans just don't hear about much besides 3-4 of the major landmarks of the city, the "smaller" ones are just not discussed. The narration was good, and gave us short bits of history, but I would not be able to remember much of it without further study. And as you are probably able to tell by now, the day was a long one and filled with more information than I could realistically stuff into my poor little head. I just stared and took pictures for a lot of it. I believe the reverse would be true when Europeans come to visit America.
When we reached the Eiffel tower (again), we turned around and began heading back in the other direction. Now I got to see the other side of the river and click more pictures without random people's heads being in the way. Our narrator was pretty quiet for this part of the trip, having pointed out most things of interest on the way there. I suppose this was on purpose, as talking in two languages from a script for hours a day needs a few breaks in order to keep your voice.
We passed by the boat station and went further south, around the city island. The island is the first thing that was settled by the people of Paris, so it holds quite a bit of history in it. We viewed the Notre Dame from the back side, saw many old houses and buildings, and passed the government buildings. As we turned around to go back, we also saw many different kinds of boats using the river. Some of them were like the ones we saw on the Moselle River (remember that one), and some were fellow tour boats. It seems that the river has been used quite extensively for hundreds of years, and it is certainly the heart of Paris.
Along the entire boat trip, we passed under quite a few bridges, many quite unique. All of them have their own history, of course, but a few stood out as we crossed underneath. The most beautiful one was the bridge symbolizing the friendship between Russia and Paris, although many of them also had statues and designs on the side. The so-called "New Bridge" is actually the oldest in town, and is called that because, when it was built, there were no houses on it. There are faces along the sides representing all the people that mocked the king who built it, telling him that it would fall down quickly. Obviously, the result was in the favor of the king.
We returned to the boat port, quite windblown and cold. I was relieved to get inside, although we did have to exit the boat and go back outside. We then began another long trip on the metro, in order to reach the last stop on our list: Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph).
Arc de Triomphe and Avenue des Champs-Élysées
The metro, by this point, was crammed with people. We weren't able to find a seat for Charel's mom anywhere, although she kept insisting that she was ok. I could tell that she was getting very tired (as were we) but she kept going. Through two stations, tons of stairs, and two metro lines, we finally made it to our last stop, the Arc de Triomphe. Charel's mom said that we should go up it and look out as she stayed behind, but neither of us really wanted to at that point. I took a few pictures, we stared at it for a bit, and then left.
We walked about halfway down Avenue des Champs-Élysées, one of the most famous places in Paris. It is also one of the most expensive places to shop (and to have a shop) in the world. There were a ton of big name stores, a few car dealerships and lots of people. It was beginning to get dark at this point, so the lights were coming on and my camera, after a few shots, got put away.
Leaving Paris
We began to take the metro back to the train station, another long journey, and a lot more stairs. We finally reached the station at around 6:30 pm, and our train was scheduled to leave at 7:40. We picked the little food court they had there to eat. There was a dessert place, a salad place, and even a wok place (which smelled wonderful) but we decided on sandwiches. The ladies behind the counter really didn't impress me, even though I couldn't understand what they were saying. I was even less impressed when I ordered a coke and they gave me water, but at least that was easily fixed. That aside, we took our food to the table, and then proceeded to eat.
We went to the platform for the train, where we finally found Charel's sister, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She did blend in with the crowd, though, so I'm not surprised I didn't see her. I also am easy to find in a crowd (because of the bright green coat) so it makes sense that she saw us first. We boarded the train, settled in, and Charel's mom went to sleep almost immediately.
I only fell asleep for about 5 minutes, if that, during the whole trip back. I don't sleep well in seats. I mostly watched Charel read the Paris guide from 1978 and write notes about the trip for me. I used them for this blog, but had trouble reading them. Not because they're not in English, they are, but because Charel's handwriting is a bit...hard to read. Well, they still came in handy as I could at least ask him what he said.
