Anyone that spends thirty minutes with me will learn that I love soda, specifically products made by the Coca-Cola company.
In the past, I was a Diet Coke gal, but then Coke Zero stole my heart.
Anyone that spends a day with me will realize that caffeine has a powerful effect on my system. In the US and Ireland, I tried to manage that by drinking caffeine-free Diet Coke as much as possible.
Then we moved to Luxembourg. (more…)
I love cut flowers, especially the spring bulbs (tulips and hyacinths) and the summer garden flowers (zinnias and the like). Unfortunately, cut flowers can be a bit pricey here in Luxembourg, so I was having to make do with the occasional (and small) bunch of Gerber daisies.
But recently, we have been going to the Farmer’s Market at Place Guillaume. The market is open on Saturday mornings and we love getting some fresh produce, delicious apple juice for Will and cut flowers for me.
The prices are so reasonable, I’ve been going…. well… a little flower crazy.
Hence last week’s purchases:
This was taken five days post-purchase, so they aren’t at their very best. But aren’t they beautiful? Beautiful…. but deadly! (more…)
Some of us continued our trend of getting out to local Luxembourg-ville events this weekend. Some of us had the stomach flu and had to stay home. Which would you prefer to hear about, loyal Bugle followers? (more…)
We love living in Luxembourg, but we haven’t always made the most of the various opportunities to enjoy the local culture. As part of the 2011 Bakker Betterment Program, we committed to take advantage of the random local cultural events.
I’m proud to say in January we wandered out not once, but twice, to enjoy some small slices of our adopted homeland. Will is going to tell you about the first. (If he ever gets his post finished, that is. I knew buying the companion guidebook would only lead to analysis paralysis.) I’m going to tell you about our second adventure: The Aqua Tunnel.
Faithful Tumblr followers might remembering seeing a post that the city was opening the tunnel for just a few hours one Sunday. I’ll be honest – it wasn’t the tunnel that I thought we were going to get to see. I thought it would be the tunnel under the Petrusse River that once connected two sets of casemates. Instead, we saw a tunnel that is under the ENTIRE old city. For those who have been lucky enough to come to (or live in) Luxembourg, we can be more specific: we walked directly under the old city plateau. So it wasn’t “ancient rocky fortress” cool but “we’re really walking right under all that” cool. (more…)
Contrary to what you see most of the time here at the Bugle, our lives are not completely filled with travel, history and fun. In fact, most of our time is spent working and maintaining our domestic world here in Luxembourg.
For those who haven’t been counting, we have lived in Luxembourg for just over a year and a half. In the last 20 months, we’ve created a home that we love and enjoy.
Except for the pantry. (more…)
Last Saturday, totally out of the blue, Will and I had the best shopping day ever, or at least of 2010. Here’s our story:
It’s a special time of the year in Luxembourg – it is the fall wine season. Our preferred grocery store had issued a special flyer listing all the wines that would be available.
Will took his responsibilities seriously. Like a young boy with the Sears Wishbook, he sat down with the flyer, his Hachette guide and a fresh sharpie. His goal – find excellent wines at a reasonable price for us to sample.
There were several that he was excited about.
(more…)
The US State Department released a broad travel advisory for Europe on Sunday. It cautioned Americans who are traveling to Europe to be extra vigilant. As one would expect, some of our loved ones in the US expressed concern over our safety. Suffice it to say, I have felt safe and continue to feel safe in Luxembourg. In fact, I cannot imagine a safer place to be.
But feeling safe and actually being safe are two different things. So, in the interest of learning as much as possible, I checked my usual online newspapers on Monday. The most prominent piece was in the Wall Street Journal. The article was reasonable in its tone, but the photo and video captions made be laugh. Not a “ha-ha” laugh: I was laughing at you, American newsmedia. You amuse me.
(more…)
…you are stunned each time that somebody thinks your Visa has expired because it is dated 04/09/2010.
Culture consists, in part, of the customs that you take for granted. So we know that we’re adapting to European culture (or Western European or French-inflected or whatever) when we’re surprised by how things are done in the good ole USA. Some more examples: You know you’ve settled into a European state of mind when…
We think of these little differences several times a week, and we’ll post more in the future. Guests of the B&B, what seemed alien to you about daily life in Ireland and Luxembourg?
Technically, we arrived in Baden-Baden at the end of a long day two. We checked into our hotel, found a lovely place to dine al fresco (with blankets to help keep us warm in the chilly May air) and enjoyed a relaxing night after a busy and interesting day. We retired early, intending to spend the day exploring the town and possibly a bit of the Black Forest south of town.
The BBB&B favorite guide Rick had a walk through Baden-Baden that hit all the major (and some of the minor) sights. The photoset will take you through the details, but I thought I would give you a preview of some of the lovely things. (more…)
Life has been a little crazy for the Bugle staff over the last three months. As you may have pieced together from previous posts and photo sets, a colleague from the US was in Luxembourg for the better part of April, thanks to the ash cloud. After three great weekends of company, we were alone again.
But not for long! We had one weekend to “turn” the guest room for Sharon and Jaime, our friends who were making a second trip to see us. In order to make the most of their visit, we decided on a three phase approach: I would pick them up in Frankfurt on Friday and the three ladies would enjoy a Germany weekend. (more…)
Powered by WordPress