Chronicling my travel adventures since 2007
I arrived home yesterday. My last night in Luxembourg was fun, as I went to several locations participating in La Nuit des Musees, where all of the galleries and museums were open until 1am and had special events going on (jazz bands, performance art, cocktails, etc). It was great.
d
When we last met our heroine, she was off to Echternach, deep in the heart of “little Switzerland” and then….nothing. As it turns out that i have been in areas so quaint, that they are internet free! (i apologize if i am making even more typos than usual, but this keyboard is entirely random and difficult to navigate.)
On Thursday i took the bus from Luxembourg city to Echternach, which took just under an hour. It was raining when i arrived, but that did not dissolve my spirits, as the town is so charming. It is kind of like Tallinn, in that it is very small and very medieval feeling. There is a square and a pedestrian street, a church and a school and that’s about it. I checked into my Hotel, Le Pavillion, which was very cozy; i then proceeded to explore the town.To my delight there were hardly any tourists and almost no one spoke English. There were however lots and lots of kids. There is an enormous boarding school in Echternach and after school and into the evening, the kids just roam freely. Some were as young as about 8 years old. They weren’t creepy – like children from a certain movie that shall not be named – they were just hanging out and eating candy. It is hard to imagine people in North America letting children roam unsupervised, but to the best of my observation, not one of these children was being molested. Crazy.
I walked around all the streets at least twice before i decided to venture across the bridge into….Germany! Germany is a stone’s throw from Echternach – literally, I threw a stone and hit German soil. Unfortunately, the town on the German side isn’t very attractive, but I did hike up a mountain path into the forest to see what I could find. (nothing)
Bach to Echternach, I had dinner outside of my hotel, sitting in the stillness, watching people walking sturdy rottweilers and German Shepards and listening to a couple of old men talking vibrantly in Luxembourgish.
And that was my day in Echternach.
I awoke this morning feeling a million times better (still a bit sniffly, but much better).
After breakfast, I took a stroll through the weekly farmers market at the Place de Guillaume II, where they had a lovely array of fruits and flowers. Sadly, I was stuffed from breakfast, so I didn’t try anything.
I then did something shocking….I rented a bicycle! They have those bike that lock up automatically and you rent them for like €1/hour and you can return it to any station in the city. I rode it cautiously at first, only on the sidewalks, but then I was riding in traffic without a care – and also without a helmet. It was liberating to be so reckless. I must say though that people here (and likewise in Paris and Amsterdam) ride bicycles differently than they do in Vancouver. First of all they are better dressed – men in suits and women in dresses. People in Vancouver slap on the reflective spandex just to commute to work. Second, people in Europe don’t ride their bike like maniacs. In Vancouver people are dodging in and out of traffic, always racing. Here everyone seems to ride at a leisurely pace, perhaps so they don’t get sweaty in their fine clothes. Anyway, it was fantastic.
I ended my ride at the train station, where I caught a train to Clervaux, in the middle of the picturesque Ardennes, which makes up Northern Luxembourg. It took 50 minutes to get there. Clervaux is slightly larger than Esch-Sur-Sure, but not by much. It seemed especially sleepy. All the stores seemed to be closed, I didn’t see anyone driving or doing much of anything really, except sipping coffee and walking slowly. It was quite lovely. Everyone there seemed to speak either German or Luxembourgish, not English or French.
I went to Clervaux Castle to see the Family of Man exhibit. The Family of Man is a photography exhibit but together in the 1950s at the Met in New York. It showcases photos of people from around the work taken by a wide-ranging group of photographers. The idea was to show people from everywhere engaging in similar activities to show how people are are fundamentally alike. (Since it is from the 1950s, I suppose it is a reaction to WWII and the Cold War). It is very sentimental, but effective and I quite enjoyed it. I had also planned to visit a museum dedicated to the Battle of the Ardennes, but discovered that from October to May it is only open Sundays.
After a coffee, I returned to Luxembourg City…and to my bicycle. This time, I rode down a crazy, windy hill to the Petrusse Valley and to Grund. I rode the length of the valley and back again. There were any cars on the path I was on, so I could ride as fast as I liked. At one point, which stopped on the bike, some Japanese tourists took photos of me. I suppose I shall end up in someone’s photo album in Kyoto as an example of a LuxembOurg commuter.
