Blues Rally and an Elephant Parade

Only in Luxembourg. This weekend saw over 60 bands descend upon the Ville for an evening of Blues 'n Jazz.  Nestled in the winding streets of Clausen and the Grund, on a bend of the River Alzette, musicians from around the world convened for a free concert in front of 25,000 Luxembourgers. Also, in a sublime Luxembourgish-way, over sixty elephants have come to town in the form of the International Elephant Parade. After Saturday's concerts I went on urban-safari here in town.

from Wort.lu

The Blues 'n Jazz Rallye was rather impressive, and I am definitely impressed with the caliber of musicians locally. Luxembourgers can play really the blues, who knew? There were way too many bands to describe here, and the crowds were up for the long night of music and merriment...which apparently went on until dawn! Needless to say, your faithful blogger turned in a bit earlier than that :)

The streets were so crowded. There's no way you could fit a car down there...

...and yet this always happens here - even though the roads were barricaded.

I will give a shout out to one local band because I know the drummer's nephew, Bob. Strangely enough the band's name is The Winklepickers. Their lead guitarist is really talented, and you just have to love a band that has The King Under the Mountain playing bass guitar. 

Now on to the Elephant Parade...Apparently the Asiatic Elephant is threatened with extinction in the wild. Again, who knew? To bring attention to this disturbing situation, the good folks at the Parade put on an annual outdoor art exhibit in various cities around the wold in order to raise money for the cause. This year Luxembourg Ville, Trier (Germany) and 'Southern California' are the host cities. These painted pachyderms will go on the auction block in October...I wonder what the syndicate would say if I brought one of these little guys home and parked him on the lawn? -  "Interdit!"

Here's my brief photo safari. Enjoy!

Many of the elephants are just milling about on street corners...

some are sitting in parks...

yet others are trying to camouflage themselves...

and some are just trying to fit in...

but this gal is my favorite!

She's made completely of metal disks welded together. Very cool!

Oh yeah, Tania got a new marker, and all of Rollingergrung now knows this...

A word to the wise for any aspiring street artists...don't sign your guerrilla work with your real name.
 Sergio can smell your desperation, Tania.

Joyeux Jour de la Bastille!

I realize that we do not live in France, but our neighbor to the west is celebrating her independence on the 14th of July. In honor of this occasion, I have created a cocktail. Well, any excuse to try something new and intoxicating :) 

Full disclosure - I did not invent this cocktail. In fact I simply 'modified' the Lilac French 75 from Love and Lemons blog-site. The funny thing about blogs is that approximately 90% of the comments are made by fellow bloggers. We've created a false economy. The only people who read and re-post blogs are people with blogs themselves...I believe we are following the Alpaca Ranchers model. (I know that was a looong way to go for a very, very inside joke. Sorry.)

So, it's the middle of July here in Northern Europe. The lavender are in full bloom, and I just had to pinch a few flowers from the garden in front of our apartment. What to do with with these little beauties? Ah! Infused them into a simple syrup and make a French 75. This drink was invented by a Dough-boy after World War I and is named (appropriately) after a famous French artillery cannon. I can attest that this has quite the 'kick'. Consider this your word of warning ;-0

I took my flowers from the center...the neighborhood dogs sure do like that boxwood :(

To make the lavender infused simple syrup just combine equal parts granular sugar and water then heat over medium burner along with 5-6 lavender flowers until the sugar is dissolve. Remove the flowers and Viola! To make this refreshing summertime beverage all you have to do is mix all the ingredients together. 

Add 1 oz Lavender syrup to 2 oz gin plus one squeeze of lemon and SHAKE.

TOP with 4 oz sparkling wine

I used the local Luxembourg Cremant...

...and enjoy!

A Garden Post

Ahhh...summer in the Ville.

Chestnuts as street trees? Yes, but you can't eat these!

This next thought is absolute, pure, unsubstantiated conjecture. From my vantage it appears that centuries of warfare have imprinted a deep set siege-mentality upon the good people of Luxembourg. They love them some vegetable gardens...and rightly so. I'm sure simple economics has a role to play in the abundance of allotments throughout the ville, but as I see it Luxembourgers have an extra gene that has mutated over the last millennium of beleaguerment, and this unique component compels them to grow food on any arable patch of land within the city limits. 

Terraced allotments below the city wall along the Petrusse river.

Allotments along the Alzette river...

...and yes, you can even find some urban livestock around here :)

That siege mentality isn't for me. I put our patio together with two simple principles in mind; 1.) fun aesthetics and 2.) contain the dogs on said patio. This second consideration came as a sort of after-thought.

First a bit of explanation / history. When we first saw our apartment, the large grassy area out back looked like a perfect place to play with the dogs...or to allow them a quick pit stop in case of rain or snow. Once the ink was dry on the contract and the monies transferred, the Syndic met to review the rules of occupancy. Needless to say the new rules forbid anything other than human traffic in the rear lawn area. Fair enough. This decision did, however, require a slightly modified use of our rear terrace. That's OK - JoJo likes the patio just fine :-)

Now that we are squarely in July, I think I can officially welcome spring...er, I mean summer. Things are filling in well, and the terrace has come together quite nicely. We are sheltered on the northeast side of the building, so when the front of our apartment is being roasted by the afternoon sun we sit nice and cool out back. Ooooo...kinda makes me yearn for a refreshing sangria or perhaps a mint julep...or maybe even a French 75. 'French 75 you say?' Ah! Check back on Bastille Day ;-)

 



 I framed the space with planters filled with dwarf bamboo and ornamental grasses. I then planted rhododendrons along the stairs that lead down to the garages - this is the access for those in our building not lucky enough to have a patio ;-)

The corners are anchored with round planters filled with heuchera, lysimachia, hosta and ferns...the ferns aren't doing so well. I may have to replant next spring. Finally, I framed the (human) egress with smaller round planters that contain fun palms that are supposed to be cold hardy to minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit! We'll see what happens this winter.

The planters and the dining table came from IKEA in Arlon, and the other patio furniture I got at the local Cactus on sale. I bought the grill at the Air Force Base...you wouldn't believe what they cost on the economy!!

Above the perennials in the planters, I planted topiary Hakuro Nishiki 'Dappled Willow'.

I was once asked if there wasn't anything a Mini Cooper can't do. The answer is a resounding "No". Vicki can do everything!

Happy Independence Day!!

Today is the Fourth of July, or as they say in Luxembourg, "Jeudi". Which roughly translates to "Thursday". As far as I know, there are no fireworks planned nor are there parades scheduled. Therefore, today I decided to visit the American Cemetery here in Luxembourg. 

Over 5,000 Americans (including General George S Patton) are buried here, and their remains are only a small fraction of the lives lost battling facsism and the evils perpetrated in the last century. No need for a history lesson here. Today is a day of national pride...not nationalism. 

Please enjoy your bar-b-cues and the fireworks! I shall grill some veggie-burgers (perhaps with some canned Hormel chili on top), and I will be celebrating with you form afar!