I am slowly being integrated into the country

This weekend was a little more low key than most, I stayed in Luxembourg for the most part. Friday night, I went out for a couple of drinks with my friend Dave from work. It was a beautiful night out so we went to Urban and sat outside. Dave is one of the Irish guys that I work with, and it was cool to be able to sit down and chat with him and get to know him. We move from there to The Tube, an English Bar that is made to look like the Underground. We left at about 12:30...He was going to our boss' wedding and I was leaving around nine to meet Kathy. Kathy and I went to Belgium on Saturday, to go to IKEA...nothing like spending more money on things you could easily by at home for less money but what the hell, that is part of the experience! and I kept the spending to a minimum. We also went to and Italian market with really inexpensive fruits and veggies and then to the British Store where you can buy things that you would get at home for a premium of course. Who thought there would be a place in the world where Water Crackers would cost less than Ritz? From there we went to the big supermarket and bought more food! Totally worth it though because I have a lot more of the food I would want to get than if I was at the little markets. We had lunch outside. This was the nicest weekend we have had. Believe it or not we at at Pizza Hut...not like the Pizza Hut's back home though. This is a sit down cafe with appetizers, entrees, pizza of course and a full bar. The food was good too! We listened to the musicians from the conservatory play in the centre and then we walked around the fair. After that it was time for me to leave, I went to Laurence's home in Belgium for her birthday dinner. I met her closest friends and made it through a dinner with almost complete french. Her friend Matt explained some things that it was clear I would not understand, but I pretty much got everything by myself! It was a late night, I was home at 2:30 in the morning. Sunday I met Kathy at the fair in the centre and then I went back to the cemetary and took some pictures. It was a nice weekend with a lot of running around, but I have added some more friends to my list (Matt and Mimi) and I will be watching Nouvelle Star with them starting next Wednesday! Today was the beginning of my french classes, I think I am somewhat ahead of some of the other people in my class, but they use the first class to place people so if they think I should be in a higher level they will let me know. I sat next to a nice guy from Germany, his name was Gero. We chatted for a bit before class. Everyone else seems nice, but not everyone speaks English so there was not a lot of socializing, French skills being somewhat limited and all. But I think I am going to like those too. I am adding some of my pictures from the cemetary for you all to see. This week I am going to go out on Wednesday I think for a drink with my coworkers and then to Kathy's (we have Thursday off) and then on Thursday I might go with Dave and Steve (the Irish Guys) to the Circus. There has been some joking around about whether it is a kids circus (only one tent) or a live porn show! Either way I am taking pictures! = ) Just Kidding, I am sure it is a real circus, but either way it should be interesting!!!

So I think I found Karl Marx's house?