I then visited the National Museum of History and Art. It has 2 floors of contemporary Luxemburgish art, including an exhibit by an artist called Foni Tissen, whose work I quite liked. The other floors were devoted to renaissance and medieval works, of which I have seen better collections, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. (Wow, that sounds snobbish!) The lower two floors were all ancient history stuff – Translation: rooms of clay pots and bits of clay pots and bits of metal that once formed part of something useful.
I had falafel for dinner. I had planned to go for something fancier, but it was 6:00 and I was hungry. I am never in Europe long enough to get on to their eating schedule. All the restaurants close or stop serving food between like 3 and 8pm here and, well, I get too hungry for dinner at eight.
I had a cigar at the hotel bar and then went out for a stroll.
It is so warm here today; even this evening i didn’t need a jacket.
The city is very busy tonight. The restaurants and bars are literally overflowing – people milling about outside with their drinks in excited groups. One street even rolled out a red carpet that stretched for several blocks and all of the shops were serving champagne to people on the street. I wanted to mingle there, but it was a very well-heeled crowd and I did not fit in.
I must say that the men here are all very well dressed in nice suits. It looks like a whole city of lawyers and investment bankers, and it probably is.
Tomorrow i head to Echternach in the area known as “little Switzerland”, where i shall be staying the night.
Gutt Nuecht.
Last night after blogging, I enjoyed the most relaxing evening in the lounge at my hotel. I had a cigar and read the New York Times and worked on the crossword puzzle. I also samples one variety of the Luxembourg beverage, L’eau de Vie. Basically it is like grappa, but in stead of being made from grapes, it is made from fruit. There is apple, pear, strawberry, plum, raspberry, and others. I had the raspberry. It was quite nice.
I chatted with the waiter, who is from Germany. He told me that he recently went to Canada; and where do think he went? To Invermere, Cranbrook and Banff. How random is that? Invermere? He thought it was beautiful. He told me that he had always heard that Canada had very good ”weed” and very bad chocolate. When I ordered my beverage he said ”Wunderbar”, of course it sounded like “Voonderbar”. Delightful; I didn’t know that German people actually said that.
I also talked to a Swiss man who has never left Europe because he does not think he could fly because he could not go without cigarettes fro the duration of the flight.
After a sleepless night due to a raging fever and an achy body, I began my day. I took a train to Ettlebruck and then caught a bus to Esch-sur-Sûre, which is North East of Luxembourg City. Esch-sur-Sûre is a tiny little hamlet nestled (that really is the most appropriate word for it) between the mountains in a steep bend in the river Sûre. The ride there was beautiful, past farms with horses and sheep with long tails and enormous cows. The town is tiny – population 250. It took me 20 minutes to walk every street. I played on a swing by the river and listened to birds and watched dogs playing by the river. The air was so crisp and the leaves were all in various shades of autumn.
The town dates back to about the 600s and there is a castle from about 800 on a hill in the centre of town. The castle is mostly in ruin now, but from its vantage point I had excellent views of the town. After a cup of coffee, I returned to Luxembourg city.
This afternoon I visited the AM Tunnel gallery. It is very odd. It is a gallery of photographs (100s of them) displayed in a tunnel 5 floors below the ground. The tunnel exists as a conduit between the various banks in the area (none of which look like banks, by the way; the all look like homes for royalty). The gallery had two exhibits: a vast collection of photos by Edward Steichen and a similar array of photos by Rene Burri. It was very impressive.
I haven’t done much since then; I had dinner (pizza) and I have just been walking and relaxing. I just had some tea and a cigar at my hotel. I am pretty exhausted and still feeling quite ill, so I shall retire shortly.
The weather was nice today: about 17 degrees, cloudy, but not rainy.
Tomorrow I plan to take the train to Clervaux. Details to come.
d
Day two in Luxembourg has had two things working against it: my cold and the rain, which was severe this afternoon. Aside from those two negative aspects, the day has been lovely. I went on a brisk walk in the park this morning before browsing through the shops on the Grand Rue. There is a fine selection of chocolate shops here, although I have yet to sample any. I did however buy a coat. It’s weird, I know, but it is chilly here and the coat is nice; it is black and sort of marching-band-esque. It proved to be a wise purchase in light of the rain and cool temperatures.
