A November to Remember

Cimetière Norte Dame after All Saint's Day

As far as months go, November rarely stands out as one that invokes a lot of nostalgia. Sure there's Thanksgiving at the end of the month, but mostly it's the just a cold period after the onset of autumn and the before beginning of the Holiday Season. Here in Luxembourg, the only official holiday is All Saint's Day on the first. Thanksgiving is celebrated sporadically among expats from the US and Canada, but mostly this is a time to get everything sorted out at the office before Christmas and the ever-popular winter ski season. The good news is that Jeni and I were able to find a slew of events to keep us busy even if an ad-hoc Thanksgiving isn't in our future this year.

Just after the dust settled from our Halloween experience, Jeni and I attended the 239th Annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Elsewhere in the world, an invite to such an exclusive event would be hard to come by…not so much here in the Grand Duchy where there are exactly five (5) active duty marines. To fill the remaining seats in the banquet hall, our Marines send out invitations to the myriad of expats, former military members and of course those of us in the Ice Station Zebra community. The evening was a "Class A - Black Tie" affair, so of course, Jeni and I had to go for the experience. We were joined by our friends Tom and Oivi, and in yet another surreal experience, Jeni and I were the only Americans at our table that night! Yep, in a room of 200 people (mostly Americans) we found ourselves dining with an international cohort from Japan, India, German, France and Finland. It was a lot of fun, but perhaps the highlight of the evening was when the Guest of Honor, a Three-Star General, took the floor and executed a flawless version of the Electric Slide (or whatever the kids are line-dancin' to today).

Otherwise, this was a very nice evening in which we had the opportunity to get dressed up in formal wear and rub elbows with all sorts of interesting people.

Standing next to a Marine always improves you posture!

As you know, I am still participating in the local Ultimate Frisbee Club, and November has seen quite a bit of activity on this front as well. Last week was what we shall refer to as "the week of the flying disc."  There was a tournament on the weekend as well as the usual training, but the highlight (ahem) was our team's presentation at the Sports Gala for a nearby town of Differdange. 

In an effort to expose more Luxembourgers to our niche sport and increase our own team's profile, we decided to put together a short production on the sport and about our team. This was followed by an exhibition of our mighty frisbee skills. Yet again I found myself in a banquet hall full of people, buffets and loads of glass stemware. This time (and I really don't know how I find myself in these situations) I was to hurl a 175 grass piece of plastic over the heads of a few hundred athletes and their families. What could go wrong?

Yep, that was my view from the tribunes above the banquet!

Fortunately I made it through the throw-and-catch without causing any damage, but a couple of teammates weren't as lucky. An empty glass was clipped, and someone just happened to make contact with the head of an elderly gentleman. He was not injured, nor was he amused. It's a good thing the errant throw came from an attractive blond German because although she apologized profusely (auf Deutsch) it could have been much worse if I had to try and sort that mess out!

Yeah, I appear to wearing something form the Captain Kirk Collection. Weird.

November's real highlight came two weeks ago when Michele's mom visited from Bologna. Somehow we coerced her into a Pasta Workshop…the night before she was to fly back home! Yes, we were able to strong-arm Michele's mom into teaching ten of us how to make the perfect pasta from scratch. Participating in this workshop will definitely go down as one of the most memorable moments Jeni and I have had so far in Luxembourg. How often do you get the opportunity to watch an Italian Maestra create home made pasta, and then try to replicate? Almost never…that's the answer! 

Héléne and Thierry forming the dough...

…and my attempt which ended up better than any previous pasta I've made!

Sheer Genius…It must be said that I did request workshop, and I'm ever-so-glad I did :)

I have made my own pasta numerous times, but observing Ivana form the dough, work it into a pliable mixture and run it through the pasta machine was absolutely sublime. I think I stole at least a dozen techniques within the first 30 minutes of her 'demonstration.' There must be something genetic because she made it look so easy, but by the end of the evening, we were all in the swing of it. The best part, by far, was eating our results. Michele and his mama, Ivana, had already prepared an authentic Bolognese sauce, but they were gracious enough to make Jeni and I a Gorgonzola sauce which led to another discussion entirely. Apparently we broke centuries of tradition by actually topping a tagliatelle noodles with gorgonzola. Just to appease the pasta gods, we were served gnocchi along side a small portion of this "experiment." 

Tamara, Michele and Ivana…a true Dream-Team in the kitchen! 