So this weekend was Germany. I finally made it to Trier..which is about 45 minutes away from here. Trier is a very interesting place. I had never hear of it before but it has some very interesting claims to fame. It had the Ponta Nigra and some other roman ruins, it was at one time I think the capital of the roman empire, at least according to Wikipedia. Also the church there holds the robes of Christ. I did not know that they were still existing someplace and if I would guess I would have put them in Rome. Also, in case you did not guess from the title, Trier is also the birthplace of Karl Marx. We arrived in Trier at about 10 or 10:30 am. Kathy drove which was nice. We walked around and she showed my around the center a little. There was a Woolworths there. Since it does not exist in the US anymore I had to take a picture of it and those of us who are old enough to remember it will appreciate it here. It is still just as inexpensive as it has always been. I bought a windbreaker there for 6.99 EUR because I needed a jacket to wear out, the zipper on my fleece broke. Even by USD conversion standards that is a great deal! From there we went in search of Karl Marx's house, we stopped in some stores along the way, we followed the signs and we came to a white building that said something in German about Karl Marx, we think is it the place and I took at picture. After that though we talked to another woman to help us make sure and she pointed us in a different direction, but when we got there we saw signs pointing us in the direction that we came from. So the picture posted here is maybe Karl Marx's house or it could be some random german dwelling...who knows? We also went to the Catherdral to see the robes of Christ. You can't actually see the robes but you can see where they were housed and the church is quite beautiful. I also saw the Ponta Nigra but I did miss some of the ruins..I will go back and plan to take those in with my family. One of my favorite things about Trier...I could get a large cup of coffee!!! I would almost say that BBH needs to relocate me out there and I will commute, it kills me that my coffee is the size of a shot glass! We had some traditional german food for lunch in the center and did some more shopping. All in all we had a great time. We came home at about 4pm because one of my friends from work was going to be playing the guitar and singing at one of the Irish pubs that night. So I had a couple hours to catch up on my email and my calls on Skype and then it was off again to dinner at Villa d'este. I had Tortellini de la Nonna and Laurence had a salad with Foie Gras and some other interesting, better to remain nameless things. I did try them though and it was really good. She said it was just better for me not to know what I was eating thought and I decided to take her word for it! We went to the pub early so that we had a table and good thing because it got packed. Steve sounded really good. He is from Ireland, he played some traditional Irish music and also some classic rock like the Beatles etc... I called it a night at about 1 am and Laurence was nice enough to drop me at home. I went to bed around 2pm and was rudely awakened at 6am by the continuing saga with my neighbors...somebody was ringing my buzzer at 6 in the morning. This lasted until about 6:40 at which time I was wide awake and a little freaked out, but eventually I went back to sleep. Sunday was a beautiful day and although I was exhausted I did make it out for a 2 1/2 hour walk to see different parts of Lux. I tried to find the US embassy, to no avail, but I did find some really beautiful places. The public park is huge and I spent some time walking there. As well I walked through the cemetery, which unlike ours is kind of pretty with lots of statues. I will probably go back and take some pictures there too. Are you freaked out yet? Now maybe I am being a little wierd? Well you knew that already! = )

Addendum to the creepy basement....

I could not upload the picture so I will try again later!

Middle of the Week post..Boring..but Jen M. this is for you

Hi Everyone...not really much going on here during the week. I get up I go to work and then I come home. Talk on the internet for a while, maybe do some yoga and then go to bed. But...and I am not mentioning any times (see title) I was getting complaints that I was not updating my blog fast enough! = ) Anyway, I figured I could tell you that I tried to take a picture of the creepy basement to see. I am posting it here, but let me tell you, it looks a lot less creepy when the flash goes off and makes it look like it is lit up like a Christmas Tree! So let me set the stage. You have to take the elevator down to the sub basement where it is COMPLETELY dark when the doors open, then you have to hit the light outside the elevator locating it before the door closes! Even when the light is on it is dimly lit and then you enter this Nightmare on Elm Street hallway with all these creepy doors. When you move in no one shows you where the trash goes so you just have to keep opening doors and hope the light on the timer doesn't run out before you find the trash room or if you find a dead body. Which by the way is entirely likely if you meet my neighbors. There is a family living next door to me that first of all have to two loudest dogs I have ever heard and they seem to echo in the hallway in the middle of the night. As if that was not bad enough, the other morning this couple who usually confine there fights to in the apartment were fighting in the hallway at 6:30 in the morning! Since most of it was not in English, and i was not going to stand by the door because it sounded like someone was going to draw a gun at any second...all I got was i think the husband slept with someone else and then the wife did something in relatiation for it that he was not to pleased about. Interesting...I suppose I could pass the time trying to make up a story to go along with that but right now I am reveling in the silence of the last couple days! = ) I am posting the pictures of the creepy basement that just looks kind of normal so you can see that I did my best with that one. Happy almost Friday!

Another Weekend, Another Country!