We returned to Luxembourg around 9:50, and made the short drive back home, exhausted. Surprisingly, my legs and back don't hurt much. I think it's because all of the walking we did the whole trip. I'm still in pretty good shape, maybe better now.
One more day left in Luxembourg, though it will probably be a quiet one.
Photos here: Paris
We arrived in the train station around 8:50 am. After getting off the train, we walked through the station. It was filled with all kinds of shops, which I wasn't too surprised about. I went to go to the bathroom, as I walked past a counter, I heard random French being yelled in my direction. I was horribly confused, but at least someone in my party knew what was going on, as Charel's mom came and handed the lady who had shouted 50 cents. Apparently, you have to pay to use the bathrooms. Well I felt a bit like a fool but at least now I know...
After waiting in a line to buy tickets for the metro/buses for all day, we proceeded to walk towards the metro. Charel's sister was walking a bit ahead of us (a theme of the trip), Charel and I together, and his mom behind us a bit. We heard a cry, a thud, and turned back to see her face-down on the floor. A guy had walked in front of her, cut her off with his suitcase, and she had tripped over it. Her entire left eye was bruised, her glasses bent pretty horribly with a huge scrape across the lens, and a couple cuts next to her eye. We gave her as much first aid as we could. Charel and his sister took a sanitizer and treated the wounds (all with rapid-fire Luxembourgish), and I set to work bending her glasses back in some functional shape. The guy who had tripped her took off about halfway through (at least determining that she wasn't going to die), with a sarcastic and angry "merci" shot off in his direction as he walked away.
We didn't have much choice other than to get on the metro and try to find a pharmacy at our stop. Fortunately for us, there was one right as we came up onto the street. Pharmacies in Europe are a bit different than in the US. In the US, they're usually attached to larger chains like Wal-Mart or Walgreens. Here, they are stand-alone shops, usually owned by the pharmacist themselves. They also all have a green light-up medical cross displayed outside their shop, so they are pretty easy to find. The pharmacist came over and disinfected the wounds again, but there wasn't much he could do for her besides that, as the cut was in a place that wasn't able to be patched up. She said she was doing okay though, so we continued our plans, although paying a lot more attention to her the rest of the day.
Jardin de Luxembourg and the Eiffel Tower
City Island and Cathedral of Notre Dame
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| I don't have a picture of the restaurant, so here is a random pigeon. I only realized it was missing toes later. |
When we finally got to our destination, the place we had intended to go had, indeed, closed down. I was told that it used to be a huge mall, with a restaurant on top of it. We saw a café right next to it, though, and decided to go there. Our waiter told us that it had closed in 2005.
The menu at the café had English, so I didn't have to have it translated. The waiter and the two Luxembourgers conversed in French for awhile, about the store closing and Luxembourg (he had heard them speak English to me and assumed they were American too), and other things. We ordered our food (I got a beef patty with a fried egg on top). As we waited for our food, Charel and I told her about the engagement. She seemed quite happy about it, which I'm glad about. We got our food soon after that. My burger patty was a bit rare, but it wasn't bad. The egg on top made it quite good, actually.
Boat Ride on the Seine
We returned to the boat port, quite windblown and cold. I was relieved to get inside, although we did have to exit the boat and go back outside. We then began another long trip on the metro, in order to reach the last stop on our list: Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph).
Arc de Triomphe and Avenue des Champs-Élysées
We walked about halfway down Avenue des Champs-Élysées, one of the most famous places in Paris. It is also one of the most expensive places to shop (and to have a shop) in the world. There were a ton of big name stores, a few car dealerships and lots of people. It was beginning to get dark at this point, so the lights were coming on and my camera, after a few shots, got put away.
Leaving Paris
We began to take the metro back to the train station, another long journey, and a lot more stairs. We finally reached the station at around 6:30 pm, and our train was scheduled to leave at 7:40. We picked the little food court they had there to eat. There was a dessert place, a salad place, and even a wok place (which smelled wonderful) but we decided on sandwiches. The ladies behind the counter really didn't impress me, even though I couldn't understand what they were saying. I was even less impressed when I ordered a coke and they gave me water, but at least that was easily fixed. That aside, we took our food to the table, and then proceeded to eat.
