Another snowy Sunday was upon us. As we sat and watched our favorite Italian Serie A team, Fiorentina, on TV, a very strange guest appeared. Now, I've seen this guy around the neighborhood, but only late at night or very early in the morning. Today he decided to pay us an unexpected visit mid-day.
Yep, a fox...in broad daylight! In Luxembourg City!!!
Not only did he poke around the cliff wall...
...he decided to check out our patio!
...and that's when the boys spotted him. One quick 'woof' from Toby and he was gone!
(I know...I'm getting a lot of value out of this old pic)
Because there was no chase, Jonas was inconsolable :(
...and an inconsolable JoJo just sits in his cave and pouts.
Poster - 'In winter, winter tires - Obligatory October 1'
Today's title refers to the new law in Luxembourg. The statute stipulates that all vehicles are required to have winter tires (pneus d'hiver) when weather conditions present "ice, packed snow, slush, black ice, or frost." The law's debut coincided with our arrival in October of 2012. Similar laws exist in Germany, Belgium and other neighboring nations, so it's not surprising that the Grand Duchy would adopt such an ordinance. Since we have been told by several sources that 'it never snows in Luxembourg...mostly it's just gray and rainy all winter' - and since we've been shelling out money like nobody's business (see posts Decision 2012 and Miss Vicki) - we opted not to drop the Euros on a set of new tires...that decision may be reevaluated after our most recent storm. It has been snowing all day today (January 15, 2013). Fortunately the Ville has a solid public transit system, but as of sunset we're at about six inches here in town. Jeni says it's more like 8"+ out by her office in Capellen.
My co-conspirators
We're off!
So what to do? Since 'it never snows in Luxembourg', I decided to photo-document the event. Luxembourg is a stunningly beautiful city, and the snow only adds to the romantic feel of this place. As is good and right, Toby called off and decided not to join our expedition. At his age no one can begrudge him a day of relaxation inside away from the snow and ice. Plus he's so low to the ground he may have just froze solid on our way through town. Therefore JoJo and I set off in the afternoon when the light was 'bright' and the snow subsided for a bit. Please enjoy our little winter walk!
JoJo likes the snow very much
The city's central park - Parc Municipal d'Edouard André
I did mention Jonas LOVES snow...I think he may have broke something on this one!
Crossing the park...
...past the statue dedicated to Princess Amélie de Saxe-Weimar
...the fountain
...and into the center of Luxembourg.
View of the Pont Adolpe and the upper Petrusse Valley from Place de la Constitution
Believe it or not, that's a bank (not a castle) on the other side of the valley!
We set out this weekend for the quaint medieval village of Cochem, Germany. Cochem lies on the left bank of the Moselle River further downstream from Trier and is famous for its wines, its history and perhaps most importantly its Mustard Mill! The Moselle flows from the Alsace region of France, through Luxembourg (comprising the border between Luxembourg and Germany for approximately 40km) then onto the Rhine in Germany. This river valley is an important wine region for all three nations, and is the main wine growing area in Luxembourg. Only about an hour and a half drive from the Ville, Cochem is a perfect little day trip and just enough off the beaten path to remain unexpectedly beautiful.
The Reichburg of Cochem
It sits atop a high bluff over the village along the Moselle
Aside from the river and the natural beauty of Cochem, one of the main attractions is the Reichburg,
or Imperial Castle. The original structure was built in the 1100's and
was overrun and subsequently destroyed by Frances King Louis XIV in the
1600's (I'm seeing a pattern around here).
Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené, a rich businessman from Berlin, bought the ruins and restored the castle in
1868...as a SUMMER HOME! I think rich may be an understatement.
The Reichburg is poised just above the ancient town of Cochem which alone is worth seeing. The Old Town is a maze of skinny streets and almost claustrophobic alleyways. The charming architecture really gives the sense that you've gone back in time. Some of the buildings are built right into the cliffs along the river bank, and many of the shops have caves from which they sell the local wines and liquors. This impromptu day trip was taken during the winter season, so many shops were closed as their owners are off on seasonal holidays. We can't wait to get back to sample more of Cochem's offerings. Tschüs!
