Nutfest

We heard about Nutfest, we saw signs for Nutfest, people warned us it would be packed - still, we weren't prepared. "Veiner Nëssmoort" was a big, big event. It's all about walnuts and the (sorry) people who go nuts over them.

Traffic into Vianden was shut down, completely. We had to park along the roadside a couple kilometers up the hill from the village, among hordes of other vehicles. As we made our way down, we started to see little vendors - like this woman - selling nuts. "How quaint," we said.

It was crazy. There was loud music, lots of people, kids drinking vodka (straight from the bottle), beer tents, security officers - we had a hard time making it down the street. This was no quaint little nutmarket.

The people of the region make all kinds of walnut products, including many liquors and alcohol. Vin de Noix was popular and tasted like vermouth.

Nut breads, nut pies, nut cakes, nut candies, nuts in chocolate, nuts in honey, nut creams...

Nut pates and nut meats. The guy selling these pates was a very heavy man. I tried to get a picture of him, but he was being swarmed by customers - probably because he was handing out samples and telling jokes.

These were nut pastries, which we didn't try. Why not? They weren't made with walnuts! This stand wasn't doing much business.

The local fire brigade had a beer tent going, and we stopped by to give them a little support. We bought two beers and two shots of "Nut - Bailey's," which tasted pretty much exactly like regular Bailey's. I'm not really sure what that was all about.

There were a lot of stands that were just selling walnuts, of course. People were buying them by the kilo. Walking back up to our car, we passed people who were carrying huge sacks of them - literally tons of walnuts changed hands that day!

This was our haul from Nutfest: One huge loaf of nutbread, one tin of nut pate (wild boar nut pate, if you're curious), one small nut cake/pie thing and one small bottle of Vei'ner nossdropp. The man who sold us the liquor gave us a choice - the nossdropp or some nossliquor. What's the difference? "The liquor is twenty percent alcohol, very sweet," he said. "The dropp is forty-five percent, not sweet." Obviously, we went for the dropp. It tasted pretty darn good in our tent last night.

The Grund

This is The Grund, which probably means "The Ground," but might mean anything. It is a sliver of Luxembourg City that is at the bottom of the ravine along the Alzette river. The view from the Old Town, at the top of the ramparts, is really terrific.

Our bus route into town followed the bottom of The Grund, right along the main street, but it took us a while to descend down from the main, higher part of the city into the neighborhood.

This view is from further along the ramparts. The city used to be (and still is, to an extent) immensely fortified, especially at its strategic peak in the eighteenth century, and the walls and cliffs below the main part of town are still difficult to navigate. The road down has a lot of switchbacks. On our last day, by chance, we found a handy elevator that ran between the high and low sections of town.

On our first visit to The Grund, there was an art fair going on. The art wasn't spectacular, but the fall day was beautiful and there were a lot of people sitting around, drinking. There are a number of great restaurants and bars down in this area, and it feels more like a neighborhood than the higher part of town - which is dominated by high end retailers and the Grand Ducal palace.

There were some great views from the river of the Old Town, and we came back here on a quieter day during the week to sit and spend some time having a coffee. Luxembourg City really is an amazing place - we're surprised at how few tourists there are. It is certainly one of the more dramatically situated cities I've ever seen, and it has such a wealth of cool eateries and cultural experiences that it seems strange that more people don't visit. In the few days since we've left, I've actually started to miss it a little.

Swiss Luxembourg?

Here we are in the Müllerthal region of Luxembourg, which is called Little Switzerland. Actually, it's called Kleng Lëtzebuerger Schwäiz, in Letzeburgisch. I can kind of see why, because they have some hilly mountain-type features and some great geological events. It's not the Alps, though.

To the Northeast, the Müllerthal is bordered by the Sauer river and Germany. It took us about half an hour to drive here from Luxembourg City. It's pretty countryside, and we took a long hike today up along this ridgeline that runs parallel to the river. The rock formations were very pretty. We did some clambering around through tight spots and semi-caves. It was a beautiful day, we were enjoying the walk... and we really misjudged how far it was between towns.

Because it was way past noon and we were hungry, we decided to steal some apples. We passed by a few orchards on our walk, but they were all fairly well guarded. The one in the picture above had an electric fence around it (to be fair, it was a pasture) and a few other trees were behind thick hedgerows or barbed wire.

Finally, we found an unguarded tree - we thought - and picked a few nicely ripe Äpfel. They weren't without scabs, and they weren't ideal eating apples, but they hit the spot. A few paces down the lane, we saw that we had been watched. A man tending his roses gave us a withering, awful look and grunted as we passed. He wasn't too pleased about the American kids stealing his fruit.

A little further on, we found a few blackberries - barely a handful each - that had survived the end of fall and the other hikers. They were delicious and perfectly ripe.