We went to the platform for the train, where we finally found Charel's sister, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She did blend in with the crowd, though, so I'm not surprised I didn't see her. I also am easy to find in a crowd (because of the bright green coat) so it makes sense that she saw us first. We boarded the train, settled in, and Charel's mom went to sleep almost immediately.
I only fell asleep for about 5 minutes, if that, during the whole trip back. I don't sleep well in seats. I mostly watched Charel read the Paris guide from 1978 and write notes about the trip for me. I used them for this blog, but had trouble reading them. Not because they're not in English, they are, but because Charel's handwriting is a bit...hard to read. Well, they still came in handy as I could at least ask him what he said.
We returned to Luxembourg around 9:50, and made the short drive back home, exhausted. Surprisingly, my legs and back don't hurt much. I think it's because all of the walking we did the whole trip. I'm still in pretty good shape, maybe better now.
One more day left in Luxembourg, though it will probably be a quiet one.
Photos here: Paris
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Day 16 - Date in Luxembourg City
No pictures again today, sorry. I didn't feel like playing tourist mode while going out w/ my boyfriend. Although I did see lots of things I want to get pictures of some other time.
We went into Luxembourg City today for a Valentine's dinner. No roses or chocolates (not from Charel, his mom gave me some though) or even a movie. I like chocolates but roses and movies aren't really my thing. We went to an Italian restaurant, Restaurant Pizzeria Bacchus. We were worried that there might not be a seat for us, but that was quickly determined false, as we were the first ones to arrive for dinner. The waiter was an Italian. I guess in Luxembourg, unlike the US, the nationality of a restaurant (Chinese, Italian, Greek, etc) means that it is likely owned and staffed by people from that country. Makes sense for Europe, I suppose. Anyway, we got champagne complimentary with our meal (it was poured as soon as we sat down), and as Charel doesn't drink alcohol, I got two glasses of champagne.
Charel ordered a pizza, but as I eat pizza every day at home, I decided to go with lasagna. Charel also ordered me a Bofferding, another Luxembourgish beer. It is pretty similar to the Diekirch I had in Vianden, but a bit more bitter in taste. Still, it was very tasty. So was the lasagna.
Our waiter was pretty funny, he did speak English but it was a bit strange to me. He hovered a bit, but as we were the only people there for the majority of the time, it really didn't surprise or bother me.
I had tiramisu for dessert. This was also very good, but clashed a bit with the beer, so I finished the beer first. Charel had some sort of mousse thing, I didn't try it. There was also a couple of wrapped desserts, I tried both. One was sort of a rolled-up tube of sweet dough, the other was a small nut-like sweet. I would use Charel's descriptions, but he calls pretty much everything a "cookie" (which confused me at first).
We rode the bus home. I was stuffed full after dinner, but I may have a chocolate or two (they're Belgian, and very good) before bed. Bed early tonight, because the train leaves at 6:40 am tomorrow. Expect tons of pictures tomorrow!
We went into Luxembourg City today for a Valentine's dinner. No roses or chocolates (not from Charel, his mom gave me some though) or even a movie. I like chocolates but roses and movies aren't really my thing. We went to an Italian restaurant, Restaurant Pizzeria Bacchus. We were worried that there might not be a seat for us, but that was quickly determined false, as we were the first ones to arrive for dinner. The waiter was an Italian. I guess in Luxembourg, unlike the US, the nationality of a restaurant (Chinese, Italian, Greek, etc) means that it is likely owned and staffed by people from that country. Makes sense for Europe, I suppose. Anyway, we got champagne complimentary with our meal (it was poured as soon as we sat down), and as Charel doesn't drink alcohol, I got two glasses of champagne.
