The Schleck brothers

Ok, I admit it.  Though I own a road bike, until moving to Luxembourg I had no idea who Frank and Andy Schleck were.  Turns out, they are two (really famous) brothers who have put our little European country on the map in the sports world.  Frank Schleck, 31, and younger brother Andy Schleck, 26, are on the Luxembourg cycling team, Leopard Trek.

Frank Schleck (l) and Andy Schleck (r) just made history by being the first brothers to stand on the same podium at the Tour de France, which just finished this past Sunday.  Though Andy Schleck led much of the race and, from what I understand, was expected to win, he ended up coming in second place and Frank, third.  Clad in Schleck jerseys, Luxembourgers everywhere have been going wild.

As a treat to the city, the participants of the Tour de France did a mini-race / gala last night in Luxembourg center.  Alex and I met some of our Luxembourgish friends (and the Queens, of course) for the event and it was a really big deal (complete with fireworks)!  Thousands of proud Luxembourgers showed up to cheer everyone on and to watch the pack of racers from all over the world make 50 laps around our city center.  Here are a few pictures...

Huge hot air balloons greeted us as we walked across the bridge

The cyclists wizzing by

The boys on the sidelines

And, though this video doesn't do a good job capturing the cyclists' speed, can I tell you, these guys were going FAAAAAST!  Here's a glimpse of what I saw from the sidelines...

The fun thing about the event was that it was an actual race!  Frank Schleck took first place and Andy, third.  Here's Frank on the podium.  Photo courtesy of a much taller Chris Queen (thanks :)

Congratulations to the Schleck brothers - Luxembourg's biggest celebrities!

Dearest Luxembourg...

Dearest Luxembourg,

Furry boots aren't exactly what I had in mind for our first summer together...



This photo was taken yesterday, Sunday, July 24.

Sincerely,

Your newest resident; accustomed to and fond of hot, humid southern summers

What I miss about home and how Luxembourg makes it up to me

Because living in Luxembourg has been such bliss, I hesitate to write a blog on things that I miss from the States.  I want to preface this entry with: I adore living in little Luxembourg and I wouldn't change a thing about it.  Even the things that I "miss" below make my new home uniquely perfect and I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to immerse myself in this culture for the next few years.

And now, in no particular order, the short list of things that I'm missing...and how Luxembourg makes it up to me in so many ways...

1. YOU
Of course, the thing that I miss most from the US is you- my family and friends.  Though technology has made it so easy to communicate with everyone back home, not seeing the faces of my sweet family and friends for such a long period of time is tough. That said, I'm so very excited that we just booked our plane tickets home for Christmas!  We will be in the States for 2 weeks in December - staying in Atlanta and spending a weekend in Nashville. I can't wait!  Do pencil us in!

The flipside: We have had the opportunity to meet some of the most fantastic and lovely friends in Luxembourg!  Though we've only been here for three and a half months, we've already grown to care about and love so many wonderful people from Lux and all over Europe.  For each one, we are so thankful!

2. Sundresses and stilettos
The weather in Luxembourg, I must say, has been quite a surprise!  We had a month of summer in April (conveniently, the month we arrived) but the daytime temperatures have been in the high 50's to high 60's ever since.  I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon in July wearing skinny jeans, tall boots and a sweater - sundresses tucked away in the back of my closet (tear).  And shoes...I love shoes.  I specifically love my heels.  The walking-everywhere-way-of-life combined with the cobblestoned streets in Luxembourg has caused me to temporarily bid farewell to some of my favorite shoes in exchange for, well, more boring ones. 

Shoes I've temporarily bid farewell to:

The B-team (short for Boring), recently forced to the A-team position:

 

The flipside: There is not much of a flipside to the current temperatures and lack of sundress-wearing currently taking place in Luxembourg but the increase in walking (though be it in B-team flats) nicely balances out my increased pastry and carb intake.

3. Mexican food
Speaking of food, I never realized how much I love Mexican food (or how often I ate it) until arriving in Luxembourg.  Alex and I went from eating it several times a week to being forced to quit our chips-and-salsa habit, cold turkey.  John Ko, this is a plea to you - Local Taco Luxembourg?  Please.  We're desperate over here! 

The flipside: The bakeries in Europe - specifically Luxembourg - are amazingly decadent.  I've never experienced desserts like I've experienced them here.  Europeans know how to bake and their rich pastries make up for the absence of enchilatas and burritos.

4. Sonic diet vanilla coke (with extra crushed ice)
Its nearly impossible to find ice in Luxembourg and throughout most of Europe. Crushed ice?  Not a chance.  The more painful part of the beverage issue for me is that only .25cL Coke bottles are served in restaurants. The .25cL bottle is 1/2 of the amount in a Coke can, to give you an idea.  No refills. Water, which is not served complimentary at any restaraunts, is also offered for about $4 per .25cL.  Let's put it this way, I stay thirsty because it pains me to pay $4 for a beverage that I can down in 3 gulps.

