Showing posts with label Luxembourg City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luxembourg City. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
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.
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)
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!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Day 5 - Inside the National History Museum
We decided to stay indoors today and go to the national history museum in Luxembourg town. Sadly, they don't allow cameras, so my pictures today are very few.
It was colder today, but at least the wind wasn't blowing. Still, the walk to the museum was quite brisk. We entered the museum and went down to the lowest floor, where the exhibits began with ancient human civilization and worked its way to modern times. The museum itself is quite beautiful; they built down into the sandstone, and instead of putting up walls, they left the sandstone as is (though sometimes there was glass).
Everything was in French, so of course, Charel had to explain everything to me. Don't feel sorry for him, though, he enjoyed every minute of it. He is going to school to be a teacher, after all. Plus, history, especially Roman, is his specialty. I think he should become a tour guide there, honestly.
One of the most striking things to me was to see objects in their actual size, vs high quality photographs or shows on TV. A lot of the smaller artifacts were much tinier than I imagined them to be. I also saw many parts of natural history (such as the ice age animals) as they were in Europe, not North America. There were a lot of similarities but quite a few differences, as well.
It was also interesting to see a relief of the town (in 1867, but still), it helped to put a perspective on where I had been. I also didn't know that the big bridges I had taken so many photos of were that old, either. They survived through WWII, which is a relief. All in all, quite a good experience, though all the walking around hurt my legs and back after awhile.
Here is the website for the museum, though it is in French, so...good luck!
http://www.mnha.public.lu/
It was colder today, but at least the wind wasn't blowing. Still, the walk to the museum was quite brisk. We entered the museum and went down to the lowest floor, where the exhibits began with ancient human civilization and worked its way to modern times. The museum itself is quite beautiful; they built down into the sandstone, and instead of putting up walls, they left the sandstone as is (though sometimes there was glass).
Everything was in French, so of course, Charel had to explain everything to me. Don't feel sorry for him, though, he enjoyed every minute of it. He is going to school to be a teacher, after all. Plus, history, especially Roman, is his specialty. I think he should become a tour guide there, honestly.
One of the most striking things to me was to see objects in their actual size, vs high quality photographs or shows on TV. A lot of the smaller artifacts were much tinier than I imagined them to be. I also saw many parts of natural history (such as the ice age animals) as they were in Europe, not North America. There were a lot of similarities but quite a few differences, as well.
It was also interesting to see a relief of the town (in 1867, but still), it helped to put a perspective on where I had been. I also didn't know that the big bridges I had taken so many photos of were that old, either. They survived through WWII, which is a relief. All in all, quite a good experience, though all the walking around hurt my legs and back after awhile.
Here is the website for the museum, though it is in French, so...good luck!
http://www.mnha.public.lu/
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Day 4 - Grund and Old Luxembourg
Another cold day as we set out to walk around town again. A bit warmer than yesterday, but still with a wind that felt like it would blow through you no matter how many layers you were wearing. We still set out in the afternoon today, but walked down a different path than we took the day before; down towards Grund, a part of town we looked out over yesterday.
Today is also Liichtmëssdag, a sort of candle mass, where children have paper lanterns that they carry around door-to-door and sing songs. They then are given candy or even money sometimes. We saw a few groups out, despite the cold wind. The largest group consisted of 8-9 kids and a couple adults.
Our last stop was a souvenir shop, where I bought a keychain and a Luxembourg flag. I felt like a major tourist after this point. We took the bus home again, and then I hid under the covers for quite awhile, trying to warm up. The tea at dinner completely took care of the chills.
I am still not sure what we are doing tomorrow, Charel is still busy trying to decide. We will see what the weather holds tomorrow.
Full picture album from today is here: Grund and Old Town
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Day 3 - A Cold Day in Luxembourg
Well, today was the first "real" day here in Luxembourg, although I had trouble sleeping last night. Woke up halfway through the night and was O.O wide awake. Well, after a sleep aid and an hour or so on the internet, I managed to fall asleep again. I was a bit irritated at my boyfriend, who after 9 hours asleep sort of acted like an excited puppy. (I just got a pillow to the face for typing that one). I managed to convince him to let me sleep another half an hour, somehow.
We took a short trip to the Belle Étoile mall in order to purchase things such as shampoo and conditioner that I didn't want to deal with the hassle of bringing in my suitcase. We enjoyed a quick walk around the mall, and then back to the house for some lunch.
After lunch, we began to walk through the town. I'm really not sure how far we ended up walking, but we walked for 2-3 hours at least.
We took a short trip to the Belle Étoile mall in order to purchase things such as shampoo and conditioner that I didn't want to deal with the hassle of bringing in my suitcase. We enjoyed a quick walk around the mall, and then back to the house for some lunch.
After lunch, we began to walk through the town. I'm really not sure how far we ended up walking, but we walked for 2-3 hours at least.
Our travels were full of quite a few landmarks and beautiful sights, so many that if I were to post them all it would take up a colossal amount of space. Here is the facebook album link if you did not already see them: Luxembourg City
The architecture here is very, very different from Iowa. No surprise there. It is a very refreshing change to the drab gray and white square buildings. There are many more hills and valleys (so far).
We passed some houses and a couple schools, then walked down a street past the police station and some hotels. We reached, then crossed, the old bridge over the valley. The wind was quite strong, and very cold, so I was unable to enjoy the scenery as much as I would have liked. We then passed the WWII memorials, the judicial buildings (swarming with Japanese tourists), and then down the street to a market district. I took quite a few pictures here, as well.
I never got bored of the scenery, but eventually we had to stop for hot chocolate at an Italian cafe because my fingers were cold to the point of agony. The Italian waiter spoke German, and American hip-hop videos played on a screen behind us. It was sort of strange.
After the hot chocolate, we decided to ride the bus home, due to the cold.
We will be going back into town tomorrow, so hopefully we get to see the things we missed today.
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