So we're planning a birthday trip for Bash, this one going to the Praehistorium in the Saarland in the west of Germany. Axl went to Legoland for his birthday, Bash will get his beloved dinosaurs. Win-win for everybody, except that Liebi has other ideas altogether: looking at our destination on the map, she sees that Luxembourg is a rock's throw away. Liebi has been greedy lately, as far as collecting countries goes. Never mind that she's done more travel than the entire population of Luxembourg combined, this is her chance to see Luxembourg, so we book the weekend before Bash's birthday to do some exploring in Luxembourg.
We drive through Hessen, Rheinland Pfalz, and finally arrive in Luxembourg after roughly two hours. Luxembourg is what you would imagine under a typical European country, clean, pristine, gorgeous scenery. Do you remember the opening scene of Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds?' There's a French farmer with his daughters in the middle of 'French cow country', as the wicked SS Colonel Hans Landa calls it, with trees, rolling hills, green, green grass, and happy cows that crank out dairy products that you never knew existed. That, in a nutshell, is what Luxembourg looks like. Some of the street signs will be in French, some in German, others in Luxembourgish French.
We locate our hotel quickly, check in, and hit the supermarket in Luxembourg city, at the Auchan, a shopping mall that almost puts its transatlantic counterparts in the U.S. to shame. The selection of fine foods, mostly European, at the supermarket is simply unheard of. Liebi swoons at the meats, cheeses, and most of all, the bakery items. Axl and Bash, meanwhile, rent themselves a couple of rolling animals to zip through the shopping mall with. Toss in a euro, and that animal is no longer stationary, but is joining the shopping crowd out there. Bash on a red angry bird, Axl on a pig. You would think any of the kids would run over some of the shoppers, and I'm sure it's happened, but there are no incidents today.
We are a little too tired to go out tonight, so we bring Auchan food back to the hotel. Pizzas for the kids, five different cheeses, a salami, baguette, and two bottles of champagne (right, champagne, from the actual region), all for the princely sum of 25 euros. That's Europe for you, though: quality of life without breaking the bank.
So far, it looks like a splendid trip. Surprisingly (or maybe not) my French holds up when people don't understand German. It's hard to pinpoint who speaks what. A few merchants even offer to speak English. And people are quite welcoming and friendly.
Planned for the next day: a walk through Luxembourg City, population of about 115,000 people.
A walk through the old city on a Sunday, a visit to the famed casemates near the old fortress, plus the military cemeteries of World War II.
Stay tuned.
We drive through Hessen, Rheinland Pfalz, and finally arrive in Luxembourg after roughly two hours. Luxembourg is what you would imagine under a typical European country, clean, pristine, gorgeous scenery. Do you remember the opening scene of Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds?' There's a French farmer with his daughters in the middle of 'French cow country', as the wicked SS Colonel Hans Landa calls it, with trees, rolling hills, green, green grass, and happy cows that crank out dairy products that you never knew existed. That, in a nutshell, is what Luxembourg looks like. Some of the street signs will be in French, some in German, others in Luxembourgish French.
We locate our hotel quickly, check in, and hit the supermarket in Luxembourg city, at the Auchan, a shopping mall that almost puts its transatlantic counterparts in the U.S. to shame. The selection of fine foods, mostly European, at the supermarket is simply unheard of. Liebi swoons at the meats, cheeses, and most of all, the bakery items. Axl and Bash, meanwhile, rent themselves a couple of rolling animals to zip through the shopping mall with. Toss in a euro, and that animal is no longer stationary, but is joining the shopping crowd out there. Bash on a red angry bird, Axl on a pig. You would think any of the kids would run over some of the shoppers, and I'm sure it's happened, but there are no incidents today.
We are a little too tired to go out tonight, so we bring Auchan food back to the hotel. Pizzas for the kids, five different cheeses, a salami, baguette, and two bottles of champagne (right, champagne, from the actual region), all for the princely sum of 25 euros. That's Europe for you, though: quality of life without breaking the bank.
So far, it looks like a splendid trip. Surprisingly (or maybe not) my French holds up when people don't understand German. It's hard to pinpoint who speaks what. A few merchants even offer to speak English. And people are quite welcoming and friendly.
Planned for the next day: a walk through Luxembourg City, population of about 115,000 people.
A walk through the old city on a Sunday, a visit to the famed casemates near the old fortress, plus the military cemeteries of World War II.
Stay tuned.
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