Decision 2012!

Apparently there's some sort of contest taking place back in the States. Which is unfortunate because this is distracting from the real debate...which home should we choose to live in for the next three years?!

With Jeni out of town training for her new job, you, dear reader, are in for a real treat...a rousing game of Home Hunting International*

**Note** I don't want any push-back from the Scripps people** 

She can even make Kevlar look good!

Not to reopen old wounds, but I must reiterate how tricky the real estate market can be here in Luxembourg. It is also quite pricey. Most rental properties require three months rent deposit. The deposit plus the first month's rent plus the realtor's fee (equal to one month's rent) plus the Value Added Tax (TVA) of 15% requires renters to pony upwards of €10,000 just to move into an apartment that goes for €2,000 per month!

Since the plane landed, Jeni has been constantly working. My main mission, therefore, has been to find a place to live.  I've spent my days walking the city which is comprised of 24 individual districts in order to get a feel for the 'lay of the land'. I've pretty much seen them all in some capacity...yes even Pfaffenthal and Hesperange! All the guide books (and even the City's own tourism website) mention only the few they feel are noteworthy. I can assure you there are things to see in nearly every corner of this lovely Ville. That said, we decided to narrow our search to a few preferred neighborhoods.

Our criteria for the Luxem-Home are quite simple;

1. We want a place with at least two bedrooms so that guests have a place to stay when visiting.
2. The neighborhood should be walkable with shops, cafes and restaurants nearby.
3. Must be near public transit.
4. And, there must be some open space nearby for the dogs to get their exercise.

We quickly realized that neighborhoods closest to the City Center would be the most appealing.  We decided to look at places in Belair and Limpertsberg due to their proximity to Jeni's office in Capellen. We absolutely fell in love with Bonnevoie, a 'working class' (not my words) neighborhood bordered by the Gare Centrale (main train station in Luxembourg City) and the River Alzette. Other hot-spots would be the Ville Centre itself, and Clausen or the Grund in the Ville Basse. Sadly, limited inventory and high prices make these last three areas a bit difficult at this time. I intend to describe in detail our favorite spots here in town soon, so standby while I compile this post :)

View from above the Grund. Ville Centre is to the left and Clausen in around the bend behind the rock ledge in the background. The glass skyscrapers are EU offices, etc on the Kirchberg Plateau.

I won't feign brevity here...I know this will most likely be the longest post ever. Please bear with me as we go on to the house hunt! 

We further narrowed the search to three potential places:

 The Apartment in Belair

First we found a move-in-ready two bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment in Belair. The Belair address is really in name only as this part of town is just now being developed. Since this and the surrounding buildings are quite new, there hasn't been time for any of the amenities to arrive. There is ample open space here, but the area is quite isolated. There are no real shops or cafes within any comfortable walking distance.

Here's the building - nice and brand new! Note the wide streets.

Plenty of green space but the view is of the neighboring units.

Lots of storage - There's even a third bonus room to act as a walk-in closet!

Amazing open concept apartment with a slick modern kitchen. 

The rooms aren't huge, but a queen bed will fit nicely.

Tidy bathroom - good size as well for Luxembourg

The Townhouse in Bonnevoie

Next we take you to the largest quarter of Luxembourg, Bonnevoie. This three bedroom, 1.5 bath townhouse is by far the biggest of the top options. This home has a great garden space (perfect for the dogs) with many updates including hot water supplied by solar panels on the roof. Built in the 1950's the house has both charm and quirks. There's a bonus room on the top floor. The bonus room is fully fitted, but you have to go through Nunny's Attic to get there. This home is also just on the edge of town. There are a couple of restaurants nearby, but most of the amenities are about a 20 minute walk toward the Gare.

Super cute - and BIG!

Fully updated kitchen.

Private, fenced in rear garden.

Clean and renovated bathroom.

Water closet on the first floor - check out the tiny sink?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the basement. Jeni thinks this looks like an autopsy room :-O

I did mention this is at the edge of the city...this is the end of the road. Great place for the dogs to run.