When we got back to the town we're staying in (Bollendorf, really only a village), we crossed the river to get a bit of coffee. We didn't even think about the fact that we were crossing a border until we noticed the language difference on the signs. This is the view back across the river, from Germany, towards Luxembourg. The picture isn't great because the sun was going down right behind that hill, but it's all I have. The building in the forefront is a cafe and gas station. Beside every border crossing - so it seems - you'll find a gas station. Everyone knows that gas is really cheap in Luxembourg.

MikeDonald's

Yes, that is an giant Michael Jackson monument in a McDonald's parking lot. I saw it from afar, as we were driving off the highway on our way to Luxembourg and had to investigate. Is that... no it couldn't be... yes, it is... a giant Michael Jackson with flowers and notes at its base. Once inside (to use the bathroom and the free WIFI), I found it made more sense. This was a McDonald's like no other I had every seen. First, there was another Mike shrine.
The drawing of him as Peter Pan sort of creeped me out.
There were a lot of Elvis posters, an old Coca Cola machine and an enormous, rotating Marilyn Monroe. Yes, the grate she's standing on blew her skirt up sporadically.
There was also an upside down car hanging from the ceiling and, if you look closely you'll see that the waitresses wore shirts that said "Rock N Roll" on the back.
The only sign it was the Netherlands was the trash can.

Let the Driving Begin!

Our car has arrived and is ready to hit the Luxembourgish road. All the gory details and lessons learned will be in an upcoming post entitled "How to Ship and Drive Your US Car in Europe," but here's a general rundown of how our last two days went.

We left Luxembourg City for Amsterdam, where our car had arrived by boat on Monday. We had yet to hear when, where or how to pick it up, but decided to head on over in the meantime. We booked Wednesday night at a Best Western and hoped to be back in Luxembourg by Friday. We were told to call Hans, our car shipping contact, on Thursday at 11am - which also happened to be check out time.

So, there we sat, in the hotel lobby ready to call Hans. Our main concerns, besides the small matter of when and where, were:

1) Could we buy temporary car insurance at the port. We knew we would not be able to drive it away without it, but the only company we could find that provided what we needed was in (what are the chances?!?) Luxembourg City. The problem was, we needed to be able to get it from the Amsterdam port to Luxembourg City.
2) Would we have any problems at Customs. Hans had said we needed "proof of temporary stay" and that we could only keep the car in Europe for six months. We didn't think either of those things were true. Either way, we didn't want to say the wrong thing and be turned away. Customs can be scary.

After a quick call with Hans we learned that we could go pick it up immediately, it wasn't too far away, we could purchase temporary insurance right there at the port and Customs was in the very same building. Off we went!

We arrived at the office and were met by a very friendly, very tall, young man who smiled and handed us a simple form to fill out. He then gave us our insurance card and said he would drive us over to pick up the car after he had a quick sandwich. We asked him about Customs and he said, "I am Customs" and smiled again.

After his lunch, he drove us over to another office that was to verify our papers. He walked us in and, to our surprise and amusement, he walked right around to stand behind the reception desk and process our paperwork himself. Then, with a wave, a "Come on" and another smile, he drove us to our car.

There it sat, in a see of American classic cars. We wish we had taken a picture. Our Subaru Outback looked so funny next to the Corvettes and Mustangs from the 1970s and some amazing trucks from the 50s. Apparently, Europeans like going over and buying car toys and then shipping them back.

And that was it! When we were saying goodbye, we asked our Port Angel what his name was and he replied, "Boss." By the way he said it, we could tell that it wasn't a nickname. Thank you, Boss.

Oh Duchess, My Duchess

Above are Henri and Maria Teresa, the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. Henri is the heir to the throne and Maria Teresa is a Cuban-born commoner he met in college. We didn't actually meet the royal couple. This is simply a google image. However, we saw their faces everywhere - displayed in store windows, on postcards, etc. Walking around Luxembourg city you saw Duchess Maria Teresa's Cuban influence immediately.
Okay, to be honest, Brussels and Amsterdam both had as many Cuban or Hispanic inspired bars and restaurants. Each had as many Che t-shirts as a shop on St. Marks Place. I was just much more aware of it because of the lovely Maria Teresa (and my Cuban relatives back home).
Went went to this place to try out their mojitos (which were pretty awful) and found the walls lined with cuban cigar boxes and portraits of Che and Fidel. The free tortilla chips and salsa seemed a little misguided, though.
This "Brasserie-Restaurant" was actually a tapas bar that we wound up visiting twice. We were easily the youngest patrons by about twenty years and, aside from the lovely older woman preparing the food, I was the only female in the place. The waiter was a thin, balding Spaniard with a handle-bar moustache who first addressed us in French, then English and spoke to other customers in Luxembourgish, and the cook in Spanish.

That seems to be the norm here. At any given time, you will hear Luxembourgish, French and German being spoken in a single conversation. All three are official languages of this tiny country. You may also hear some English, Italian and Spanish. There is a big Portuguese population here and about 60% of its banking industry is foreign. Almost every Luxembourger is at least bilingual, usually tri.

