Wednesday August 10
What a gorgeous day! Yes I will write about the weather in most of my posts because it affects my every single day around here! Monday and Tuesday were r.a.i.n.y. to the max! Monday I got half the yard done and it rained on me in the morning then attempted to finish up later when the sun was out but it poured on me 1/2 way through. Oh well, finished it in the lovely rain! I was able to finish yet another book, Saving Grace, a good one, and get our weekend trip booked to Luxembourg. Now, some would say that is not that exciting but to us it is! It's a whole other country even though its really close and like the size of Des Moines! We will do a wine tour via bike in the Mosel River Valley and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. We are staying in the city and will do lots of fun walking, sightseeing and eating! I should be getting my Rick Steves' Ireland 2011 any day in the mail and can't wait to plan that one!
This morning when I up woke up to the sun it just lifted my spirits after the rain. I better get used to this gloomy-ness or just plan lots of warm tropical vacations in the fall and winter! I thought it was a good day to take the bus to K-Town since there were a few things I needed to get done there. I called Bonnie to see if she was up for it but she was planning to hit the commissary so I I'd tag along there again SINCE we got an empty propane tank from our friend Seth I need to get it filled and on post is really our only option. Yippee, grilling brats tomorrow! The day was just so bright and blue that I had to head out on the bike. I tackled a few hills and ventured into apart of town that I hadn't been to yet. I also managed to ride up a personal driveway that I thought was a trail. I was near fields and as I was getting to the top a nice JD sprayer was cutting the path in front of me and the driver was just looking at me....I realized I must've been on his property! Oops! Here's a pic of a cat attacking something in the field I was next to.
What a gorgeous day! Yes I will write about the weather in most of my posts because it affects my every single day around here! Monday and Tuesday were r.a.i.n.y. to the max! Monday I got half the yard done and it rained on me in the morning then attempted to finish up later when the sun was out but it poured on me 1/2 way through. Oh well, finished it in the lovely rain! I was able to finish yet another book, Saving Grace, a good one, and get our weekend trip booked to Luxembourg. Now, some would say that is not that exciting but to us it is! It's a whole other country even though its really close and like the size of Des Moines! We will do a wine tour via bike in the Mosel River Valley and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. We are staying in the city and will do lots of fun walking, sightseeing and eating! I should be getting my Rick Steves' Ireland 2011 any day in the mail and can't wait to plan that one!
This morning when I up woke up to the sun it just lifted my spirits after the rain. I better get used to this gloomy-ness or just plan lots of warm tropical vacations in the fall and winter! I thought it was a good day to take the bus to K-Town since there were a few things I needed to get done there. I called Bonnie to see if she was up for it but she was planning to hit the commissary so I I'd tag along there again SINCE we got an empty propane tank from our friend Seth I need to get it filled and on post is really our only option. Yippee, grilling brats tomorrow! The day was just so bright and blue that I had to head out on the bike. I tackled a few hills and ventured into apart of town that I hadn't been to yet. I also managed to ride up a personal driveway that I thought was a trail. I was near fields and as I was getting to the top a nice JD sprayer was cutting the path in front of me and the driver was just looking at me....I realized I must've been on his property! Oops! Here's a pic of a cat attacking something in the field I was next to.
I made a delicious lemon-olive chicken and risotto dinner with fresh salad from the garden (minus the snails) then we headed to the Netto to return a few empty cases of beer (since that would be a bit of a challenge for me on the bike!) Dave got another case, a different kind and I found a bottle of white lieblish (sweet) wine called Mosel which was perfect prep for the weekend! As we headed out of the store I had to pass the Hofmeister (Netto's bakery) for the 2nd time today. Ohhhh the goodies that were in that case, I just had to exercise will power. I'm not riding my bike nearly enough to make it worth eating those as well as the salami I've taking a liking for, the nutella, the bread that I'm not used to eating, all the good places we're trying, and the little German cookies that we eat with tea....and since it's been so cold we are making tea and therefore eating the little cookies. Oh lordy I need to get my butt back into the gym. I can't blame the European electric dryer for shrinking my pants! Oh well enough of the rambling, tea is done, a new book awaits me.
