Our First Anniversary in Italy, part 1

A Little Preface:
Celebrating our first wedding anniversary a few weeks ago made me realize - this past year has been a whirlwind. It has been an exciting, unpredictable and precious adventure.  Memorable, to say the least.  Alex and I got married, combined our households just in time to find out that his job was going to be moving us across the world.  I quit my job, bid farewell to loved ones and watched my entire life get boxed up and shipped to Luxembourg, where I could barely find on a map. Since April, Alex and I have been enjoying what feels somewhat like a hazy dream or extended honeymoon.  Each and every day I feel like its all too good to be true.  Yet it is.  Let this serve as encouragement - a reminder to all of you out there who are waiting...Waiting for your prayers to be answered and purpose to be realized.  Though the journey can be long, your whole life can change in a year - in the blink of an eye.  Keep believing that the One to whom you pray, is faithful...

Only due to the logistical simplicity of traveling in Europe (when living in Europe) were Alex and I able to spend our first anniversary in Italy.  I had pretty big expectations due to everyone's praises of all things Italian and they were all met in the first 24 hours that we set foot in that amazing country.

Alex and I flew into Pisa, which was only a little over an hour flight from the Brussels airport.  Because we were too close not to, we peeked at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then hopped on our train to Cinque Terre, where we'd be spending the next 5 days. 

Cinque Terre means "5 lands" in Italian.  These 5 villages on the Italian Riviera - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore - are all basically hanging off the cliffs over the Mediterranean. Each unique village is connected by a hiking trail and must be accessed by foot or by train.  The scenery literally took my breath away...

Because we had five days in Cinque Terre, we had time to explore each of the villages. They were all full of character, color and lovely people.  Highlights of our Cinque Terre trip included some great hikes, a few days at the beach and, of course, amazing food!

Here are some photos from our hike from Vernazza to Monterosso...

Our view - 30 minutes into the hike



A few of the villages had rocky beaches.  Here we are trying to find some smooth stones to stand on (and not blind everyone with our white-ness :)

As usual, Alex and I made sure we sampled and enjoyed the local cuisine of our destination.  Cinque Terre is known for trophy pesto (pasta) and Sciacchetra, which is a dessert wine that is made in the villages from local grapes.  The trophy pesto was so amazing that I had it 4 nights in a row!  As for the Sciaccetra, we had the chance to sample some in a cute little restaurant on a rainy day.  The owner of the restuarant that we stumbled upon happened to make his own! 

Cinque Terre is such a special place.  Though its busy with tourists (even in September), the lovely local people are woven throughout the scenery in each village.  They are warm, kind and welcoming including the pastry chef and restaurant owner of a little breakfast joint we frequented each morning... 

This is my guilty face for knowing what's about to happen here :)  The best breakfast pastry that I've ever had!

After our time in Cinque Terre came to an end, leaving wasn't too difficult since Rome was our next stop!  You can read about our five days in spectacular Rome - officially my favorite city in the world - in my next post - Italy, part 2 (coming soon :)

Love until next time...Melanie

CI / FNL Night

There are two American things that I've come to dearly love in Luxembourg.  This post is about those two things that, when paired together, make for a near perfect evening at home.  Several months ago, the Queens introduced us to Cooks Illustrated.  That's where the CI comes in.

For those of you who don't know, Cooks Illustrated is basically a group of "foodie" scientists who (rewording their motto a bit) "bake 1,000 cakes so you only have to bake one."  These food scientists come up with very in-depth recipes as close to food perfection as I've ever seen.  And let me tell you, these recipes aren't for the faint of heart.  Cooks Illustrated recipes require a plethera of ingredients, several hours in the kitchen and lots of patience :)  Since I have the time now, with Sarah's help, I've ventured into these complicated recipes and to my delight (and Alex's), each meal has proven to be worth every new random spice I've bought that now sits in the back of my spice rack.

The second set of abbreviations makes me smile just thinking about what they stand for.  Friday Night Lights is practically the only television show that I've ever watched on a consistent basis.  I'm so passionate about this show and everything in it: the proud state of Texas, the southern drawls and 'y'alls' that make me feel at home, the beloved game of football, the brilliant character development and the emotional ride that takes me from tears to elation in each episode.  Coach Eric Taylor, his wife Tami and the kids of Dillon High School seem embarrassingly real to me and have won my heart a hundred times over.  You get the picture :)

As Alex and I continued to get to know the Queens, it was apparent that we needed to share our love of FNL with our dear friends.  It only took one episode and Sarah was hooked.  Since our first introduction a few weeks ago, Sarah and Chris have been tearing through the first few seasons from the Martin library.  We have made two new believers.