The Duplex in Bonnevoie

Let me begin by translating 'Duplex'. Here in Luxembourg this means a two story apartment. This duplex has two bedrooms and two full baths with a huge terrace! The building sits far from the main road and there's loads of grassy space in the common courtyard for the boys. The first bedroom and bath are on the main floor and have access to the veranda. The kitchen and 'great' room are more or less an open concept that also spill out onto the terrace. The second bedroom and bathroom are on the upper floor with a loft / landing at the top of the stairs. This home has its quirks as well. The roof lines add a challenge for furniture layout, but the neighborhood has everything you can think of; groceries, pharmacy, cafes, restaurants, bars, etc and it's a quick walk to the train station.

It the upstairs unit on the left corner of the building

Nice open kitchen with loads of storage.

Immense grassy courtyard

The view from the terrace.

Bedroom 1 - note the roof line. Wait there's more...

Downstairs bath with 'Italian Shower'

Upstairs bedroom - yes that's about 18" of clearance along the far wall!

Loft / landing area

Upstairs Bath  - nice tub and shower. Along the back wall is a glazed glass insert to allow in more natural light.

So...which shall it be? I will tell you that all three options have designated covered parking, will allow the dogs, have additional storage on site (known in Luxembourg as a 'cave' - pronounced "caahv") and all are just about the same relative price. But wait...since I've already wasted so much of your time, I think it's worth bringing in a wildcard - Rollingergrund!

 

 

 The Duplex in Rollingergrund

I must admit that I didn't even know this district existed until recently. Rollingergrund is literally a deep valley - gorge almost - that divides Belair from Limpertsberg. It has the Medieval village charm of the Ville Basse but not as many amenities. This two bedroom 2.5 bath duplex has a large patio and a semi-private garden only accessible to the other tenants of the building.  Both bedrooms have on-suite baths. Bedroom #1 has a walk-in closet while bedroom #2 boasts a private balcony. There is also a 1/2 bath (water closet) on the first floor.

The 'village' of Rollingergrund is really just a ribbon of homes and shops along the valley road.

Another slick modern kitchen...

...with an open concept living area.

The large patio area.

The patio stretches onto the common area - good news for the dogs.

Nice bathrooms and even...

a walk-in closet! Quoi?! That never happens here!

Now we have a real dilemma on our hands. Which do we choose? Will it be the finished space in a new section of town? Will it be the older home with lots of space? Perhaps the Duplex in a great area with an awkward roofline? Or will we choose the wildcard in the gorge?

As of the writing of this post, there has been no committed lease, so you'll just have to wait along with us to see how things turn out. 

STAY TUNED!!!

A Royal Affair

This weekend Luxembourg let her hair down and celebrated with the Royal Family as Prince Guillaume (heir to the throne) married Princess Stephanie of Belgium.  I must say, not being a royal-watcher, they did a nice job. Extravagant but not too flashy. All of the preceedings were held right in the Centre-Ville quarter. From what little I've seen of the Luxembourg Royals, they are pretty good at what they do, and they appear not too full of themselves. I've even heard rumors that one may bump into the Duke himself on the streets of Luxembourg City. 

Royals arriving on Thursday - view from our room.

Two days of celebration were followed by two nights of revelry. In our hotel we were sitting smack-dab in the middle of 'Ground-Zero',. We were able to watch all of the preparations as the second-string nobility filed in. There were Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses, Sheiks and royals of all stripes from such far flung places as Morocco, Japan, Sweden...Bulgaria...Lichtenstein? Who new? Our hotel was under 24/7 armed surveillance. Rarely do you even see police in the streets here, but this weekend they were out in force...and heavily armed! Everyone (police and well-wishers alike) was very polite and helpful (as is the way with the Luxembourgers), but did I mention the police were heavily armed?

Yowza!

By far my favorites were the motorcycle cops. These guys (and gals) were swarming the city. I just love the outfits.

It was a bit dark...

...ah. Here's a better shot :)

 Here are a few parting shots of the preparations and the evening festivities. They set off the fireworks quite early (8:20pm to be exact), so we had to get what shots we could from a restaurant down in the Grund.

Why they needed oak trees inside is anyone's guess

Here's to the newest Royal Couple!

Week One is in the Books!

We've officially completed our first full week in Luxembourg...hooray! 