The flipside: Europeans love their wine and coffee.  The wine comes from grapes just down the road and the coffee is strong and oh-so-delicious.  Coffee (or expresso) is enjoyed after every meal and usually once in the afternoon with a chocolate or biscuit (cookie).  I can definitely get used to this (and my body will thank me for the drastic decrease in aspertame).

5. Crosspoint
Crosspoint, our church back in Nashville, is amazing and unlike any church I've ever had the joy of being a part of.  We were heart-broken to leave such a special place where truth was taught and where people lived what they believed.  Thank goodness for the internet - we're tuning in as often as we can online. Pete Wilson and Blake Bergstrom, we miss you!! 

The flipside:  Our church here in Luxembourg, All Nations, has been such an answer to prayer.  The community has drawn us in and for that we are so grateful!

Love until next time...Melanie

Parlez-vous francais?

As many of you know, French is one of the main languages in Luxembourg.  Unfortunately, because I opted for the "easy" course in high school (which was Spanish), I arrived in Luxembourg knowing about two French words - thank you and please.  The only other language experience that I had was a miniscule amount of Mandarin Chinese from my stint in Cheng Du 10 years ago.  This, as you can imagine, hasn't exactly been helpful.

Luxembourg natives speak Luxembourgish, French, German and often English.  Because they are already ahead by several languages, I'm taking it upon myself to learn French while I'm here.  I have the time and the resources, thanks to Caterpillar, to take 100 hours from our precious tutor, Rosella...

I'll never forget the first time Rosella arrived at our house a few months ago.  She must not have received the memo that this was going to be the most beginner of all beginner French classes because she spoke NO English.  This made for an interesting few weeks of class but soon, Rosella started trying out some of her English, which isn't advanced but a heck of a lot better than our non-existent French.

I adore Rosella. She's the cutest, happiest and hippest little French lady who travels all the way from France (about a half hour) to teach us (Alex and me) twice a week.  She teaches me how to say important phrases like "I want to buy those shoes" and "How much does that dress cost?"  :)  Rosella and I have become great friends and she loves learning English expressions from us as we learn French from her.  I assure you, there are going to be French and Luxembourgish people over here saying y'all before too long!

 

Luckly, because of my relaxed schedule here, I have time to study French every day or two.  My very place to study down the street is a cute cafe / bakery called Namur.  My order at each visit is a Cappucino Italian and an occasional macroon.  Delicious...and the perfect mid-afternoon treat!



My view from the terrace isn't too shabby, either...



Studying this language can help me out only so much - its speaking it properly and without my accent that's nearly impossible.  I try to speak the little that I know around town but nine times out of ten, the person with who I'm speaking replies to me in English.  They can definitely tell that I'm American and it probably hurts their ears the way I'm butchering their language. The French language, though lovely and very romantic, uses sounds that simply don't come naturally to English-speakers.  Certain words with an "r," sound more like you've got something stuck in your throat than an actual word.  Deep down, though, I think everyone around here appreciates the effort, thus I will continue with my lessons.  Hopefully over the next few years, I will persevere and, by the end of our time here, be unilingual no more!

Our First Soiree

June is a huge month of vacations and celebrations in Luxembourg.  The biggest holiday of the month (and one of the biggest of the year) is the Grand Duke's Birthday which is June 23 and a National Holiday for all of Lux. 

Because of our close proximity to the festivities in the center of town, Alex and I decided to have a little pre-party.  We knew that at midnight on the 22nd, the day before the holiday, there would be a huge fireworks display over the bridge in the Centre right beside our apartment. There would also be music stages set up all over downtown and thousands of people would pack into the streets to celebrate on the Grand Duke's dime. 

Alex and I invited our new Luxembourg friends and had a great turn out of close to 20 people.  I decided that the party should be cakes and desserts, since it was a birthday party, afterall.  I spent the day in the kitchen baking and here's a sneak peek of the spread...

Chocolate and vanilla layer cake with cream cheese icing...

Chocolate and strawberry tarts...

Fruit skewers...



I also had cupcakes, cheese (every party in Europe must have cheese :) and a few bowls of jelly beans that I was thrilled to find in a cute little store in town.

The party was so much fun and we loved the chance to introduce our friends to each other.  Here are a few pictures, though I didn't get many because I was enjoying conversation with everyone and simply forgot to take more!

Sanne and Julie, my Dutch friends who work at the Netherlands Embassy

Sara and Valerie, native Luxembourgers, in addition to Sanne and Julie

And my South African friend, Kristy, at the fireworks show

Speaking of fireworks, they were amazing and quite timely for 1.5 weeks before our 4th of July!  The show was much more extravaga that I was expecting; though I should start expecting that of Luxembourg.  The partying in the streets was also waaaaay more than I was anticipating.  People warned Alex and me that we may not get much sleep this evening because people tend to party (loudly) in the streets under our apartment for most of the night.  Luckily (and surprisingly), we did get sleep but not before briefly checking out the scene in the streets.  Here's a glimpse of what I saw - watch the left side of the screen closely for the dudes breaking it down and turn your volume up for the full effect :)

Happy Birthday, Grand Duke Henri.  And what a birthday party it was!

