Luxembourg!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Still a whole month behind... -__-  And it is for this reason that I am sticking to writing only about the most important things, the things that I have pictures for. Besides, it isn't as if I can really remember things all that well from a month ago... Too much has happened since then!

Just like the US, Belgium has Veterans' Day. Well, except for the fact that it is called Armstice Day and if I said Veterans' Day people would look at me like I was slightly crazed, confusing them a lot. The day off was much welcomed. Even if it was immediately following a week off, plus a Monday off because of a teacher work day, plus a half day on Wednesday because that's how it always is. Geez... I really feel like I never go to school. Yay Belgian school system!

Since both Pascale and I had the day off, we planned to go to Luxembourg for the day to allow me to discover it. One of her friends also came along, Evelynn (pardon my spelling, it's based off of an educated guess of the French language...). The drive down wasn't long, only about an hour and a half if I remember correctly. And then I was inside one of the smallest countries in all of Europe. Actually, I am pretty sure that it is one of the smallest countries in the whole world. Hardly anyone would probably be able to point it out on a map, much less even know thta it is a currently existing country. But, well, I know! It's famous for being included as part of Belgium, having REALLY high end shops in the center, some good bikers, having a flag that very closely resembles France's (Seriously, what is up with europe and its non-creative flag making? Luxembourg is a sideways France, Belgium is a turned up Germany, and Ireland is the exact same as Italy, just different tints of the colors red and green...), and the BEST hot chocolate I have ever tasted. (Well, at least, it's known by me as that..).

When we first got there, we drove around for a bit and, at least to me, it seemed like Pascale had no idea where the heck we were going. She drove around the same spot for 5 minutes or more..... Turns out that she was looking for a parking spot so we could go to into this huge bakery called...Umm, well I forgot but I think it started with a W. It was a pretty huge bakery, and there were AMAZING looking cakes. I mean, I am not even a fan of cake unless it's ice cream, but I honestly would have eaten like almost all of them. Pascale, after much debate, finally chose a cake and we left. I thought that the cake was for tommorrow, when we would be going to Eddy's parents' house to celebrate Eddy's birthday. I was excited to eat it...

The next stop we made was a little garden-y, hardware-ish store. They already had an entire section of the store just for beautiful Christmas ornaments and cute trinkets. We were probably there for a good 45 minutes, but I didn't mind because I actually liked looking at the Christmas things because it got me into the Christmas spirit. Plus I found a Christmas present for one of the members of my family (can't say who, can't say what, not yet... :) ).

Then, after the garden shop, we went into the town a bit. I was excited to finally get into the center of Luxembourg, even if it was more of the center of the shopping district, and see what Luxembourg city had to give. We walked around for a bit, unknowingly to me looking for this specific bakery, and I decided that pretty much every city in this area of Europe is adorable with its little shops and cobblestone streets and such. And in Luxembourg, it was really cool because by each main bus stop there was also a ton of bike racks with bikes that you could rent out for however long you wanted. I mean, how convenient is that. I don't feel like walking, so I am just going to hop onto this bike and ride it to whatever bus stop or destination I need, and chances are I can just leave it there at another specialized bike rack. Eco-friendly too. We found the bakery and Pascale bought the hugest loaf of bread I have ever seen. She said that bread and bakeries like this are very traditional in Luxembourg, and have been here since forever. I am going ot mention this here, because I don't remember what day I tasted it, or if I will write about that day, or if I will evven remember to mention it. Anyhow, that bread that Pascale bought was literally the BEST bread I have tasted since I have been here. Maybe, just maybe, even outting the French baguette. *GASP* And generally, it is not my preferance to eat bread that isn't white, but I would seriously take this bread over any kind of white bread, any day.

After picking up the bread, it was like 1 and Pascale drove us to the Chinese restuarant where she had made reservations. I was quite excited by the fact that we were going to a Chinese restuarant, hoping that it would be like one of those retuarants back home that whips up your specialized meal for you right in front of you on the grill attached to your table. Alas, it was more of a buffet style, but it was GOOD. I mean, not the best Chinese food I have ever tasted, and the chow mein was just upright nasty, but it definitely satisfied my very hungry stomach.

