The weeks leading up to Christmas were a little bit hectic and we missed some highlights in our blog. So let’s step back in time a little bit, shall we?
The week before we came home for Christmas (Sun, Dec 17th-Fri, 22nd), Ag’s dad and sister, Theresa, decided to take a little trip to the Grand Duchy for a visit (fyi, the official name of Luxembourg is “The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg”). The night before they came, we had gone out to Trier, Germany to hang out with Laura and Robbie, along with Laura’s dad (Jerry) and his friend (Mike) who were in from Ireland. There was a Heineken Cup (rugby) game on between Munster (Irish team) and Bourgogne (French team). Munster is the team that Rob and all his family and friends follow. Anyways, we went to a bar in Trier to watch and were all so into the game! It was a great time and we definitely shared some laughs , beers and good food that night. We even did a “Sing-Song” (which Ag erroneously but cutely calls a “Sing-Sing”) at the restaurant after the game and sang old Irish songs!
On Sunday, Ag and I woke up and were planning on picking her family up at 11am at the airport. Ag wasn’t feeling too well and I will spare you the details, but let’s put it this way, she couldn’t go to the airport to get her family. We thought she had food poisoning from the dinner the night before…..I went on to the airport by myself and found her dad and sister at the airport with no problems . We got back to the apartment and I went on to work.
Somehow, Ag got up enough energy (and bravery) to take them into the town to see the Christmas Markets. When they got home, Aggie was feeling worse and her dad, being a pharmacist, really wanted to get her some medicine. Of course, EVERYTHING was closed since it was Sunday (there are definitely no Walgreens’ here!). Long story short, we had to go to the neighbor’s to find out which hospital and which pharmacy was the “24 hour” hospital and pharmacy that weekend (apparently all the hospitals and pharmacies in Luxembourg rotate this duty every weekend). Then we had to go to that pharmacy and buzz in and get what we needed. Plus, we got to pay a little more because we were there on a Sunday. It’s nuts how things operate around here!
The next day, I went on to work first thing in the morning (as it was Monday). Ag was feeling much better and she and her family went back to their originally scheduled itinerary. On to Paris!! They caught a mid-day train and got to Paris around 4pm. The hotel was close to the Louvre and in an awesome location, within close proximity to all the other major sites.
That night they walked to the Louvre, went down along the Seine River, weaved in and out of the tiny streets and found an awesome little restaurant waiting to welcome them in. After a yummy meal of cheeses, wine, duck, potatoes, etc, they went on to the Eiffel Tower. Now if anyone ever goes to the Eiffel Tower and you are debating on if you should just go to level 2 or if you should spend the extra 4 euros to go to the top (level 3), go to the top! It’s worth it.
They then walked to the Ave des Champs Elysees, saw the Arc De Triumphe and window shopped…basically they covered the Michigan Ave of Paris. What was really weird though is it was 11:30pm at night and all the places were still open (Sephora, McD’s, and lots of other places). A lot different than Luxembourg!! They ended their walk at the Place de la Concorde and headed back to their hotel.
The next day, I got a text from Ag saying Theresa was sick! Basically she caught whatever Ag must have had (it wasn’t food poisoning?) and she was out of commission. The good news is that their dad was a genius and had brought along all the medicine they just got at the pharmacy. So, while Theresa rested, Ag and her dad went to see the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was a beautiful, yet brisk morning and Aggie said walking along the Seine River was awesome.
Because Theresa was sick, they decided to try and get back to Lux so that she could be “home”. Theresa managed to get on the subway and onto the train to Lux, only letting her dinner go once! When they got to Lux, Ag and her dad dropped her off at the apartment and while she slept, they went back to the train station and went out to Trier, Germany! (Don’t worry folks, Theresa insisted that they go!)
Aggie and her dad walked around at the Christmas markets in Trier and then met up with Laura, Robbie, Eoin and some of our good friends at the Bitburger House. I came in the Bitburger to basically say hi to everyone and pick Ag and her dad up. That night, Aggie’s dad got sick!
