Visitors

Two weekends ago we had some of our good friends from Chicago in town for a visit. Alison and Justin Sjovall came to Lux after being in Ireland and the Netherlands. They got here on Thursday, March 15th and were heading back to Chicago on Saturday the 17th.

They took the train in from Amsterdam to us and Aggie met them at the train station in Lux. The three of them just relaxed at the apartment that evening and were sipping on some wine and beers when I rolled in from work. The rest of the evening we just chatted and caught up. It was great to see them!

On Friday Aggie took them via train to Trier, Germany where they walked around and grabbed a late lunch. We said they had to get an Erdinger, a brat, mashed potatoes and a pretzel in Germany. So, they did and all the food was much to their satisfaction! They then came back to Lux and walked around the city center for a bit.

That evening, I was to supposed to pick Emily and Nimesh Patel up at the Lux airport around 7pm. Em and Nimesh were flying in from Prague. They too had been wondering all around Europe the week before (e.g., Rothenbourg, Munich and Prague). Unfortunately, they missed their connecting flight from Prague and instead they got in around 9:45pm….no worries though! We found ways to pass the time (e.g., drinking some wine and beer) and then all 4 of us went to get them at the airport. Talk about a welcoming committee!!

We went straight to dinner at a place called Edelwyss. Edelwyss is an awesome little restaurant in one of the small villages close to ours. The restaurant was packed even though we were just arriving at 10:15pm. The atmosphere in the restaurant was really warm and comfortable, kind of a “homey” sort of feeling.

The main reason you go to Edelwyss is for their raclette. What is raclette you ask? Well, it’s a very European social, eating event that is kind of similar to fondue. (Edelwyss offers delicious fondue too….) Anyway, the server brought out this contraption that is about 15 inches long and 5 inches wide (insert joke here) and set it on our table. There are 2 layers/shelves on this thing and the shelves are about 3 inches apart (one on top of the other, with space in between). Then, he brought out mini cooking pans and mini spatula/fork utensils. He plugged in the contraption and slapped a piece or two of raw bacon on the top shelf to create a grease/oil base for grilling.

Then, he brought out a big bowl of baked potatoes, a plate of raw beef chunks, another plate of raw chicken, pork, beef and cheese, and then a plate of veggies. Plus, he brought out a huge cheese fondue with bread chunks and another of just boiling oil to fry the beef chunks. It was quite a spread!

The best part no one knew what was going on because he seriously just kept coming with things to the table and then running off to get something else! Finally he stopped and the wine started flowing and meat started grilling!

Obviously to eat the fondue cheese and beef chucks, you just “dunk” the items into the pots - the bread chunks into the cheese and the raw meat into the oil. Raclette is a little different. Basically what you do is put a baked potato on your plate and break it up/open. Then you grill whatever meats you want on the griddle’s top shelf. Underneath on the bottom shelf, you take the small pan and put veggies in it; then you lay cheese on top of them. You place the pan on the lower shelf for about 3-5 minutes and the magic happens! You have melted cheese on your veggies that you in turn scrape onto the potatoes. And of course after grilling the meat you can just eat it over the potatoes or melt cheese on it, etc.

That night we all went home, full and happy!

The next day, Saturday, Aggie and I woke up early and took Alison and Justin to the Trier train station where they caught the train to Frankfurt’s Airport. Then Ag and I went to the bakery and got fresh croissants and pastries to enjoy back at the apartment with Em and Nimesh. After breakfast we headed into town to do some site seeing and enjoy the day!

Well, it was St. Patrick’s day and of course, there were two huge 6 Nations Rugby games on….Ireland vs. Italy and Scotland vs. France. So, after walking around for a bit, we went into one of our favorite pubs in the Grund area, Oscar’s, to watch the games. There we enjoyed some Guiness, ciders, etc. At half time of the first game, we headed into the city center where a huge tent was set up for the St. Patrick Day celebrations. In the tent were several stages for bands and then a few big screens that were showing the games. Some of my work friends were there as well and we all just hung out and drank, as people are known to do on St. Patty’s Day.

After the first game (an Irish win) we were HUNGRY! We headed back to the apartment and on the way we called our favorite Indian place to do a take away. Unfortunately there was no answer. Not even a minute after hanging up, my phone rang. It was the Indian place asking if we had just called and wanting to know if we wanted to place an order! He said they didn’t open till 6pm (it was 5:30pm) but that we could get it at 6:30pm if we wanted. Talk about service….
We enjoyed the food in the comfort of our own home and by 7:30pm I was sleeping on the floor! Too much work + rugby and beer + a full belly = tired Matt.

Aggie and I drove Emily and Nimesh to the Trier train station the next morning and off they went to catch a plane at the Frankfurt Airport back to Chi-town.

We were very sad to see our friends go; it was so nice to have them here!

This past weekend we went out to my friend Luc’s for dinner. Luc lives in Belgium and Aggie teases me all the time because I love working with Luc….he is a simple guy, very nice and humble, a good worker, has great family values, etc. So when I get home from work, Ag always asks how my boyfriend is doing! Anyway, Luc and his wife had us and our other good friends Alexandra and Robert out for a relaxing evening. His wife made a delicious 4 course meal that everyone loved….I would have licked my plate if that were socially acceptable!

This weekend Aggie is going to London to visit with our friends, Matt and Brandi. She is also going to celebrate Laura’s birthday. (Laura is Robbie White’s girlfriend.) Apparently they have a Saturday full of CRAZY girl events….can’t wait to hear all about them!

We will be visiting Zurich this week to see apartments. Ag and I are so excited to check out our new hood! Aggie has already been in touch with the Catholic church in Zurich and joined a few clubs online as a way of networking, and we are hopefully in finding some new friends and connections.

That’s it for now. See you later…