After lunch, we finally went to start being tourists. We drove back to the center of the city (the restuarant was a bit out of the way...), and Pascale parked in an area that I feel is very much the tourist center. The plan was to ride this tourist train that went all around the city and then back, with a tour in whatever language you wanted. But it turns out, the train has temporarily been closed down for renovations. And the bus, the one that does practically the exact same thing as the train, it only runs on the weekends. And definitely not on holidays. And once I saw Pascale's face after learning that news, I realized that she didn't exactly have any plans other than that...

I don't know what I did to this picture to make it pink... But it is still pretty! :)

Luxembourg Cathedral

So I guess in Luxembourg, they make them yellow!

Luxembourg Flag... Non-creative Europeans!

But actually, it didn't really end up mattering. We decided to just walk around the city, look at the big and important buildings, and do a bit of window shopping. We walked through the center square, passing the Hotel de Ville and such. Then we went into this church, because Pascale knows that I really do LOVE old European churches. Even though, after nearly 4 1/2 months, they are starting to blend together a bit, every church has a little something amazing to make it different than the other. After the church, we just walked around looking at more cool buildings, and then after that we walked around and looked in the shop windows. Just a girls' day out. It was actually quite nice, and Pascale's friend (I won't even try and butcher her name again, because I just have the feeling that I am not at all spelling it right...), even though she didn't speak a lick of English, was super nice and I had a fun time talking to her. Yes, me, holding conversation in French. Woohoo!

Church! And Pascale's friend....

Oh the intricate detail!

Always the beautiful, long stained glass windows

Really clear picture... So glad my camera finally decided for once to be good.

I have a feeling that if I could play this, I could play any instrument known to man...

random Lady and Luxembourg Flags :)

Palace where the royal family used to live??? (Je pense...)

The day was a pretty cold one, even with my heavy jacket and scarf. A nice little suggestion at the end of the day was made by Pascale's friend, to go and get hot chocolate at this cool and busy looking chocolate place we had passed while we were walking (If it's busy, you KNOW it's good...). The people that opened up the restuarant must have been English or American, because the menu was half in French, half in English, and it had a lot of English type things. I was slightly confused when, after ordering a Speculoos (this Belgian cookie that is kinda like a ginger snap, kinda like a graham cracker, but better and can bemade into a spread much like peanut butter) hot chocolate, I recieved a mug filled with hot milk and a chocolate square with a wooden stick sticking out of it. But then I realized that the stick was actually a spoon, and that you stuck the chocolate in the milk and with stirring, it made your hot chocolate. It was literally the BEEEEEESSSSSSTTTTT hot chocolate I have ever had. I tried Pascale's caramel chocolate thing, and her friend's orange cappuccino and they were both to die for. But I liked mine the best, thankfully.

You put the chocolate in the hot milk until it melts... and voila! The best hot chocolate known to man!

Chocolate House = Favortie Chocolate Store in Europe???

After the hot chocolate, it was time to go on back to Belgium. We went to visit Eddy in his office, who had a bit more work to wrap up and then was going to head on back as well, and then we drove home. Overall, a great day. I actually really want to go back to Luxembourg, to look in all of the cool high end shops they haveand experience the Marche de Noel in Luxembourg, because I heard they were pretty amazing.

Now just one final piece, actually more referring to today. I came to Belgium thinking that come December, I would be living in a winter wonderland and that the snow wouldn't disappear until like March. So far, still no snow. I mean, it has snowed the tiniest bit, but it melted very quickly. Nope, it's just mostly gray and rainy and gross. I seriously think I brought the Seattle weather with me... Today it was slightly sunny, but still freezing. There has also been several random, but short downpours, lots of wind, a thunderstorm, and I think I saw a bit of hail. Really?  If I wanted this weather I could have easily stayed home. Although for the longest time I was really grateful that the snow was holding off because I walk everywhere and am one of the biggest cold whimps around, now I just want the snow to come. I WANT A QHITE CHRISTMAS! So if the weather gods could please kindly look my way and grant me my wish, that would be muchly appreciated. Even if muchly isn't a word... Oh well. Until nect time that I cna convince myself to take ages writing a post... Bisous!