The next day, instead of waking up early and heading out to their next destination, everyone slept in and rested. Around 2-3pm everyone was feeling okay (Ag, 98%, Theresa and Mr. Bill around 85%). They caught a train to the Alsace region of France. Alsace is along the Rhine River between Germany and France. The area is basically a beautiful area of rolling hills, vineyards, castles and quaint villages. They took the train to one of the villages, Colmar.
When they arrived in Colmar they headed to the hotel that Ag had called that morning and made reservations with. However, when they got to the hotel, it was locked!? The good thing is they did not ask for a credit card number to reserve the “room”. So, it was around 7pm and they didn’t have a hotel…..they went across the street and found another motel with availability and just opted to stay there.
They then went to check out the town and grab some dinner. The village had 6 or 7 little Christmas markets throughout the area and the town was decorated for the season! They found Café Leffe (which, to add, Leffe is an exquisite Belgian beer here!) and ate, drank and were merry.
After walking around a bit more after dinner, they headed back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest so they could hit the town the next day!
Breakfast was served at the hotel and it was a decent spread of breads, cheese, yogurts, etc. Afterwards, they walked around the markets and visited a few shops. The town had cobblestone streets and the stores and homes looked like something you would see in a snow-globe! It was really clean and pleasant and Ag said it was almost a surreal feeling, looking around at where she was.
By 11am they had everything covered! (The village was really, really small.) They decided to get on a train and head back toward Lux and stopped in Strasbourg, France for a bit. From there, they got back on the train and then went on to Trier, Germany. Ag had wanted Theresa to meet Laura and Robbie and to see that town too.
They all grabbed dinner there that evening and then caught the train back to Lux. What a day! What a week! Unfortunately, Aggie’s family left then on the Friday morning. That day, Ag organized, cleaned and got things ready for our trip to the States. We then left early Saturday morning for our flight to the USA!!
So, that was about a month or so ago. Over the next few blogs, we’ll keep “catching up” on what has been going on between then and now. In the pipeline, we have some interesting stuff, including trips to Chicago, Seattle, and Egmund Aan Zee (NE of Amsterdam). So keep checking back. We also think we figured out a way to bypass our USB problem (see the last blog) and still get our pics up on the web (which is always fun!).
Other stuff going on at the moment….I am working a ton as always. If you didn’t know, we were given the opportunity to stay for an extended period of time (another 18 months, probably). We are so torn about that because we absolutely love living here in Europe. Just love it. But I can’t keep working these hours anymore. It’s disappointing because if things weren’t so crazy with work, everything would fall into place perfectly. But I only get to see Agnes for a few hours a day and the rest of the day I’m stressed out and it’s just not fun. Unfortunately, E&Y Luxembourg has worn me out and we are definitely planning on being back in Chicago in June of 2007 (we think…another possibility has come to light over the past two days which we don’t want to comment on b/c it’s too early to say anything). Anyways, being back in Chicago is fine too, because we have lots of fun adventures and plans at home too (for example, a wedding!).
This past weekend we went to see this UK band, Razorlight, play downtown. The venue was excellent because it’s small enough that you feel you are really part of the show and only 500 people are allowed in. Tons of our friends were there too which made for a very fun evening! We then went out in the Grund for a while and finally called it a night around 3am!
Laura and Robbie had us over to their place in Trier, Germany for an engagement celebration on Saturday night. We did Raclette, which is similar to if we had fondue set up. So we ate lots and drank some Champagne and some Cremont (basically Champagne, but it can’t be called Champagne b/c it’s from Luxembourg and not Champagne) and called it a night!
Sunday I worked and Aggie did some things around the apartment. We then watched the Bears win that night! Woo-hoo! I can only imagine how crazy Chicago is right now!?
Well, stay tuned to read about our trip to the States! That will be the next one…
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