Looking down over Cochem and the Moselle from the castle above.
Cochem's main square along the river
Here's a gingerbread house...
...with Dachshund lace curtains!
Old Town looking at the Catherdral's Bell-tower.
One of the many vineyards along the slopes surrounding the town of Cochem.
A restaurant and wine seller built into one of the cliffs along the Moselle River.
Happy New Year! We rang in 2013 with our boys, a couple bottles of local bubbly and tens of thousands of other Luxembourgers. This year - for whatever reason - the Ville decided not to host a public fireworks display. After actually staying awake until midnight ( a rare feat in recent times), I can see why they didn't need to spend the money. The citizenry of Luxembourg put on quite the show...this is what we could see just from the back patio!
Sorry for the poor image quality, but I think it conveys the scene.
Now, dear reader, the following information is strictly an academic pursuit done solely for scientific and historic purposes. We are trained professionals, and I can assure you we do this only as a service. Any beer buzz that may have been derived during the course of the investigation was merely coincidental, I'm sure...and what a better time than New Year's Day to explore some of our regional beverages. As you can imagine, there are as many different beers and styles of beer as there are stars in the sky. I would never condone drinking and driving, so instead of traveling the Belgian countryside and visiting Abbeys and breweries, I trundled up to the local grocer and very scientifically gathered a cart full of 'loosies' in an effort to study this matter more deeply. Here's what we discovered.
Don't Judge!
Apparently Jeni and I truly prefer our darker less 'hoppy' flavored beers.
Trappist Monks really rock.
Never judge a beer by its label.
Jeni and I tasted nine different beers from various breweries and rated them one to five stars (one being the lowest). Every self-respecting brewer has a specific glass for each of his varieties. We opted for a half pints not only because they are the only 8oz glasses we own (we did share the beers so as not to get completely sloshed), but also to keep an even baseline for our investigation. Cheers!
Bofferding - Our featured Luxem-beer. A nice light pislner. Luxembourg has three main breweries, and we will share these with you soon. B - 3* / J - 1*
Seef - From Antwerp, another light beer with a surprisingly full body with flavors of clove and citrus. B - 2.5* / J - 1.5*
Leffe 'Radieuse' - A great beer company with loads of different styles. This, however, fell a bit short...we really like their 'Bruin'. The Radieuse was very hoppy and too floral for us. B - 1.5* / J - 1*
Leffe 'Royale' - ROYALE! Can't go wrong, right? Meh. Really tasted like nothing...stick with the 'Bruin'.
B - 1* / J 1*
Orval - Our first Trappist offering. This too has a citrus flavor with a kind of 'piney' aftertaste, and not too hoppy. B - 2.5* / J - 2* Note the background.
Westmalle 'Dubbel' - Another Trappist Ale. This was nice and dark with a sweet caramel flavor - Yum! If the 'Dubble' was this good the 'Triple' must be amazing. B - 3.5* / J - 3.5*
Yeah, sunset at 4:45pm!
Westmalle 'Triple' - Not so much :( This was a very good beer, just not our style. B - 2.5* / J - 3*
Trappistes 'Rochefort 8' - A really nice medium bodied beer from the monks at Saint-Remy with an interesting butterscotch flavor. Most of these dudes (Monks) make cheese as well...I did mention that they rock!
B - 3* / J - 2*
Chimay 'Blue' - In our opinion, the gold standard of Trappists ales. Chimay may be the best known and for good reason. The Blue was full bodied and had a wonderfully sweet and nutty flavor. By far our favorite in this round of Beer Blog! B - 3.5* / J - 4*
As always, we will continue our hard work bringing you the as much information about life in Luxembourg as we can. It's a tough job, but we think we're up for the task. There's still Germany, France, Holland just in our neighborhood alone. Whew!