I then went to the Casino. No, not the gambling kind, some of you will be disappointed to learn (and you know who you are), it is a contemporary art museum called “Casino” (it was a gaming establishment in the 1800s). They had an exhibit called SK-Interfaces and it was great, although I may very well have nightmares. It was probably the creepiest exhibit I have ever seen – and let’s not forget, I have seen mummies in Egypt, pickled babies in Russia and, yesterday, a jar of preserved fingers. The exhibit was this weird synthesis of science and art that culminated in art such as someone growing tiny leather coats using animal stem cells; some flowers that had been cross-bred with the artists own DNA; a fur coat made of road kill and an accompanying video of the skinning process; a video of an artist who had an ear grafted onto his arm; a display of artful hymens made of human and animal cells; ä collection of “perfume” bottles filled with liquid derived from human sweat and supposedly smelling of actual human fear; and a photography exhibit of a nude woman engaged in rather disturbing acts with a pig carcass. Yep. Not everything was creepy. There was a neat painting that you were encouraged to touch and when you did, the color would disappear (temporarily) from the places you had come into contact with. But by and large it was pretty disturbing (which means I loved it).
The rest of the after noon consisted of me wandering and, when the rain got too bad, hopping from cafe to cafe, sipping on wine and coffee and soup and smoking. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to smoke inside and to SEE people smoking inside. One cafe I walked past was filled with table after table of women with glasses of wine and coffee, smoking contemplatively and reading or writing in books. It just seems so civilized.
I had about a 3 hour nap today. I was wet and tired and I am, after, all, sick. This allowed me to go out this evening for a tea and a stroll. The streets are so welcoming here after dark. Everything feels so pleasant and secure. I have to say that there are a surprising array of inviting cafes and taverns here; they aren’t too loud or too quiet and the decor seems to always be just right.
Tomorrow I plan to venture outside of the city to explore one of the many villages in the country.
Gutt Nuecht.
d.
Good morning, all.
It it 8am on Thursday morning and i am at the hotel, using their computer while they set up another delicious breakfast. I really am very happy with this place. It is delightful and everyone here is so nice.
Ok, so when i last wrote i was heading off in search of food and nargile. I found both. I had dinner by myself but then moved to a different place (one i had been to before or my favorite little street) for smoking. I immediately sat with a group of 3 South Africans (living in London); a woman, her husband and his brother, all about my age. We had a grand time and spent about 4 hours there just hanging out. We then went to a rooftop patio on top of a hostel. It had the most delightful breeze (probably a good view as well, but it was dark). It was terrific. We then went for a bit of a walk before i returned home at 1am.
The next morning i went to Topkapi Palace, which is a palace, but definitely a Turkish one; not at all like the European ones, except that it was lavish. The best part of the Harem, which was decadently decorated. The only downside was that it was a bit crowded with annoying tour groups, although there were far less that at Versailles.
I then enjoyed a coffee in an attempt to wake up, but it didn’t work, so i went “home” for a nap instead. In the afternoon i walked across the Galata Bridge to the North shore of Istanbul which is quite hilly. I went up the Galate Tower, a medieval structure which afforded excellent views of the city, but wasn’t really worth the 10 Lira charge. I meandered my way over to the Istanbul Modern Art Museum (hey, the acronym for that is “imam”. Weird.). I really enjoyed the museum. It is a new institution and is indeed quite modern. I must admit, however that the installation piece by European artists were on the whole better than the paintings by Turkish artists, but even those had their merits. There was this amazing installation called “False Ceiling” which was all done with books, which i loved.
I made the long walk bank to Sultanahmet (the area where i am staying), stopping for baklava on the way). I had dinner and smoked the nargile for about 4 hours, by myself this time.
Today i plan to take a cruise on the ferry up the Bosphorous.
Oh, yesterday when i was sitting outside enjoying my coffee something fell from the sky and nearly hit me. What was it? A chicken’s head! I gasped in horror. The waiter removed it for me, chuckling at my disgust. I assume it was either a cat or a bird that dropped it and that it was not some sort of weather phenomenon, but it was disturbing nevertheless.
One more thing, if you plan on coming to Istanbul and you smoke cigars, bring them with you. I ran out and i can’t find so much as a cigarillo here.
Yesterday we hit (nearly) all of the main tourist sights.
We walked from our hotel to the Louvre – a beautiful walk. We stood in line for no more than ten minutes and were inside. The museum is, of course, overwhelming with all there is to see, so we picked a couple of areas of interest and saw the “essential” sights.
We saw the Mona Lisa. I have never been a big fan of the picture, but i thought that it may be one of those works of art that one must see in person to ‘get’ it. I still don’t. No wave of transformation swept over us. We both agreed that there were more impressive works to behold at the Louvre. Napoleon’s apartments were very impressive and the Dying Slave is a masterpiece of homoerotic expression in marble.
From the Louvre, we strolled through the Tuilleries Gardens, watched the little boats in the fountains and a painter capturing the scene.