Charel ordered a pizza, but as I eat pizza every day at home, I decided to go with lasagna. Charel also ordered me a Bofferding, another Luxembourgish beer. It is pretty similar to the Diekirch I had in Vianden, but a bit more bitter in taste. Still, it was very tasty. So was the lasagna.
Our waiter was pretty funny, he did speak English but it was a bit strange to me. He hovered a bit, but as we were the only people there for the majority of the time, it really didn't surprise or bother me.
I had tiramisu for dessert. This was also very good, but clashed a bit with the beer, so I finished the beer first. Charel had some sort of mousse thing, I didn't try it. There was also a couple of wrapped desserts, I tried both. One was sort of a rolled-up tube of sweet dough, the other was a small nut-like sweet. I would use Charel's descriptions, but he calls pretty much everything a "cookie" (which confused me at first).
We rode the bus home. I was stuffed full after dinner, but I may have a chocolate or two (they're Belgian, and very good) before bed. Bed early tonight, because the train leaves at 6:40 am tomorrow. Expect tons of pictures tomorrow!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Day 15 - Arts and Crafts
We didn't go out today until 2:30 pm or so today, and only to a few places.
We first went to a Saturn store, which is an electronics store here, not a car dealership. The headset I use for Skype has been acting up for awhile now, and Charel got so fed up with it he bought me a new one. We have yet to test it. We looked at PC games and such, but I wasn't as interested as I'd usually be, for the simple fact that all the games were either in German or French.
Our next stop was a crafts store. I'm an artist, as most of you know. I have a special place in my heart for origami. For Christmas, Charel had bought me lots of origami paper. This is the store he had bought it at. I went there to buy more, and to get supplies for a project that combined both origami and video games. I had figured out how to fold the fox model in my origami book, so, inspired by Atlantica Online (the video game I play, for those not aware), I made this:
I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. Even though it shows how absolutely a nerd I am. Anyway, back to the craft store. It has a little bit of everything, much like a Michaels or a Hobby Lobby would, only a bit smaller and a lot less lawn decorations. Beads, tons of paper, fabric, mosaic materials, clay, wood crafts...tons of stuff. I instantly wanted to take up 5 new kinds of art. Sadly though, I neither have the money or room in my suitcase, so I settled on buying two sizes of origami paper, some ribbon and beads for the fox up there, and a couple of fabric hearts that Charel grabbed and handed to me with the words "Do something with this." Challenge accepted, my dear.
We then went to a place where I had wanted to go, but was certainly not new to me: Subway. I partially wanted to go because I wanted to see how different it was, and partially because it's been a long time since I've had a Subway sandwich and I really wanted one. The answer to the first reason is that its not different at all. The tables, the wall art, the menu....all exactly the same. The biggest difference was the sandwich lady speaking French...at first. She heard the English translation and apparently understood me, because she started talking in English to me directly. Yay! That made things soooo much easier. One other difference, sadly, was no Mountain Dew. Oh well. I'm sure I'll drink plenty when I get home.
One common, and odd, theme of the day was...British people. We saw (and heard) them everywhere we went. It looked like it was a class trip or something, because a lot of them were fairly young and grouped together in herds the size teenagers usually group in. I saw about 10 of them almost get hit by a car. I'm not sure what part of the UK they are from, I'm not good at identifying that. I didn't talk to any of them but I was quietly amused to hear English from a large group again.
Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I know we're going out to dinner but I'm not sure what else is going on.
We first went to a Saturn store, which is an electronics store here, not a car dealership. The headset I use for Skype has been acting up for awhile now, and Charel got so fed up with it he bought me a new one. We have yet to test it. We looked at PC games and such, but I wasn't as interested as I'd usually be, for the simple fact that all the games were either in German or French.