The Grand Duke and his Cuban Grand Duchess exemplify this diverse country perfectly.

Apple Day

There we were, meandering through Luxembourg City on a dreary day (it's been damp this whole country, so far), heading in the general direction of the bus stop so we could go home, feeling a little tired and cold... Then: Apple Fest!
There were a few tractors circled up in the Place Guillaume II like a wagon train preparing for an attack. We swooped down on them, hungry for some pommes.
There were apple tarts, cakes, and beignets. Also, baked apple, and candied apple. Also, sausage - without apple, and a little out of place.
There was also a beer cart, doing some brisk business. For a while, a young boy was manning the taps. He really couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen.
This was our favorite stand. The friendly guy on the right was doling out little shots of some very tasty apple brandy and eau-de-vie. The brandy was a little sweeter than "real" brandy, but the eau-de-vie was definitely full proof. It made us feel great about the day and about Apple Fest in general.
There were some people pressing fresh cider, too. Here they are taking the press apart. I don't think that the guy in red had done this before. His job seemed to be, mostly, poking at the mash and asking questions. We left feeling very pleased, a little tipsy and quite good about the Autumn.

Foggy Memories

Our days in Vianden were mostly rainy, but one was just clear enough for us to break out our trusty walking map, pick a route and go. While the rain held off, the fog never lifted and most of the scenery was completely hidden behind a grey, cloudy curtain.
We ran into a number of different animals on our three and a half hour loop. Cattle, sheep, horses. They would all turn to look at us slowly as we passed by. They had a similarly bleak view that day, so it's no wonder we interested them so much.
There were a few campsites on our way, but this one peaked our interest most. I'm not sure if you can tell that well, but the contraption above had a grill that you could crank lower down above the campfire and back up again. Merlin imagined cooking on it. I imagined warming my socks.
At one point there was this sort of open air, roofed structure with a few benches. It offered a view of Vianden Castle. At least, it would have if not for the fog. We looked out and imagined it sitting right there, overlooking our hotel, which had a nice warm bed waiting for us.
Before we reached home, we walked through an immense sunflower field. There seemed to be miles and miles of them, all facing the same direction. It must have been a brilliant scene just a few weeks ago.

Castle Hunting: Vianden Castle

I had a lot of trouble taking pictures of this place because it was so darn misty while we were in Vianden. Rebecca has already illustrated how difficult it was to see the castle from afar, and I found myself almost unable to focus on it from any great distance. This picture and the one below are the clearest shots I was able to get during the day.
As you can see, it is quite high up above the main part of the town - although there is a road that winds its way up towards it, and there are some buildings that are closer than the ones in this picture.
This was my castle hunting food: local "pate aux noix" procured from the butcher shop. The woman who sold it to me said that it was made with walnuts, but the nuts in it tasted a lot more like chestnuts. It was good on bread, by itself - kind of sweet. I liked the crunch.

The castle was restored after the Grand Duke gifted it to the country thirty years ago - it had been stripped of a great deal of its walls and ceilings by a scrap-merchant who bought the place from the Dutch king (who owned it, I guess, at the time) in 1820. It has been very well restored, judging from the pictures we saw. There were a lot of rooms like this, though - pretty big and empty.

This is the well. It wasn't really that deep, but looking down into it gave me the heebie-jeebies.

This is the view from one of the top rooms, out over the town and the surrounding hills. The views were amazing, but unfortunately most of the windows had faux-old glass in the panes, so it was difficult to see out.

Last night it was clear enough to take this picture from our hotel window, which doesn't show a whole lot. It's pretty evident that they waste a huge amount of energy lighting it up like this. It's not as though this is a big town, with a lot of people to look up at the castle at night.

No "Battle of the Bulge" Jokes

As Merlin said, the National Military Museum was really impressive and our trip there wasn't as much of a lark as we had maybe expected. That's the thing about this entire part of Europe, there are so many WWII themed museums and statues, there is so much history that you begin to take it for granted.

That being said, there were still a few things that gave me a good chuckle at the Musee National d'Histoire Militaire. Though, I only snapped pictures of two.

This is Hitler's head. Not his actual head, though that would be a pretty incredible artifact, but a bronze one that was found amongst the belongings of a German troop. What I love about it is how handsome they made him seem. Adolf Hitler did not have that jawline.
Then, there was this lovely mannequin of a female captain. All made-up, even in wartime. I'm not sure if you can see her eyeshadow, but I assure you it matched her blue turtleneck perfectly.
I told Merlin the other day that being on this side of the ocean makes World War II seem both bigger and smaller to me. Bigger because it is very clearly a defining line in their history and smaller because you hear it referred to often and casually as "the war" (as opposed to "The War.") It affected everyone here, which makes its memory both pervasive and commonplace.

I think that's why I loved the helmet turned into a flowerpot at the reception desk of the museum so much (first picture of this post). They, along with the bullet shells below, just seemed to sum up something for me. So, so perfectly.