Sunday August 14
Thursday ended up turning into a beautiful day. Bonnie and I attempted to take the bus to K-Town but what we discovered pretty much was that all the schedules seem to be right and there is a really big gap from about 9:30-3:30 for buses coming through town. There are only 2 lines that run through town but you can always count on the train at 15 past the hour, so that is what we did. I need to look into getting a train pass if I'm going to make frequent trips. Anyhow, I had to run a few errands, we had a good lunch and did some sight seeing and walking around. A fun but quick trip!
Thursday ended up turning into a beautiful day. Bonnie and I attempted to take the bus to K-Town but what we discovered pretty much was that all the schedules seem to be right and there is a really big gap from about 9:30-3:30 for buses coming through town. There are only 2 lines that run through town but you can always count on the train at 15 past the hour, so that is what we did. I need to look into getting a train pass if I'm going to make frequent trips. Anyhow, I had to run a few errands, we had a good lunch and did some sight seeing and walking around. A fun but quick trip!
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| Swan Fountain |
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| Husband and Wife Art?!?! |
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| Unicorn Art |
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| Restaurant filled street in K-Town |
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| King Barbarossa Fountain |
Dave and I left for Luxembourg when he got home on Friday, it was only about 2 hours away. It's just a little itty bitty country nestled in between Germany, France and Belgium only about 50x50 square miles and 500,000 people! Lux City was a nice city, beautiful and really easy to get around all on foot. We stayed at The Golden Tulip which was about a 5-10 minute walk to city center. Friday night we got in a little late but headed to a place close to the hotel for dinner where Dave sampled a Luxembourgish dish of dumplings and bacon....not sure what to think of it as it looked less than appealing to me but he liked it! I had a chicken salad and a shandy :). We walked into the city center and were just in awe at the huge wall that surrounds the city atop of it. It's really interesting because Lux City has a few different levels (as you'll notice in pictures) from the Grund at river level to the Centre which seems to be the highest we climbed. All of the stores were closed, restaurants were clearing out and there weren't really too many people around but there was a jazz band playing in the Place d'Armes that was peaceful to listen to. Since it was raining we got some Mc Flurries from a Mc D's on the corner and sat under cover listening to the jazz. Yes we could have gotten some fancy little French/Luxembourgish whatever dessert but sometimes you just want something familiar!
We headed out on foot Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel, which by the way, we loved the croissants! It was really cool to walk into the city in the daylight and see the depth of the valleys and the height of the wall and the beautiful architecture and churches. We walked along the lower perimeter of the wall and found our way to the Bock Casements. It was the original dungeon of the castle in Lux and used as protection and defense. There are many kilometers of passages through them and I'm sure we didn't see nearly 1/2. After visiting them though we saw the towers and defense wall from a different perspective because we had actually been looking out many of the peepholes as we toured through there! We hadn't noticed all of the holes and windows before...i guess that was the point huh?! We went through the Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Michaels Church, and did much more sightseeing through the city. We learned that Lux City was formed in 963...1048 years ago. Its still hard for me to grasp that.
For the past month we've been trying so hard to get by with broken and mismatched German and this being our first time to a different country was a little bit of a challenge for me...do I speak English, German, French? The Luxembourgish language is mixture of German and French so if that doesn't throw a wrench into it! I felt my high school years of French all coming back to me and was laughing to myself that I could recognize more in French than German haha oh well. Part of the European experience right? The good news is that most places have English menus if we can't figure out what they have posted means...oh and it's a law for them to post their menu outside their establishment. I find that very helpful! Shopping is only a challenge if you have questions or problems and the salesperson doesn't speak what I'm sayin! For example....my FAVE catalogue, Yves Rocher, where I've been buying skin products and perfume for years actually had 2 stores in Lux! I know it's a French Co. but the thought never crossed my mind that I'd run into a store over here because customer service was out of Champlain NY! Anyhoo I HAD to go in and get a few things. I did have questions because the line of things I like had some items that I wasn't familiar with so the girl working tried to help and between us both there was a lot of hand gesturing and pointing to try to describe what each if us was saying. It was a funny experience!