So this weekend was another trek. My goal is to become as close to a world traveler as I can in six months, and I think I am off to a decent start. This weekend, my good friend Laurence and I went to Lille and to Bruxelles. Laurence has some things to do in Lille so I had to more or less entertain myself there, which is not a problem. I took the train from Luxembourg to Arlon, Belgium, where Laurence lives and then we drove from there. I was very concerned about the lines at the train station being the same as the post office which is more or less time consuming. The train station took about 3 minutes to get through so I had a lot of time to wait there. I ended up sitting next to a couple from Canada. They talked to me for a while, I got the impression that maybe they did not want to be talking the whole time, but they humored me anyway. Once I got on the train it was a quick ride and we were off. It took about 2 hours I think to get to Lille, France. The time passed pretty quickly because we were talking most of the way, or maybe it was just me...I had a lot of coffee that morning and I think everyone knows how I can be when I have had too much coffee!! When we got to Lille, Laurence pointed me in the right direction of the historical stuff and the shopping. I started out by taking pictures for a little while, but I was so hungry that I stopped for lunch almost right away. I went to a little bistro that served mostly gourmet pizza. It was very quaint and the people were really friendly. I was not exactly sure what I was getting because I did not know all of the ingredients in french, as it turned out I had a pizza with olives onions and tuna, which may sound disgusting but the combination of flavors was really good! From there I walked around and took some more pictures. As with every place in Europe, I had to go to the catherdral and to the center square to take pictures but the portion of Old Lille that I was in was beautiful and charming. I browsed in some of the little shops. Most of the places were out of my price range, but there were a lot of little original boutiques that you would not find in Luxembourg and these are the types of shops that I love to browse in. Once Laurence was done with her lunch and I was all pictured out until Bruxelles, we walked into some of the boutiques. I bought a necklace for myself that was very different and pretty, and description would not do it justice here so I will show you all when I get home. But is made in Marseille, different, and reasonable priced. I also got a present for my friend Maggie's baby because I know that she will just love to have something from France and I can't wait to mail it. That is definitely going out way before her birthday! From there we drove to Bruxelles. We stopped in a couple of cute shops that were also original and eclectic things. Laurence bought me the cutest little tiny rubber duck that I can hang off my cell phone or in my case I have clipped to my wallet. It is a pink GI duck, so cute! She also bought me some great spanish wine glasses, they are also very different and something that I can really keep and remember my trip every time I use them. I bought her a bracelet that she liked, and then we went to get her friend Alex. He is a very charming, smart, funny person. We hit it off right away. He is half Tanzanian and half Finnish, a different combination, but it works, he is a good looking person. We stopped a little outdoor cafe/bar. There are heaters under the awnings so that you can sit outside and have a couple drinks even when it is cold. This is the way with many of the cafes and it is a great idea I think! I sat with them for one drink and then I realized it was going to be getting dark soon so I went to take some pictures before we lost the light. I went to the Grand Place, which is the main square with the town hall and several grand buildings as well as chocolate shops and cafes. I took some pictures around there and some of the surrounging monuments but it was getting dark quickly by that point so I decided to head back. There were a lot of people around so I am sure it was safe, but Bruxelles is a real city as compared to the Village type city that Luxembourg is so it is better to be aware of your surroundings. We had a couple more drinks on the terrace. I actually had mint tea and Laurence and Alex had drinks. The mint tea was just hot water with a stalk of mint leaves in it. The presentation and the taste was really nice. I guess if you let it sit too long it gets bitter but mine did not sit long enough for that. Then we went next door for sushi which was also delicious. Unfortunately this was also the point that Laurence realize that she had either lost her wallet or it had been stolen. She took it amazingly in stride, but Alex and I felt really bad for her. We went back to the other place and looked around and asked questions, but it was a lost cause. After that we went for another drink, but Laurence and I were tired and wanted to sleep, so we took Alex back home and we went to check into out hotel. We ended up getting a really good last minute deal on a hotel right next to the Grand Place, which we were super excited about. The rooms were decent but the location was perfect. We walked to breakfast the next morning and Laurence left to file a report with the police. I walked around the Antique shops and the other shops which thankfully are all open on Sunday in Bruxelles, I found the cutest little dog sitting outside, I wanted to pick him up and take him home. I took his picture and I am including it here I am sure you would agree that I should have stolen him and brought him back to the U.S. with me. By that point I was tired and done with the wandering so I went to a cafe and sat outside with my cafe au lait to wait. Laurence and I enjoyed out hot drinks when she came back and then it was back to the almost reality of being in Luxembourg, still kind of a dream here too!
It was a fantastic weekend that made me realize how happy I am and how lucky I am to be having this experience.