Love until next time...Melanie





In Bruges

There is a not-so-famous movie from several years ago starring Colin Farrell called "In Bruges."  Its really quite terrible so don't see it but go there if you ever have a chance - its just as lovely in person as it was in the movie. 

This weekend, Alex and I took a trip to the little town of Bruges.  Bruges, located in Northern Belgium, has been called a tiny Venice because idyllic canals wind throughout the cobblestoned little city.  We've heard that Bruges is a "must" and Alex and I found out this weekend why people adore it so.

As I mentioned before, Bruges is known for three things: chocolate, beer and lace.  There is a chocolate shop on every corner and we did our share of eating it.  Alex and I returned with several boxes of chocolate and I must say, chocolate from the little chocolate kitchens in Belgium is truly better than any chocolate I've ever had at the Godiva store at Green Hills Mall :)

Upon arriving in Bruges, Alex and I walked 10 minutes from the train station to our hotel.  I was a little nervous about the hotel because it was surprisingly in our budget and the hotels, overall in Bruges, seemed a bit pricey.  When we opened the door to our room, I was delighted!  We had a large bed, lots of windows, 3 sky lights and beautiful hardwood floors!  Not to mention, the room included a free breakfast.  The Martin's LOVE free breakfast :)

Because I love food - and the food in Bruges was outstanding - I want to share a few of the highlights in case you ever find yourself hungry in Bruges :)  Our first meal - lunch on day 1 - was at Kaffee Pergola - a hard-to-find and perhaps-a-little-too-upscale-for-lunch spot overlooking the canal.  It was so romantic and delicious!  Alex and I both had fish that was caught from the ocean about 20 miles north of Bruges. See how cute!

After lunch, Alex and I took a canal ride to see the sites including the famous bell tower, the Church of Our Lady, the Bastilica of the Holy Blood and the oldest pub in town, dating back to 1515.  Here are a few pictures...

The beautiful bell tower at night

A delicious sugar-dusted waffle (and popular afternoon snack)

Alex perusing the beer menu at the oldest pub (circa 1515 - that's OLD!)

Our dinners in Bruges were off the charts.  Another restaurant that I have to mention was called Tom's Diner. Recommended to us by the Queens, Tom's Diner alone was worth the 3 hour train ride to Bruges.  On the outskirts of town in an old building, you'd never find Tom's unless you were looking.  http://www.tomsdiner.be/

One of my favorite parts of our trip was our bike ride to Damme.  Alex and I rented bikes for a day and headed North along the canal to the next town several miles away called Damme.  Here I am at the bike rental shop prior to the trip.  Yes, I'm unfortunately wearing a lot of clothes for June.  I'm not in the South anymore :(

Alex and I decided to take some video of the ride so we made it into a little YouTube link that you can view below.  There are a few pictures, along with a few minutes of video.  Please forgive the bumps - we were riding on cobblestone and that is VERY evident in the taping :)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUNxNI9WtSI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy!

Love until next time...Melanie

Luxembourg fun fact #3: Location, location, location

As I've previously mentioned, I didn't know exactly where Luxembourg was located when Alex asked me if I wanted to move there.  When I found it on the map, I noticed it nicely tucked in between France, Germany and Belgium, smack in the middle of Western Europe.  What I didn't realize then was how easy it would be to get from Luxembourg to so many other amazing places in Europe.

Luxembourg City (where we live) is 30 minutes from Germany's border, 30 minutes from France and 20 minutes from Belgium.  Where else can you live and be in 3 countries in a half hour?  Since the EU (European Union) formed, its not even necessary to show passports crossing from one country to the next within the EU so traveling is that much easier. You have to pay attention to know you've entered another country!

Alex and I have taken trips with friends to the following adorable cities by car/train:
Trier, Germany (great shopping)
Ribeauville, France (great wineries)
Arlon, Brussels (I can't brag on this one - I only saw the inside of the Ikea :)
Maastricht, Holland (cute shop-lined cobblestone streets)

This weekend, we'll be in Bruges, Belgium, which we've heard is one of the best little towns in all of Europe!  Bruges is known for 3 things: chocolate, beer and lace. The canals and little boats resemble those of Venice but lucky for us, its only a 3 hour train ride! (Pictures and details to come!)

Luxebourg's prime location also causes it to be quite the tourist spot, especially in the summer.  I had no idea that I'd see bus loads of tourists arrive in the city every day.  Large tour groups and their clicking cameras always greet me when I walk into the City Centre.  It makes me wonder why I wasn't familiar with this wonderful place prior to living here!

Lastly, I'll leave you with some pictures from our weekend to Budapest!  Alex's fraternity brother and friend is Hungarian and has recently moved back to Budapest.  Alex and I said yes to his girlfriend's invitation to surprise him for his birthday so Alex and I booked a last minute flight to Budapest for the long weekend!

The balcony of Alex's friend's apartment, overlooking the entire city

Our Friday night activity - silent disco - in downtown Budapest

Alex's friend's buddies play polo and we got to see a match!

Alex and the birthday boy on the balcony overlooking the beautiful Parliment building

Our sailing trip on the Balaton River outside of Budapest (Thanks, Dr. Kaali!)



Love until next time...Melanie