Our next stop was a crafts store. I'm an artist, as most of you know. I have a special place in my heart for origami. For Christmas, Charel had bought me lots of origami paper. This is the store he had bought it at. I went there to buy more, and to get supplies for a project that combined both origami and video games. I had figured out how to fold the fox model in my origami book, so, inspired by Atlantica Online (the video game I play, for those not aware), I made this:
 |
| My mount in-game on the left. My origami re-creation on the right. |
We then went to a place where I had wanted to go, but was certainly not new to me: Subway. I partially wanted to go because I wanted to see how different it was, and partially because it's been a long time since I've had a Subway sandwich and I really wanted one. The answer to the first reason is that its not different at all. The tables, the wall art, the menu....all exactly the same. The biggest difference was the sandwich lady speaking French...at first. She heard the English translation and apparently understood me, because she started talking in English to me directly. Yay! That made things soooo much easier. One other difference, sadly, was no Mountain Dew. Oh well. I'm sure I'll drink plenty when I get home.
One common, and odd, theme of the day was...British people. We saw (and heard) them everywhere we went. It looked like it was a class trip or something, because a lot of them were fairly young and grouped together in herds the size teenagers usually group in. I saw about 10 of them almost get hit by a car. I'm not sure what part of the UK they are from, I'm not good at identifying that. I didn't talk to any of them but I was quietly amused to hear English from a large group again.
Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I know we're going out to dinner but I'm not sure what else is going on.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Day 14 - Not Much to Say
Today is the first day of my trip that we didn't leave the house. We needed the down-time, honestly.
Since we didn't go anywhere, I actually did a bit of design work for a coworker of mine. Might as well make some money, right?
We may or may not get out tomorrow, depending on how things go. Might go buy some more origami paper :)
Since we didn't go anywhere, I actually did a bit of design work for a coworker of mine. Might as well make some money, right?
We may or may not get out tomorrow, depending on how things go. Might go buy some more origami paper :)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Day 13 - Remembering the Past
We hadn't planned on doing much today, but we ended up doing more than I thought we would. We went to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial and the Sandweiler German war cemetery. These two places are a memorial to the people who died in WWII, mostly during the 1944-1945 time, including the Battle of the Bulge.
Standing among the tombstones, the reality doesn't sink in at first. I have watched many shows about wars, seen documentaries, visited memorials, and have heard lots of numbers of who died in what war, when, and how. However, they are just numbers that your mind doesn't really comprehend unless you stop and think about it. I want you to stop and think about it: each one of those white crosses is a person who died in a snowy field, away from friends, family, and home. Each one of them had a mother, father, maybe a wife, maybe a kid or two. I want you to understand that I am not one of the types of people that goes around thanking the troops serving at every turn or praising the efforts of military around the world. However, I am the kind of person who hears a story like this and gets both sad and angry. Sad about the person who died, and angry at the forces that caused them to. Each one of those graves holds a dead person who could have been just like the two of us walking next to their bodies. That is a powerful realization.
He commanded a 9-man squad with the mission of holding a critical flank position. When overwhelming numbers of the enemy attacked under cover of withering artillery, mortar, and rocket fire, he withdrew his squad into a nearby house, determined to defend it to the last man. The enemy attacked again and again and were repulsed with heavy losses. Supported by direct tank fire, they finally gained entrance, but the intrepid sergeant refused to surrender although 5 of his men were wounded and 1 was killed. He boldly flung a can of flaming oil at the first wave of attackers, dispersing them, and fought doggedly from room to room, closing with the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand encounters. He hurled handgrenade for handgrenade, bayoneted 2 fanatical Germans who rushed a doorway he was defending and fought on with the enemy's weapons when his own ammunition was expended. The savage fight raged for 4 hours, and finally, when only 3 men of the defending squad were left unwounded, the enemy surrendered. Twenty-five prisoners were taken, 11 enemy dead and a great number of wounded were counted. Sgt. Turner's valiant stand will live on as a constant inspiration to his comrades. His heroic, inspiring leadership, his determination and courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest tradition of the military service.
We started at the American cemetery first, at around 4 pm, so the sun was already pretty low in the sky by the time we got there. It wasn't too cold, but I was pretty chilly by the time we got done. When we walked in, there were only one or two other people there that we saw. The gate was in the sun, so I didn't get that great of a picture of it, but I posted it anyway. We went through the gate and past a small visitor house, which looked like it was being renovated. There wasn't anyone inside, so we kept walking into the memorial area.