CI / FNL Night was born in an attempt to fill our evening with a few of our favorite things.  Sarah and I let the boys decide on the menu and they landed on the Cook's Illustrated shrimp gumbo.  Alex has been asking for CI's chocolate ganache-filled cupcakes so after we finally found all of the ingredients we started cooking!  First the gumbo...

The evening was filled with all things Southern - including Sarah and Chris' first experience with okra!

Sarah's cowboy boots even made an appearance :)

Devaining the shrimp was DEFINITELY the worst part.  Gross.

The gumbo had to cook for 4 hours!

Viola!



And finally, the chocolate ganache-filled cupcakes.

After dinner, we enjoyed the cupcakes over a few episodes of Friday Night Lights.  Alex and I have seen all 5 seasons about twice through now but, if you've ever seen the show, you know that it just doesn't get old.  We're happy to support Sarah and Chris as they discover it for the first time.  A great evening - certainly to be repeated :)

Love until next time...Melanie

Our first visitors...Paris (part 2 of 2)

Ernest Hemmingway once said this about Paris...

"Il n’y a que deux endroits au monde où l’on puisse vivre heureux:  chez soi et à Paris."
(There are only two places in the world where we can live happy:  at home and in Paris.)

Another quote I like is from the movie Sabrina, "Paris is always a good idea."

Ahh, Paris. Its called the City of Love and the City of Lights.  Its also the most visited city in the world.  Alex and I knew Brian and Meghan had to see this magical place while they were on their first European voyage so, lucky for all of us, we just had to hop in the car.

Since Alex and I had both been to Paris while in college, we knew a little of what to expect on our trip.  We decided to rent an apartment for the weekend in the cute neighborhood of Montmarte, in the 18th arrondissement, near the Sacre Coeur.  (We found the apartment on Airbnb and I highly recommend it!)

Here's are some of the things we did and saw...

First, we visited the Sacre Coeur, which means Sacred Heart in French, and the surrounding area of Montmarte. 

The Sacre Coeur

The view from the top!

It was here that Brian and Meghan caught their very first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower :)

That evening, we had dinner at Le Grand Colbert, from Something's Gotta Give, starring Jack Nicholson.  Friends recommended this restaurant to us and it was delicious!

Le Grand Colbert

One of our favorite finds of the weekend was a precious neighborhood restaurant in Montmarte called Coquelicot (coquelicot means "poppy" in French).  We stumbled upon it and the cute bakery / breakfast spot caught our eye.  There were no tourists in the entire place, which was a good sign, and the pastries in the front counter drew us in.  In addition to the pastries, Coquelicot served fresh bread, homemade jam and amazing coffee in big bowls.  We proceeded to go back two more times in two more days :)  They even packaged us up a jar of of their delicious jam for us to take with us.  Love.

The coffee bowls :)

Yummy!

We are full and happy and sure to return to Coquelicot

Notre Dame cathedral was next on the itinerary.  We visited the inside and also climbed the 400 steep steps to the top to get a special photo.

If you've ever been to my house, you know that I love old black and white photos. Alex and I have this black and white photo print from the 1950's hanging in our living room... 

Alex had the great idea to find this location in Paris and copy the photo with us in it, eventually hanging the pictures side by side.  The problem was, we initially didn't know where in Paris the photo was taken.  Even our Parisian friend, Bertrand, didn't know exactly where this lovely shot was staged.  To our surprise, when we arrived in Paris, we saw a postcard of the photo with "Notre Dame" written on the back.  So, the hour and a half line and 400 steep steps were worth the effort to get this special shot...

With a little photoshop to erase the protective "cage" around us, this photo will hopefully look a lot like a modern day version of the original above.  So excited!!

Pause for a sunscreen application for the pale one.  Thanks, sweet, Alex...

After all that climbing, a snack was absolutely neccessary so the four of us made our way to the Ile St. Louis.  This small island is beside the Isle de la Cite, where the Notre Dame is located, and is known for its gelato and ice cream shops.  Rick Steve's travel book mentions this one...Amorino.

Rick Steves was right.

In order for us to see the most of Paris, I chose a restaurant in the neighborhood of Marias (4th arrondissement) for our last dinner.  Les Bonnes Soeurs, which means "the good sisters" in French was delightful.  We were seated literally in the window, which was totally open on the lovely evening.  Our waiter was fabulous and the food lived up to every expectation we had.

