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Just a quick post with a link to a great 'Photo Postcard'. While complaining about the snow can be fun and a way to keep warm, we often forget to just look around and enjoy the beauty...and what a better place to do so than the Fairytale-esque Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 

Check out this link to the online newspaper The Wort. 

I know I post a lot of links to this site, but it is a wonderful resource...in English! Please enjoy your day whatever the weather! The photos below are mine, and don't even compare to the professional pics in the link above ;-0

Walking through Cimetière Notre Dame

This is that crazy little chapel built into the cliff wall along the Petrusse River

Spring is Nigh!

Now, this is how you celebrate the end of Winter!

The Beurgbrennen is a Luxembourg tradition dating back to Celtic times. Originally a bonfire was lit on the solstice to welcome spring. Now, the first Sunday of Lent is used to mark the end of winter and the eminent arrival of spring...thank Esther! What better way to celebrate the changing seasons than with FIRE! Since the Ville is replacing / repairing the Pont Adolphe, the official celebration took place in Beggen this year rather than the usual site in the Petrusse Valley. The temporary bridge footings make it difficult to host a bonfire down there - yeah, they're building an entirely new bridge to make way for the repairs! We don't do anything half-way here in Luxembourg.

Pont Adolphe Straddling the Petrusse Valley - Built 1903

Jeni and I bundled up and headed up to Beggen to see this Rite for ourselves. Apparently the original bonfires were lit and attended only by the men of the village. Now the convention is to have the children light the fire as a symbol of the new replacing the old...kinda morbid, but please watch the video below to see how the evening unfolded.

Checkin' In - Pre-Beurgbrenner

This is what I looked like after getting caught out in a freak mini-blizzard!

 
Sorry for not posting for a while....we've been in the Winter Doldrums here. This has been a snowy February so far, and there's not been a whole lot going on. Earlier in the month the Luxem-Kids celebrated Liichtmessdag - a kind of winter Halloween. Young children create these sweet little lanterns and go around in the evening singing songs for candy. We had only one group come through, and since we were ill-prepared (i.e. no candy), we simply hid and refused to answer the bell.

Other somewhat notable issues I can share are the rooster next door and a truly passive aggressive Luxembourger. First, we have a little neighbor in our building, we'll call her LuLu. She is about 2 years old and can be quite fussy at times. I thought it was all the time until I realized the home owner next to us has a rooster that doesn't know how to crow. No 'Cock-a-doodle-doo' here...he kind of moans a long 'ahhhhhyeeeeaaah'. Sound's just like a toddler having a fit, and he does this at all hours of the day and night. Jeni thinks he's confused because we really haven't seen the sun in about two months! He finally gave us a proper crow the other morning, and that's how we deduced there was a rooster living next door rather than the saddest toddler of all time. Secondly, I came across this sight when walking the dogs. Luxembourg City has the poop-bag stations all through town (probably more needed with a get out the scoop campaign), and I for one take full advantage...many others do not. It's apparently a cultural thing. We're told it's worse in Belgium, but that may just be backyard rivavlries in the BENELUX.

Here's a poop-bag station by the hospital...

...and here is either the laziest of most passive aggressive dog owner ever!!

Tonight is Luxembourg's turn for the Beurgbrennen. It's a ritual to welcome spring. Jeni and I are planning to attend, so I'll bring you all the highlights later this week. Stay tuned!

400 Hours

Yep, that's what I was told. It takes about 400 hours of practice before you start picking up a second language. I sure hope that's the case because we are on our way...I just hope fits and spurts of 30 to 45 seconds count toward the cumulative effect.

1/2 Kilo of greens - or approximately one shopping bag full

I recently went to our local farm market down in the main square of the Ville to pick up some fresh produce. It seems that our grocery store hasn't been able to secure baby spinach for a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd try my luck in finding it down at the farmer's market. Now, I'm pretty good at pointing and asking for, "three red peppers" or "200 grams of shiitake mushrooms". My accent must have totally befuddled the poor merchant when I asked if she had any, "épinards". When she motioned to a box of leafy greens on a back table behind her counter, I answered, "yes please" and wound up with half a kilo (that's a lot of leafy greens by the way) of Swiss Chard. 

The lovely little chard - don't even try to eat that stalk.

Undaunted, we were determined to use these casualties of pronunciation. For me - a long time vegetarian no less - Chard has always been a word that conjures visions of bitter leaves the size of a tennis raquets. In actuality it's quite tasty, and it turns out a great alternative to spinach! I'd rather have a fresh substitute from the Moselle valley than some spinach that may have been sitting in a warehouse for who knows how long. I don't intend on creating a cooking blog. If you'd like to follow a creative (if not quirky) chef, check out Halite and Pepper....very fun and full of great ideas!  We found our great recipe for Spinach with Raisins and Pinenuts at Epicurious.com. This allowed us to use quite a bit of our chard in a yummy side dish served with a Mujadara from the FoodNetwork. We've always enjoyed this combo at our favorite Lebanese restaurant back in Virginia...when in Alexandria, please visit :)  Mujadara is a wonderful dish of lentils and rice full of spices and caramelized onions.

Here's what ours looked like...not too bad for a couple rubes from VA.

Yumm-O! This is all part of the great adventure. We are learning to be flexible, creative and above all else patient. We are ever so grateful that our adoptive country is even more patient with us as we strive to straighten out this awkward learning curve!!

I did mention Luxembourg has some seriously hard water, non?