There were 3 main big structures in the memorial area. Two of them were maps, one depicting the Battle of the Bulge, the other, D-Day and the wider European theater. There were two smaller maps behind the big stone ones, both a sort of time-lapse of the fronts and territories held by both sides when the Americans joined through the end of the war. There was one for Europe and one for the Pacific, although there weren't any American troops from the Pacific buried in this particular cemetery. There was also a large list of names of people who were reported as casualties, but their bodies were not recovered or identified.
The tallest building in the memorial area was in the center; a large concrete structure with an inscription in both French and English on opposite sides. There was also a small chapel in the middle of the structure, with a place to pray if needed, two American flags, some smaller flags, and a guest book off to the right side. There were names written from all sorts of places: Germany, various places around Luxembourg, Portugal, and lots from places all over the US. I wrote my name, and USA (Iowa), but I did not write a note. I couldn't really think of anything that the people before me had not already said better than I could have. After this, we proceeded to the cemetery itself.
The cemetery holds 5,076 Americans, some of them not identified. The tombstones are white stone. Jewish were marked with the star of David, all others with the cross. As there was snow on the ground, there was not much contrast between the tombstones and the ground. There were many footprints ahead of us on the main path, some of them pretty fresh. That is one good thing about the snow, I suppose, you are able to see that there were many people here before you. There was even what looked like wheelchair tire tracks, headed towards a specific grave. I did not follow them.
Standing among the tombstones, the reality doesn't sink in at first. I have watched many shows about wars, seen documentaries, visited memorials, and have heard lots of numbers of who died in what war, when, and how. However, they are just numbers that your mind doesn't really comprehend unless you stop and think about it. I want you to stop and think about it: each one of those white crosses is a person who died in a snowy field, away from friends, family, and home. Each one of them had a mother, father, maybe a wife, maybe a kid or two. I want you to understand that I am not one of the types of people that goes around thanking the troops serving at every turn or praising the efforts of military around the world. However, I am the kind of person who hears a story like this and gets both sad and angry. Sad about the person who died, and angry at the forces that caused them to. Each one of those graves holds a dead person who could have been just like the two of us walking next to their bodies. That is a powerful realization.
Enough soapbox for the day, though. Our walk took us past a Medal of Honor recipient: Day. G. Turner. I proved the Wiki link, but just to make things easier, here is the description:
He commanded a 9-man squad with the mission of holding a critical flank position. When overwhelming numbers of the enemy attacked under cover of withering artillery, mortar, and rocket fire, he withdrew his squad into a nearby house, determined to defend it to the last man. The enemy attacked again and again and were repulsed with heavy losses. Supported by direct tank fire, they finally gained entrance, but the intrepid sergeant refused to surrender although 5 of his men were wounded and 1 was killed. He boldly flung a can of flaming oil at the first wave of attackers, dispersing them, and fought doggedly from room to room, closing with the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand encounters. He hurled handgrenade for handgrenade, bayoneted 2 fanatical Germans who rushed a doorway he was defending and fought on with the enemy's weapons when his own ammunition was expended. The savage fight raged for 4 hours, and finally, when only 3 men of the defending squad were left unwounded, the enemy surrendered. Twenty-five prisoners were taken, 11 enemy dead and a great number of wounded were counted. Sgt. Turner's valiant stand will live on as a constant inspiration to his comrades. His heroic, inspiring leadership, his determination and courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest tradition of the military service.
To paraphrase, he held off a much larger enemy force, from a house, with only a few men, using hand-to-hand combat at times, for 4 hours. And the Germans surrendered.
Wow.