Les Bonnes Soeurs

We saved the best for last and saw the Eiffel Tower on the last day.  Nothing says Paris quite like the Eiffel Tower.  It will always be romantic, no matter how many times you see it.  I'm happy to have finally experienced this landmark and the city of love with my husband :)

Love until next time...Melanie







Our first visitors! (part 1 of 2)

I could hardly sleep last Wednesday night knowing that my brother and sister in law were on a flight to visit us in Luxembourg!  Brian and Meghan landed Thursday morning in Brussels and I brought them back to Luxembourg as our first official visitors!

I'd prepared a little itinerary for the 4 of us, which was a challenge since Brian and Meghan were only going to be here for one week.  Between Luxembourg and Paris, there is just SO much to see and do!  We spent half of our time in Luxembourg and the other half in Paris.  It was the perfect combination of exploration, charm and adventure.

Here's a little rundown of our activities in Luxembourg!

- A tour of the Grand Duke's Palace (this is only offered one month out of the year and it happened to be August - yay!)

Brian & Meghan in front of the palace

- A drive along the lovely Moselle River (our wine region and border to Germany) and champagne tasting at Bernard Massard

In the beautiful vineyards overlooking the Moselle

Champagne tasting at Bernard Massard

Our tour guide at the Bernard Massard caves, Richie

Leaving Bernard Massard

- A bike tour of Luxembourg's Grund area

- Luxembourg's 671st annual Schueberfouer Festival

Schueberfouer's ferris wheel

- A train ride to Trier, Germany, which is the oldest city in Germany (16 BC)

Brian and I waiting for the train to Trier

Trier's Roman Ruin, Porta Nigra (2nd Century)

Lunch in Trier

- Drinking hot chocolate at the famous little Chocolate House and sampling macaroons from Kaempff-Kohler

Meghan's first (but not last :) macaroon

- Eating at our favorite restaurant, L'Entracte, and having raclette (a very French DIY meal) with the Queens

A huge thanks to my sister in law, Meghan, for the use of her photos :)  You can also view her blog here, which I'm sure will soon be updated with a post on the trip.  Check back soon for part 2, the post on Paris!

Love until next time...Melanie

A day in Brussels

This weekend, Alex and I made a day trip to Brussels, which is about 2 hours away from Luxembourg by car.  Our friends, Kristy and Jacques, who recently moved to Lux from South Africa, joined us for the adventure!  I've been known to forget my camera at very crucial times - for instance, our honeymoon - and it happened again.  But thanks to Kristy and Jacques, I have some great pictures to share :)

Brussels is known for several things including chocolate, waffels, beer and an odd little statue called Manneken Pis.  Tourists always flock to this tiny "monument" in the old city but I'm not sure why.  It seems that the little boy was a fountain dating back to the 15th century that played an essential role in the former distribution of drinking water.  The little guy has survived traumatic events in the city including a bombing in 1695 and now stands proud (but not tall) in the middle of Brussels.  Evidently, people in the city dress him up in funny outfits year around but sadly, last weekend, we found him only in his birthday suit...

See how small he is?

After seeing Manneken Pis, the four of us headed to the second most coveted thing to do in Brussels - eat "frites," (or french fries).  Did you know that french fries aren't French?  They are Belgian!  Kristy had some some research before arriving in Brussels so she led us to the "best frites" in town - Fritland!

No idea what the flesh colored sauce is below the fries.  I stuck with Ketchup.

After some frites (and a stomach ache), we ventured to the Grand Place, the (ancient) city centre of Brussels.  The gothic buildings were breathtaking!



After a little more exploring, it was time for another snack.  A Belgian waffle...

Alex and I opted for the waffle with chocolate.  We were still full from the frites :)

After snack #2, the 4 of us continued to explore the city and saw several Cathedrals (almost a dime a dozen over here), some chocolate shops (our favorite is Neuhaus) and popped in a famous brewery, Delirium Cafe.  Because Brussels is a popular place for tourists and the streets were packed, we decided to take our explorations to the outer edges of downtown, which turned out to be a great idea.  We saw the Palace of Justice (with views over the entire city) and Kristy found an adorable restaurant for us to eat dinner.  En route back to our car was the best view of the trip but its hard to see behind us...

Meet Kristy and Jacques!

And again a little closer...

Great friends...great day...the end!

With love until next time...Melanie