Yumm-Oh! Apparently you need to thoroughly shred the roof of your mouth in order to speak French correctly

There is a particular rhythm to the daily proceedings here, and unfortunately we're not quite in step with the locals...yet. For instance, if one wants to eat, say between the hours of 2pm and 6pm, and one doesn't want to be scrutinized by the servers then one should lunch in the tourist district of the Centre-Ville Quarter. This is the easiest way to get nourished on the street between 'normal' dining hours. You may ask, 'What if I'm nowhere near the city center?' Then my most recent discovery, the 'Snack' style restaurant, is the way to go. The 'Snacky-Resto' looks just like any other cafe but they tend to only be open until 6pm at the latest. Normally they are cleaning up around 3pm, but so far everyone has been very accommodating as my stomach tries to navigate the time difference.

No matter what the sign says...there is no Mexican food in Luxembourg :-(

Sunday was also a bit of tricky. We're still not quite sure how the Holy Day works here. Evidently Luxembourg is a strongly Catholic nation, therefore all stores are closed on Sunday. There may be exceptions, but we didn't see any. Some restaurants are open, but their kitchens apparently close between lunch and dinner. We're still working on what, exactly, these hours are. I'm sure we'll noodle this through, but so far it's just been trial and error.

A cute little Chapel built into the cliff walls of the Petrusse Valley

Yes - It's real!

The house hunt continues. Luxembourg has its own way of doing most things, but so far the real estate market takes the prize for most unique. Homes and apartments are listed on a couple of websites for all to see. If you are interested in a place, you simply contact the listing agent to schedule a viewing. That particular agent is responsible only for that particular listing (though I assume they can have more than one listing at a time). So far I've been in touch with three separate agents for three different properties. We have at least two more to contact. Of these three agents none have any other properties they are allowed to show us. According to the info I've received from the agents, July through September are the busiest months for rentals. This makes sense as it coincides with the children changing schools, etc. This may actually work in our benefit, since the homes that are currently on the market will most likely be there in a week or two. The mad rush is now over, and we can simply choose from the remaining inventory. The problem is that we're dealing with the remaining inventory. We've found a perfect place in a not so ideal location, an ideal location with a quirky 'duplex' and a not so great place in an OK neighborhood. We'll play a game of House Hunter's International once we make our selection...stay tuned! 

PS - The city's gearing up for a Royal Wedding this weekend. Lots of activity all around town, and it appears our hotel is hosting many foreign dignitaries...can't wait until they meet our Petite Princes!

H.R.H Jojo I and The Viceroy von Wigglebottoms waiting for the Royal proceedings

Le Domestique

That glass cube behind JoJo is our shower!

Toby slumming with the binkies

So far so good. Nothing too crazy to report yet, but things are moving along well. I'll have our guest blogger, Jeni, describe her first day on the job a bit later. The hotel that we found (OK'd by Jeni's office travel service, mind you) is really really nice. It certainly exceeds our Euro-expectations. The boys have settled in well, but I think they're going to miss this Beverly Hills lifestyle. The decor is quite modern with hip electro-lounge music piped in everywhere, and the staff is Tipp-Topp friendly (that's our second Luxembourgish word meaning 'super'). They even brought Toby a special dog bed today since he had been slumming it on the side chair with some old blankets from home. It appears he prefers the Grande Ducal's bedding to those we brought along.

 

Yeah, he literally kicked the old binkies to the floor!

Aside from the amazing view of the Centre City, this room boasts an incredible shower. Granted it's smack dab in the middle of the room, but who cares...

It rains up in here!

The rain shower is a great amenity, and it's been quite helpful since I've been walking the entire city not only to get the boys their exercise but also to get my bearings. I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but Luxembourg is a city full of stairs. I've been climbing up and down this bloody ravine for days now! It sure is beautiful, though.

Our hotel is situated between the Gare District and Bonnevoie. We have tons of Cafes and Restaurant quite close by, and I even found some nice hiking trails right here in the heart of Luxembourg...who knew?

Just a random hiking trail off the side streets in Bonnevoie

I have the first viewing for an apartment scheduled in the Belair neighborhood. Geographically this may be quite nice. Belair is situated just north of the Centre on the east side of the city which is closer to Jeni's work. Since her work is just about 7 miles east of Luxembourg City she won't be competing with all of the people pouring into town each morning. There's also a huge park in this neighborhood with great access to the Petrusse Valley. 

There are so many great places yet to be explored. I'll be on my way back out soon to check out Hollerich and Limpertsberg. I'll leave you with a final picture...this is what I found after returning from one of my excursions.

I really don't know what goes through his head!?

Toby obviously used the abundance of luggage to build a scaffold in order to hang out on the desk for a few hours.