The most important person buried here, however, has to be General George S. Patton. I'm pretty sure most of you know who he is, but for those of you who don't, I provided a link. Patton did not die in the war, but after it in a traffic accident. However, he wanted to be buried along with the men that had fought alongside him, so he was moved to Luxembourg. His grave is in front of all of the others, between the two big American flags.
We were almost to the car to leave when they began playing Taps (the trumpet/bugle piece played for funerals of soldiers, among other things). I was a bit surprised, and stopped walking pretty abruptly, enough to get looks from not only my boyfriend, but the family that had just arrived in the parking lot. I stood there and listened to it, then proceeded to explain what it was to Charel as we got in the car.
We left the American cemetery and drove to the nearby German one: Sandweiler German war cemetery. This one is a lot smaller, despite holding twice as many soldiers as the American one. All of the tombstones are grey crosses instead of white, and there are two or three names per stone. I imagine that this is because of less funding, but I'm not quite sure on that. The remains came from all over Luxembourg, where they were found in mass graves a lot of the time. I think it is pretty noble to have set this up for the hated enemy (at the time), and it shows that there was respect for the dead even though they were on the other side of the fighting.
As for the rest of the day, well, I only really have food to talk about. Saturday is fries day for lunch, and we also had trout. The only thing that really struck me was the fact that it was a whole fish. I'm really not used to that, but I dove in anyway. It was quite good. Dinner was Raclette, a type of Swiss cheese. We melted it on special trays that you put into a heating element. You then either eat the cheese straight (Charel) or put it over potatoes (Me). This was also really good, but after three potatoes, a bit of salad, and lots of cheese, I was very full.
I typed quite a bit more than I thought I would. Perhaps because all the newness wasn't so overwhelming, and I had a lot of time to be philosophical. Or the fact we didn't do a lot so I actually remembered details. Oh well. Pictures here: Day 13 (Added to existing Luxembourg album, new pics near bottom)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Day 12 - A Quiet Day in Bonnevoie
I don't have much for you today. We didn't even go anywhere, really, aside from a couple places. These weren't the "visit the museum/castle/historic place" type, they were more mundane than that. I still have a couple things to say, though
We went to the store today (small grocery store). Now, I had been to one of these before, but it still kind of impacted me since I was surrounded by other languages. I even needed an item (a...female one), and couldn't find it, so Charel had to ask for me. The poor lady he asked looked confused for a moment, but I think she figured it out because she said to me "over there" in English (after a string of French to which I probably looked like I didn't understand). I had almost gone up to her myself, but I wasn't sure if the item had the same name (it does). I suppose I will have to start learning some new vocabulary if I ever hope to find anything in this place.
Our second trip of the day was to the recycling center. This one is much more extensive than the one I would go to in Cedar Falls (if I recycled, that is). It made me realize just how much I throw away. Maybe I should start recycling, although I'm not sure if I would have the patience for it. I will certainly give it some thought.
We had pizza for supper today, and as much as I eat pizza at home, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Homemade, too, so extra bonus on that.
Charel and I plan to relax over the weekend, so not a lot of news to report the next couple of days. I will, however, try to get a few pictures of things around the house, such as some of the labels in Dutch/French. There are also lots of flowers around the house. Anyone that knows me longer than a day usually figures out how much I enjoy taking pictures of flowers. I will deliver something for you all to read, though!
(PS - I added a bit of content to the other two tabs on the blog. Not much, but something)
We went to the store today (small grocery store). Now, I had been to one of these before, but it still kind of impacted me since I was surrounded by other languages. I even needed an item (a...female one), and couldn't find it, so Charel had to ask for me. The poor lady he asked looked confused for a moment, but I think she figured it out because she said to me "over there" in English (after a string of French to which I probably looked like I didn't understand). I had almost gone up to her myself, but I wasn't sure if the item had the same name (it does). I suppose I will have to start learning some new vocabulary if I ever hope to find anything in this place.
Our second trip of the day was to the recycling center. This one is much more extensive than the one I would go to in Cedar Falls (if I recycled, that is). It made me realize just how much I throw away. Maybe I should start recycling, although I'm not sure if I would have the patience for it. I will certainly give it some thought.