Now that I have hopefully made you hungry, let's get ready for Thanksgiving. We don't have any real plans this year. There are sporadic dinners in the area, but nothing that makes one feel like he's at an authentic family feast. Of course, we miss our families and dear friends. Our new acquaintances have partially filled this void, but, unfortunately, this doesn't make up for the time apart from our loved one's back home. I suppose that's one of the downfalls of the Grande Aventure. That said, we miss you all, and we are wishing you the warmest Day of Thanks in 2014! Eat a bunch of food, drink a little too much and enjoy each others company. We'll be thinking of you! After you've dined, I hope you experience a scene like this while you watch the big games :)

All that's missing is an empty bottle of Lancer's and the warm glow of a 60" plasma TV.

Oh where to begin?

Apparently I use that phrase a lot in the blog, but it is often very appropriate. Bear with me as I regale you in this my latest bit of blog-arrhea. After the monumental first nine months of 2014, Jeni and I laid low and relished in the relative calm during the month of October. That's not to say we sat idle and binge watched our backlog of shows on Netflix (which we also did). In the last month we've hosted and have been guests at a bevy of informal events. There was our latest foray to Burgundy with Tom and Oivi, dinners with friends, day trips, frisbee tournaments and of course the Epic Halloween Party in Kirchberg!

Boo.

In the two years we've lived here in Luxembourg, we have

* - I know this may not be realistic...

been very fortunate to find so many wonderful people with whom to share our grand adventure. Just as the leaves began to turn and the evenings brought the crisp chill of autumn air, Tom and Oivi once again invited us down to Culles les Roches in the Burgundy Region of France. Forgive me if I am repeating myself, but one thing you must put on your bucket list is, "find a friend with a country house in Burgundy.*" Dining al fresco in the French countryside is such a wonderful experience, and the weather last month was stupendous. Our days were bright and sunny with mild temperatures, and at night a cool mist would roll in from the surrounding hills making the fireplace cozier and wrapping the quaint village in a gauzy ether. Our garden project continues, albeit a bit slower than anticipated. Contractors can be the same everywhere is appears. Undaunted, we will persevere. This is becoming a personal challenge for me, and I am using these little trips to better understand the cultures we are discovering.

…but you should try :0 Thanks as always, Tom!

Culles les Roches.

JoJo and I on an early morning stroll along the abandoned rail lines.

I won't bore you with all of our comings and goings, but suffice it to say we've been happily active on the dinner scene recently. Our next stop, however, was the bucolic Belgian region of Gaume. Less than an hour away by car, Gaume is in the French speaking section of Wallonia. While Wallonia has its many detractors (the Flemish speaking Belgians being some of the loudest), I personally find it charming and it reminds me a lot of the Piedmont regions of Virginia and North Carolina. Because it is in venerable old Europe, there are loads of historic sites and, of course, the Abbeys where they brew beer and make fabulous cheese! We shared our day trip to Gaume with Christian and Paloma. First we stopped at an ancient priory that has been converted into a restaurant and hotel. Needless to say, even in dog-friendly Belgium, three dogs was a bit too much for their dining room, so we had our aperitif in the gardens and went on our way.

The main house at Le Prieuré de Conques

The owners were very nice, but still couldn't see a table of three people with three random dogs filling their lovely dining room. Christian was a bit crestfallen, but the proprietors told us of a fun bistro a bit further down the Semois River. There we set up on the terrace and enjoyed a traditional lunch of omelets, wild mushroom toasts and wild deer (of which Jeni and I did not take a bite). Our boys sure seemed to enjoy the rare treat as Christian shared with them. I think he takes pity on our dogs because Jeni and I are vegetarians. That's OK, I think it reminded Toby and Jonas of our time at our old country house where deer hooves were like manna from heaven!

Photo by Erik Verdonck - www.belgian.beertourism.com

That takes us to Halloween. While the rest of Luxembourg prepared for All Saints Day, our friends Michele and Tamara were busy setting up a shin-dig like few others in the Grand Duchy. As you can imagine, Halloween isn't quite as big in Europe as it is in the States. We were actually caught off guard last year when a troupe of Tick-or-Treaters came ringing the bells in our apartment building! That said, this year we stocked up on candy, readied our costumes in advance and set out with the other ghosties and goblins for a soirée like no other. I was very happy to see that our other expat friends were up for making costumes and merriment! The party was a veritable UN of masquerading mischief makers. Of course the US was represented, but there were folks from Bulgaria to Brazil, Germany to Great Britain, Hungary, Italy to Iceland, and the list list goes on and on! Everyone was in full Halloween spirit, and celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. The entire evening was a great success. 

Our gracious hosts!

We had a fantastic time, and unbeknownst to us, there was even a Best Costume Contest.  Any guesses who won??? You can see even more great costumes here… 

Well that's it for now. Thanks as always for reading. It's time to get geared up for the rain, prepare the entry for sopping wet pooches and settle in for the long gray winter. Don't worry, we'll find lot more interesting things to share. Don't forget the Winter Holidays are nearly upon us, and there's always the Buergbrennen to look forward to! 

TTFN!