LUXEMBOURG MEANDERINGS

Here're some more thoughts, observations from our first three-and-a-half weeks in Luxembourg:

Things I like about Luxembourg:

-       The Milka chocolate; in fact, chocolate here in general is the bomb!

-       The mélange or, as the kids say, mash-up of languages that’re everywhere—this morning I went to a bakery and said "Moien" (Luxembourgish) as I entered, ordered "ein poche pomme und ein muffin chocolat, bitte" (German), said "Merci," (French) and, for good measure, "Vielen Dank" (German) when I exchanged my money for food, and "Atty" (Lux) as I bid adieu. (I’m sure it’s a mess, but I have fun trying.) 

-       The cobbled streets, narrow alleyways and stone arches that are everywhere.

-       Turning a corner and having my breath taken away by one surprise vista after another—a stone bridge over a winding river, fortress walls built into sandstone bluffs, gonging church bells, steep-pitched Europey- rooftops, etc. History is everywhere here, it seems.

-       Poking my head into a hundreds-years-old church or cathedral and being gifted with a practicing choir or someone jamming on the church organ.

-       While riding my bike, finding yet another steep cobbled street that beckons me to attack it as if I were Tom Boonen pulling the peloton into a spot of bother.

-       The buses and train system.

-       The paved bike paths, bike lanes and signage for each.

-       That people have been super nice.

-       Franz Schneider and his biker.lu cronies.

-       The Petrusse Valley.

-       Baguettes from Fischer bakeries.  

-       Having Eurovision HD on my cable TV system. (Along with beaucoup cycling, they've been showing a lot of biathlon, ski jumping, women’s soccer and snooker.)

-       That there appears to be no sprawl here.

Things I don’t like about Luxembourg

-       There are no Starbucks.

-       Everything, EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays.

-       It’s crazy expensive to live here.

-       The weather hasn’t been the greatest so far. Probably three excellent days, seven days of snow (it looked like a blizzard outside much of today), the rest mostly gray.

-       Our apartment is great but whomever manages it, their website should be www.wedon’tgiveacrap.com

-       I don’t have a guitar here.

Things I’ve found sort of odd, interesting, different from the U.S.

-       That the female bathroom attendant at the gare (train station) told me that it was 60 cents “to go pee-pee”, 1.10 euro if I needed to do something else (as it were).

-       No one seems to pay to ride the city buses and the drivers seem almost annoyed when you do.

-       Check-out cashiers at grocery stores are seated.

-       Everything, EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays.

-       There are no Starbucks.

-       Besides McDonalds the other American fast-food chain that’s common here is … Subway. (???)

-       Watching “The Voice Italy” and “The Voice Belgium”