We had pizza for supper today, and as much as I eat pizza at home, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Homemade, too, so extra bonus on that.
Charel and I plan to relax over the weekend, so not a lot of news to report the next couple of days. I will, however, try to get a few pictures of things around the house, such as some of the labels in Dutch/French. There are also lots of flowers around the house. Anyone that knows me longer than a day usually figures out how much I enjoy taking pictures of flowers. I will deliver something for you all to read, though!
(PS - I added a bit of content to the other two tabs on the blog. Not much, but something)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Day 11 - Strasbourg, France; The Bike City
Full album link here: Day 11
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Day 10 - Luxembourg City Town Museum
Another museum day today, which means no pictures. I didn't even get the camera out of the bag.
Luxembourg Town Museum is where we went today, located near the Palace. The outside is an enormous glass front, where you can see all the levels of the museum.
The museum is interactive, much like the Grout Museum in Waterloo, where there are lots of sounds to accompany the sights, and a few touch screens that you could use to get more information. Plus, there were captions in English!
A few points that stood out for me:
-The theme of carved wooden reliefs of the town, each one showing the growth.
-Hearing the Grand Dutchess' speech from World War II in London (her English was very good, and her accent sounded a lot like Charel's and his mom's accents)
-Seeing propaganda posters in life-size, full color
-A series on homeless in Luxembourg, including photos of their possessions
There was a lot to see, of course. A lot of names I don't know from history, but the visual aspect was still great to see.
A bonus highlight of my day? Walking through a pedestrian district hand-in-hand with my boyfriend while the cathedral bells chimed behind us. Made even the cold seem okay.
Big day tomorrow!
Luxembourg Town Museum is where we went today, located near the Palace. The outside is an enormous glass front, where you can see all the levels of the museum.
The museum is interactive, much like the Grout Museum in Waterloo, where there are lots of sounds to accompany the sights, and a few touch screens that you could use to get more information. Plus, there were captions in English!
A few points that stood out for me:
-The theme of carved wooden reliefs of the town, each one showing the growth.
-Hearing the Grand Dutchess' speech from World War II in London (her English was very good, and her accent sounded a lot like Charel's and his mom's accents)
-Seeing propaganda posters in life-size, full color
-A series on homeless in Luxembourg, including photos of their possessions
There was a lot to see, of course. A lot of names I don't know from history, but the visual aspect was still great to see.
A bonus highlight of my day? Walking through a pedestrian district hand-in-hand with my boyfriend while the cathedral bells chimed behind us. Made even the cold seem okay.
Big day tomorrow!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Day 9 - Castle of Vianden
The menu had English, so at least I wasn't completely lost. We started with the soup of the day, which was a sort of porridge, and it was very good. Charel suggested one of the country dishes; I chose the smoked pork neck with beans and bacon potatoes. It looked a lot like ham (which I don't like) but didn't have the ham taste, so it was actually pretty good. Since my explanation would not really do it justice, here is a Wiki for you: Judd mat Gaardebounen. Remembering that I had expressed interest in trying Luxembourgish beer, Charel also ordered me a Diekirch, the most popular brand of beer produced there. It was pale, looking much like a Bud Light or the like, so I was a bit leery of it, but it tasted absolutely nothing like it. It is not a heavy beer, and it went well with the food. I plan to have one again before my trip is over.After lunch, we began to walk towards the castle. I had not realized that we weren't going to drive up to the castle, so I was not mentally prepared for the hike up the side of a mountain in -9C windy cold (that's 16F). I was complaining quite a bit by the time we walked the half-kilometer up. At least the area was very pretty, with stone roads and lots of houses and shops.
We ended up catching up to the tour group quite quickly, and decided to pass them, instead. That turned out to be a good decision, as the guide continued to ramble on and make jokes (judging by Charel's chuckling). There were a lot of really nice views of the town, too.
Full pics here: Castle of Vianden
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