That afternoon we headed to a Bike Tour/Wine Tasting in the Mosel River Valley. It was a 30km trip out of the city which took us right to the border of Germany. The Moselle River is international water with the dividing line of the 2 countries being right down the middle! What a beautiful area! Vineyards galore, and boy were they steep. We sure were hoping we didn't have to bike up them! The area is known for it's Riesling but they also have many other grape varieties there as well. We were to meet Simoné at the Museé du Vin - the wine museum- at 2:30 but we got there super early and just relaxed in the car by the river, it was a full morning! We saw a tour of bikes pull in and figured that was our cue to meet the group. Well unbeknownst to us, we got a personal tour! It was just the 3 of us, we were so excited! Simoné just started the tour group only 4 months ago after making a move from the Netherlands. I thought that was awesome because her tours are rated on Trip Advisor as the #1 thing to do in Luxembourg! We had a great personal tour with Simoné, learned a lot about the area and all of the different types of grapes that they grew there- Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot noir and Chardonnay too. It was really something. Granted the initial climbs in the vineyard were a little difficult, the view from the top was well worth it! We went through small towns - Ahn, and Grevenmacher on the Lux side to where we crossed the Mosel into Germany and made way to Nittel where we visited the Apel Winery. Be sure to check the site for some great pictures of the area. You'll see the owner, bald man with mustache, who personally did our wine tasting, explaining each one and giving recommendations. Strangely enough, when we told him that we were from the Finger Lakes he said his nephew work there for a few months!! Small world right? He didn't say where though. Simoné was translating the best she could - which by the way, she spoke excellent English and I thought pretty good German too with her being there only 4 months! It was a pretty cool experience! The wines were sooooooo good especially the ice wine, my 1st experience with that expensive delight! The one we tried won a record for its level of sweetness. Our favorite bottle was of the Elbling group and came from the same variety that the Romans grew in the valley 2000 years ago. We ended up getting 7 bottles of wine that the owner packed into a nice box for us...it was the record as the most bought on Simonés tour so far! Be sure to look at the pics of how well Dave did bringing the box back :). It was a 4 hour tour and about 15 kilometers and a bunch of fun. I promised Simoné that I would giver her an excellent review on Trip Advisor and maybe she'll put our pic on the website!
Back in the city of Lux we meandered into the city for a bite to eat and realized that the later it got the less likely we were to get what we wanted on the menu...or to be able to go to a place we wanted. They tend to shut down a little earlier than we would expect for a touristy area. We found a place that was good and both had chicken cordon bleu. Sunday morning we decided to do a walk in the Grund section of Lux that Simoné had recommended. This is the lower part of the city on the river. My pics do a lot more of the explanation. It was pretty rainy but it was still a very beautiful and enjoyable walk. We headed back to the hotel, checked out and headed to the American Cemetery just outside of town. What a somber experience to be able to visit that cemetery. General Patton is buried there as well as quite a few members of the Band of Brothers and 1 female Army nurse. It was just so amazing to me to be there having finally taken an interest in our history...something about being in Germany has made me want to know everything about WWII! It was still a little rainy so we headed back home. It was a fun weekend to such a historical city and there are so many more to explore! Sunday night we fired up the grill for brats and homemade Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) and a bottle of Apel Elbling Tradition. Mmm mmm mmm, what a great end to a fun weekend...then we crashed!
We headed out on foot Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel, which by the way, we loved the croissants! It was really cool to walk into the city in the daylight and see the depth of the valleys and the height of the wall and the beautiful architecture and churches. We walked along the lower perimeter of the wall and found our way to the Bock Casements. It was the original dungeon of the castle in Lux and used as protection and defense. There are many kilometers of passages through them and I'm sure we didn't see nearly 1/2. After visiting them though we saw the towers and defense wall from a different perspective because we had actually been looking out many of the peepholes as we toured through there! We hadn't noticed all of the holes and windows before...i guess that was the point huh?! We went through the Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Michaels Church, and did much more sightseeing through the city. We learned that Lux City was formed in 963...1048 years ago. Its still hard for me to grasp that.