I made it across the border!!!

So all week I have been telling people that I am going to Trier, Germany. My American friends were going away on seperate trips to different countries. I was sure that I would be here by myself and needed to plan a trip to take or something to do alone. I settled on Trier because it is only 45 minutes away by train. It has a lot of history. And of course, almost as important, the shopping is cheaper there than it is here!! :) Friday night, I went out for drinks and dinner with my friend Laurence. Laurence is from France, she worked two years in Boston and she is also a twin. We actually met for the first time on the flight from Boston when I sat in her seat by mistake. She asked me to move. She was very nice about it and I actually ended up with the better seat. I was in the first row before first class, so I had a slightly reclining seat and more leg room. Also, the guy that sat next to her had his shoes off when I sat down and his feet smelled so bad. All I could think was "oh my God, I am going to have to sit here for the next six hours! I think I am going to die". Then when Laurence came I was thinking, "Thank God, take the seat!". We saw each other again on the flight to Luxembourg. Then we met again when I went out to lunch with Manuel my boss. We went out for some drinks later in the week with other friends, we hit it off right away. We had been trying to set up going out a couple times but Friday it finally worked. We met at a bar called ZanZen, it was a mix between a lounge and a cottage feel. It was all white walls, wainscoating, with somewhat industrial style but comfortable furniture, from there we had dinner a a nice little italian restuarant and then went to another bar called The Secret Garden. These were all very nice, comfortable places, that everyone must love because they were packed. Laurence is redoing an apartment that she just bought, when we were finished with our dinner and drinks we went over to see it. It looked like it was going to be really nice, as much as you can tell with no lights but what was coming in from the streets! :) I am excited to see it when it is done. We were talking about taking different trips and had discussed going to Brussels on Saturday. I decided if I have the chance to travel with someone I like to hang out with then that was a much better option. When we talked the next day about what to do, we decided that Brussels was a little to far to enjoy for the time we had and Laurence suggested Metz, France. This is also pretty close to Luxembourg, I would say it took us about 45 minutes to drive there. The shops were all modern shops but it old european style buildings. Laurence picked out my first traditional french cookbook for me, which we laughed has also cartoon illustrations of the different animals and parts to identify them. It is the perfect french cookbook for someone who's french is slightly lacking. From there we walked to the catherdral and she indulged my while I stopped and took pictures every 100 feet! I lit a candle for my great uncle Reno, as he is having some health issues now and I wanted to say a prayer for him. from there we went into a little patesserie and bought some pastries and took them with us while we went to get coffee. In almost all of the bars they have both coffee and drinks. We sat outside and while we were waiting to order drinks Laurence left the table for a minute. She said if the the waiter comes back order me a black tea, please and then she reminded me of how to say that in french. When the waiter came back I said, "Un the et une cafe au lait, sil vous plait." He said to me, " Je ne parle pas anglais." and he was very impatient. Now I am thinking to myself, "No Shit, you don't speak english, but I was speaking french!!" It took me a couple of times of repeating myself for him to get it but he finally took my order and left. When Laurence got back to the table I told her the story and we both burst out laughing! She pointed out to me later that he was equally as rude to the french customers, so much for customer service! We drove back to Luxembourg Shortly after that and went to have dinner at a seafood restuarant at the mall, which was very good suprisingly for a landlocked country. We finished off the day by going to the movies. She went to see a french movie that she thought would get lost in translation and I went to see Untraceable. As thrillers go the movie was very scary, something I maybe should have seen with someone else but it was great. Now I am back to another lazy Sunday of laundry and cooking. Hope that everyone else had a great weekend!