Bakker Bugle Blog Say it three times fast. In Luxembourgish.

31 December 2015

Random Happenings 11

Filed under: belgium,cycling,france,luxembourg,travel — Anita @ 18:40

For two beautiful weeks I was caught up on blogging…. two beautiful weeks. As the end of the year looms, I hope to get the last two posts completed before we say goodbye to 2015. We shall see if I succeed!

The first week of September was quiet, which I appreciated after the hectic summer. My plan to relax and get caught up on some housework the first weekend were thwarted by a most-excellent interruption – the repaving of our street! After over a year of heavy construction the project was completed and it was time for fresh and smooth pavement. I spent hours on the front balcony, watching the pavement “chewers” and then the asphalt-laying on the second day. I had so much fun watching everything from our 4th floor balcony. It was like the best box seat at the big event.

Hours of enjoyment for all! There were big chewers and little chewers and workers all over!

Paving day was the best! I had to wake Will up early so we didn’t miss any of the action!

We did stop paying attention to the street on Saturday night so we could celebrate the birthday of a good friend at a winery in Germany. I only bought 6 bottles of wine, demonstrating my ability to control my wine-buying habit. (more…)

19 October 2015

Random Happenings 10

Filed under: cycling,germany,luxembourg — Anita @ 17:25

In theory, July and August were supposed to be quiet months. We were supposed to have time to recover from the busy first half of the year, plus catch up on some of our outstanding chores. While July and August were a bit slower than the rest of 2015, by no means were they empty!

We kicked off July with a Fourth of July event co-hosted between the American Women’s Club of Luxembourg (AWCL) and Democrats Abroad. Since the Fourth fell on a Saturday, the groups arranged a picnic at a lovely spot in Luxembourg. In the weeks before the event, there was much concern about the amount of indoor and/or covered space available at the location because Luxembourg tends to be quite rainy. However summer 2015 proved to be the second hottest on record and July 4th was the hottest day in July…. ever. (more…)

13 October 2015

Random Happenings 9 – Part 2

Filed under: cycling,europe,luxembourg,travel,video — Anita @ 15:16

June found us missing our friends but pushing ahead with the normal fun things that we like to do in Luxembourg.

First up was the Tour of Luxembourg, which is the annual five day cycling event held around Luxembourg. I took two days off so we could make enjoy as much of the racing as possible. On Friday, we decided to ride our bicycles to the race, which was something we haven’t done in the past. Not only that, but we attempted to ride up the big climb of the day, thinking that the road would be closed to cars in advance of the race. No such luck… we had to fight the cars all the way up the hill. (more…)

19 June 2015

Random Happenings 8

Filed under: belgium,cycling,germany,luxembourg,mental state,travel — Anita @ 12:26

[Anita’s note: I wrote this blog post on the last day of April with the intention of inserting the photos and publishing in the first few days of May. Then…. May happened. You will hear all about it in Random Happenings 9, but let’s just say May was a bit busy! My apologies for the long, long delay on this post.]

In movies and on television, occasionally they will use a clock that starts spinning faster and faster to illustrate time flying or life getting out of control. At this moment, I feel like our clocks are spinning faster and faster. Both Will and I are grabbing precious time with our friends as best as we can, but we cannot stop the clock. It’s moving season in Luxembourg. Moving season is the hardest season of them all!

March and April were two months where the clock spun faster than ever. While work slowed down a bit for me, it was as busy as ever for Will. Thankfully, he was able to free up time to do lots of fun things during our time together on the weekends. Never let it be said we aren’t good at balance!

March started not with a bang, but with a bark. Dexter the dog arrived to stay with us for a week. Dexter last stayed with us in June 2014 when he got to tag along with us while we watched the Tour of Luxembourg. (more…)

12 January 2015

Random Happenings 6

Filed under: cycling,germany,luxembourg,netherlands,photos,travel,usa,video — Anita @ 15:04

While writing has never been a pleasure for me, I have enjoyed creating these Random Happenings posts. I hope those reading at home have also enjoyed hearing a bit about our routine life in 2014. I plan to continue in 2015 if for no other reason than to remind myself about all the things that happen, both large and small.

Unfortunately I did not manage to write the detailed posts on various topics I promised in 2014. I have hopes to manage one or two, but my track record says to not get excited about those anytime soon. We’ll see if I do better in 2015. (more…)

5 September 2014

Random Happenings 4

Filed under: cycling,europe,luxembourg,travel — Anita @ 17:22

Writing up the July-August blog post, I cannot comprehend where the last nine weeks went. The heat of summer has left Luxembourg and we are heading quickly into fall. Before I turn around it will be November, I just know it.

July started off quietly. During the first weekend, I talked Will into a nice Sunday ride with our friend Vikki. We did an out and back towards Junglinster, where we tackled the infamous Bourglinster cobbled climb. This was the second time we have forced Vikki up this hill and everyone enjoyed it more the second time. (more…)

3 July 2014

Return to Flanders, Part 3

Filed under: belgium,cycling,sports,travel — Will @ 20:22

In his comment on Part 2, Dave wrote, “I can’t imagine what your arms feel like after all those cobbles!” On the cobbled climbs, actually, it was all about the legs and the lungs.

When Anita and I talked about our rides in January, she talked exclusively about needing strong legs and endurance. At some point, it occurred to me to ask, “You never did any flat cobbled sections did you?” Anita had no idea what I was talking about. So as Rachel planned our Return to Flanders, I insisted that Anita had to experience something very special from my ride in January.

The Mariaborrestraat is almost entirely flat. On a map, it looks like an indirect way to get from the Koppenberg to the Taaienberg.

The Mariaborrestraat is also a cobbled road in very bad condition. After my experience in January, I wanted Anita to see what cobbles could be like, at speed. (more…)

29 May 2014

Return to Flanders: Part 2

Filed under: belgium,cycling,sports — Will @ 13:44

It’s hard for me to explain Anita’s love of cycling. She genuinely enjoys the toughest inclines and the worst weather. She’s been doing sport cycling for all of a year, but she already looks at a windy, drizzling sky, and says, “I’m in the mood for a ride!”

I consider myself, perhaps unfairly, to be more normal. I like the sensation of speed and control from a well-tuned road bike on a straightaway or a downhill — preferably on a sunny day. I get a thrill from rushing down narrow trails in a forest. I enjoy the way that a bike takes me through neighborhoods and landscapes at an ideal speed: fast enough to keep my attention from wandering, but slow enough to actually see and feel the environment. Uphills are a necessary part of it, and I typically don’t get much more from them than the sense of accomplishment that I get from a freshly-vacuumed room or finishing my errands for the day. (more…)

20 May 2014

Return to Flanders: Part 1

Filed under: belgium,cycling,sports — Will @ 15:39

Earlier this year, Anita chronicled our adventure on the cobbled hills of Flanders. Spoiler alert: It didn’t go quite as she intended.

I was happy to spend a few years building fitness and suppressing memories before returning to the scene of the crime. Anita was not so easily discouraged, and she leapt at the very next opportunity to face the challenge again. With January weather and overly competitive hammerheads out of the picture, I was much more willing to go along. (more…)

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