We continued past the obelisk down the Champs Elysees where Betty Lou bought a bottle of perfume.
Finally we (triumphantly) reached the Arc du Triomphe. BL enjoyed the breeze at the bottom while i made the climb to the top to take in the view.
On our walk back to the hotel we stopped for a dinner of cheese fondue and red wine, in which Betty Lou partook.
In the evening we went to the stunning Paris Opera House (the old one) and watched a very unusual performance of an Italian opera called “The Prisoner”. I can’t say that I liked it, but I enjoyed it. Betty Lou did not and at one point leaned over and said to me “I am going to sleep now.” And she folded her arms across her chest and slept for the duration of the show.
It was a very full day.
Presently, it is Monday morning and we are off for breakfast and then on to the Eiffel Tower.
Au Revoir!
d&b
Today we took the metro to Montmartre, and walked in the footsteps of the French bohemian elite. Betty Lou was delighted with the charming village atmosphere and oodles of artists displaying their wares. We wandered through the narrow passageways past the quaint and the touristy alike. In one of the churches we visited we walked in on a wedding! (I know, yesterday it was a funeral…tomorrow we are sure to stumble upon a baptism.)
We then visited the Sacré Coeur and took a stroll through the delightfully seedy Pigalle area, past the “Sexodrome” and other peepshow venues.
Another short Metro ride whisked us to the Père Lachaise cemetery. We meandered through the grounds in search of a few special graves: Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and Proust. It was no easy feat, but we managed to locate them all. Jim Morrison’s grave was especially impressive, due to the throngs of pilgrims leaving flowers and pouring liquor on his grave.
After that we visited the bustling Marais district, and then walked to the Pompidou, where I went in to gaze upon the best of modern art, while Betty Lou opted to sit outside in the evening air and watch the street performers.
Walking back to our hotel, we had dinner at a delightful cous cous restaurant. Shortly it is off to bed for us weary but contented girls.
That is all for us, except for one important message: Happy Birthday, Dawn!
d&b
Our first full day in Helsinki was a busy one.
| Dale at Helsinki Cathedral |
We visited the Helsinki Cathedral (the big white one that overlooks Senate Square) and the Uspenski Cathedral – you would think we would be burned out from visiting so many churches at this point, but we’re not. We went to the market which occurs every morning down by the water. It is sort of like a temporary Granville Island – people selling produce and fish and handmade items, souvenirs, etc. There was live music (which included one man using a moped as a percussion instrument) and the weather was most agreeable.
We had coffee on the Esplanad, which is basically a pedestrian street/park which is lined with cafes, shops and public art installations. For those of you who know South Beach, it is sort of like Lincoln Road. We had coffee and watched a marching band parade around the area. We don’t know what the marching was all about, but it felt festive.
We checked out some of the shops in the Design District before hopping on the number 3T tram, which winds a figure eight through the city in about an hour and goes past most of the sights. We hopped off after a full loop and visited the Kiasma museum of modern art, which is a truly stunning structure, slightly reminiscent of the Guggenheim from the inside, but with quite a different exterior. The art was interesting, the best exhibit being one from Asia, which depicted mostly disturbing installations and sculptures inspired by political upheaval and poverty.
We had a fabulous dinner at a classic Helsinki restaurant…the name escapes me, but I suppose it doesn’t matter.
Today has been more leisurely. Slept in until 7am (yes, for us that is sleeping in), went out for breakfast and then took the metro up to another market, which was not too different from the one we went to yesterday, but it did get us to another part of the city and to another church (quel surprise).
Today is especially warm and sunny and it seems that every Finn is out with their dogs and strollers. They are sunning themselves on lawns and benches and every sunny cafe patio is packed. We did manage to find a place to enjoy the weather a bit as well.
We went to the Design Museum today, which we both enjoyed quite a bit. It had a history of Finnish design and an impressive exhibit by Finnish design students. After that, I napped on a park bench while Betty Lou read Chekov and ensured that no one mugged or molested me.
We may take in a movie tonight, as there is a cinema near our hotel. In Russia the American movies were all dubbed into Russian, but here they are in English with Finnish subtitles.
Tomorrow we fly back to Amsterdam. I shall be sure to double check our departure time to avoid another error.
We will be home very soon. I can’t imagine how anyone can be missing us, with our daily blogging, but hopefully some of you will be pleased by our return.
Ok, that’s all for now.
Good evening, faithful readers.
Until next time,
Dale & Betty Lou