For the past month we've been trying so hard to get by with broken and mismatched German and this being our first time to a different country was a little bit of a challenge for me...do I speak English, German, French? The Luxembourgish language is mixture of German and French so if that doesn't throw a wrench into it! I felt my high school years of French all coming back to me and was laughing to myself that I could recognize more in French than German haha oh well. Part of the European experience right? The good news is that most places have English menus if we can't figure out what they have posted means...oh and it's a law for them to post their menu outside their establishment. I find that very helpful! Shopping is only a challenge if you have questions or problems and the salesperson doesn't speak what I'm sayin! For example....my FAVE catalogue, Yves Rocher, where I've been buying skin products and perfume for years actually had 2 stores in Lux! I know it's a French Co. but the thought never crossed my mind that I'd run into a store over here because customer service was out of Champlain NY! Anyhoo I HAD to go in and get a few things. I did have questions because the line of things I like had some items that I wasn't familiar with so the girl working tried to help and between us both there was a lot of hand gesturing and pointing to try to describe what each if us was saying. It was a funny experience!
That afternoon we headed to a Bike Tour/Wine Tasting in the Mosel River Valley. It was a 30km trip out of the city which took us right to the border of Germany. The Moselle River is international water with the dividing line of the 2 countries being right down the middle! What a beautiful area! Vineyards galore, and boy were they steep. We sure were hoping we didn't have to bike up them! The area is known for it's Riesling but they also have many other grape varieties there as well. We were to meet Simoné at the Museé du Vin - the wine museum- at 2:30 but we got there super early and just relaxed in the car by the river, it was a full morning! We saw a tour of bikes pull in and figured that was our cue to meet the group. Well unbeknownst to us, we got a personal tour! It was just the 3 of us, we were so excited! Simoné just started the tour group only 4 months ago after making a move from the Netherlands. I thought that was awesome because her tours are rated on Trip Advisor as the #1 thing to do in Luxembourg! We had a great personal tour with Simoné, learned a lot about the area and all of the different types of grapes that they grew there- Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot noir and Chardonnay too. It was really something. Granted the initial climbs in the vineyard were a little difficult, the view from the top was well worth it! We went through small towns - Ahn, and Grevenmacher on the Lux side to where we crossed the Mosel into Germany and made way to Nittel where we visited the Apel Winery. Be sure to check the site for some great pictures of the area. You'll see the owner, bald man with mustache, who personally did our wine tasting, explaining each one and giving recommendations. Strangely enough, when we told him that we were from the Finger Lakes he said his nephew work there for a few months!! Small world right? He didn't say where though. Simoné was translating the best she could - which by the way, she spoke excellent English and I thought pretty good German too with her being there only 4 months! It was a pretty cool experience! The wines were sooooooo good especially the ice wine, my 1st experience with that expensive delight! The one we tried won a record for its level of sweetness. Our favorite bottle was of the Elbling group and came from the same variety that the Romans grew in the valley 2000 years ago. We ended up getting 7 bottles of wine that the owner packed into a nice box for us...it was the record as the most bought on Simonés tour so far! Be sure to look at the pics of how well Dave did bringing the box back :). It was a 4 hour tour and about 15 kilometers and a bunch of fun. I promised Simoné that I would giver her an excellent review on Trip Advisor and maybe she'll put our pic on the website!
Back in the city of Lux we meandered into the city for a bite to eat and realized that the later it got the less likely we were to get what we wanted on the menu...or to be able to go to a place we wanted. They tend to shut down a little earlier than we would expect for a touristy area. We found a place that was good and both had chicken cordon bleu. Sunday morning we decided to do a walk in the Grund section of Lux that Simoné had recommended. This is the lower part of the city on the river. My pics do a lot more of the explanation. It was pretty rainy but it was still a very beautiful and enjoyable walk. We headed back to the hotel, checked out and headed to the American Cemetery just outside of town. What a somber experience to be able to visit that cemetery. General Patton is buried there as well as quite a few members of the Band of Brothers and 1 female Army nurse. It was just so amazing to me to be there having finally taken an interest in our history...something about being in Germany has made me want to know everything about WWII! It was still a little rainy so we headed back home. It was a fun weekend to such a historical city and there are so many more to explore! Sunday night we fired up the grill for brats and homemade Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) and a bottle of Apel Elbling Tradition. Mmm mmm mmm, what a great end to a fun weekend...then we crashed!
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