Our GPS Is Out To Get Us.

What to do on a Monday holiday from work? (Well..on Bruce's part at least. For me, every day is a holiday. Oh the life of the unemployed...) Cue map of the surrounding area in a 2-hour radius. Limit options to places we have yet to go. Result? Luxembourg!

A brief history of this lovely country (Small enough that you can learn it's history in a brief morning-before-your-trip-research session).

*ahem*

Luxembourg, squished in a cozy sandwich between Belgium, Germany, and France, is home to about 550,000 people. The city formed around the fortified Luxembourg Castle, parts of which you can still see as you wander around the old and new city streets! Similarly to Belgium, Luxembourg is heavily influenced by the French in both language and food. Walking around, you will hear mainly French, but the other official languages include German and Luxembourgish (a word I though I had cleverly made up...). Not to worry, however, English is also widely spoken, as it is compulsory there to study it in schools.

This completes the lecture portion of my presentation. I will now complete in my normal rambling, stream-of-consciousness babble.

Jumping in the car, we drive about 2 hours to arrive at our first destination.

The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

 

Located a few miles outside the city center, the Luxembourg American Cemetery is 50.5 acres and contains 5,076 headstones organized neatly and painstakingly in rows arching around the main memorial area. Commemorating the lost lives from the Battle of the Bulge, the memorial is truly beautiful and awe inspiring. Luckily for me Bruce had his history-teacher pants on that day, and could give me a quick review of the battle, as I haven't studied it since the days of World History at Tatnall (Thanks Mrs. Hiller!). For those of you planning a trip to Luxembourg, this is definitely a place to stop by for a walk through!

 

From here we drove into the city center to find parking. As we somehow found our way on a cobblestone street stuck at a one-way (the opposite way) we had our first interaction with a Luxembourgian (Luxembourger? Luxembourgite?). Miming the question "Can we get through here?" the man shrugged with a smile, gesturing "Yep! Sure, why not?" waving us on. We were a bit surprised, as in our experience, a German would not commit so whole heartedly, most likely saying something along the lines of "I cannot say if it is possible or not possible, as I am not a certified traffic conductor, therefore I cannot say yes or no". Anyway, we made it illegally through the street, found parking, and began our day adventure. Walking through a park nearby we hear the sounds of people screaming and music playing. Happy screaming. Time to explore!

Despite the cloudy day, it wasn't too cold, however it does lead to pretty dreary pictures unfortunately.

We found a carnival! 'Shueberfouer' to be exact.  Not sure what they were celebrating but we weren't complaining as we walked through, grabbed some mini-crepes, and enjoyed people watching.

The newer area of Luxembourg city is full of shopping and restaurants. Weaving our way through we tried to get to my destination for that day, "Chocolate House" . Yes. I know. You all are jealous. Through my research, this place would pop up on every website with rave reviews. Therefore we HAD to go...for science...

Known for it's cakes and obviously chocolate products, The Chocolate House does not disappoint. I immediately walked towards the wall full of spoons dipped in a chocolate square of endless flavors. I decided on expresso, while Bruce went for latte macchiato. Finding a table upstairs, we were brought mugs of hot milk to begin our hot-chocolate making process. Please refer to the photo instructions below.

 Open spoon from plastic jail

Dip in steaming milk and stir

Check progress (step optional, yet interesting)

Continue stirring until all chocolate has melted off spoon,
 then lick spoon...for science...

 Drink and enjoy!

Full of sweets, we decided to do a LOT of walking to make up for our transgressions.  Photo stream of adventures--

Accidental find....

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Love Locks on bridge

Along our walk we found an entrance to the Catacombs of the old fortress. Now, I already forced myself to walk through those creepy Roman ruins in Trier with David, but here I was again, at some dark claustrophobia-inducing labyrinth-style caverns. Pulling myself together once more I walked through. Full of narrow passage ways with dark alcoves on either side (my favorite.) and steep spiral staircases to nowhere, this was not my ideal activity. But, I did it. YAY. Complete, onto the next thing.

By now it was about 5:30, and the city was winding down. We walked down along the river, and through some small streets Eventually making our way back to the car to get back home. Successful trip to Luxembourg, both totally ready to go back again soon!

Lit candle for Grandad in Notre-Dame Cathedral

Coolest kids park ever!

Ok GPS. Bring us home. No, not through Trier, through Saarbrucken! Wait. Was that a sign for Saarbrucken that we passed? Where are we going? To Mainz? Why? A whole extra hour added? Wait, U-turn, let's go back through the back roads through the French countryside. 350 cows and 2 podcasts later, Hey Saarbrucken! Sushi for dinner to reward ourselves for finding our way back without a crazy GPS. Back in the car. All tire pressures low? At the same time? Alright...Miming tire pressure gage to confused-German-only gas station employee. Tire pressure better. Home by 11. Bed by 11:08. Holy Moly.

Until next time! xoxo

German of the post:

Ja, immer noch arbeitslos
Yep, still unemployed