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…)

27 December 2015

Christmas Market, Cologne

Filed under: germany,photos,travel — Will @ 14:57

I hope you’re not fed up with Christmas yet! On December 21, Anita and I went to the Christmas Markets in Cologne (Köln to the locals). As in Trier, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, and Aachen, the city arranges for distinctly themed markets in several squares around the city.

The market furthest from the center (and closest to where we parked) was the Village of St. Nicholas on the aptly-named Rudolfplatz.

(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…)

21 September 2015

Random Happenings 9 – Part 1

Filed under: belgium,europe,luxembourg,mental state,travel — Anita @ 16:47

I have found this a difficult post to write. May was a busy and emotional month for me. I believe I have put off writing about it because I haven’t fully processed the changes. I know I’ll want to remember May 2015 in the future, so I will do my best to document it all here.

The events of May/June actually started a few days before, in late April. Will departed for a three week trip to the US, with a side-trip to the Dominican Republic for meetings. While normally I might be a bit lonely while he is away, this was no normal May. (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…)

9 May 2014

Random Happenings 2

Filed under: luxembourg,netherlands,travel — Anita @ 22:41

[Editor’s note: we continue to experiment with the content of these posts. This one got a little long, but hopefully it is still enjoyable.]

As previously reported, Will returned the first week of March. Since he was away from Luxembourg for nearly a month, he was quite pleased to be home again. I was quite pleased to have him home, because I had gotten tired of cooking for myself during the workweek!

I barely let him rest before we went to the annual Buergbrennen festival on the 9th. Rachel wrote up a lovely summary of the event last year. While last year was a bit muddy and cold, this year the weather was fine and dry. While a proper Buergbrennen post by the Bugle team is probably necessary, these photos will have to tide you over. (more…)

20 January 2014

Our Ronde van Vlaanderen: Part 1

Filed under: belgium,sports,travel — Anita @ 17:29

Our blog posts in 2013 were rare for several reasons. While some of those reasons might not pass scrutiny, the fact that we are now cycling more than ever is certainly true. In 2013, both of us purchased road bikes and did our best to ride* multiple times a week.

In September, I did my first organized ride with my friend Amanda. The ride was sponsored by the Schleck Fan Club and it was a wonderful day. Amanda and I had a terrific time, even though we weren’t the strongest riders participating. No matter, the fan club made the day great for everyone.

When I saw that the new UCI team Trek Factory Racing was having a fan club ride in January, I was terribly excited. Will and I are big fans of the new team and big fans of the Classics races. How much fun would it be to do a small part of the Ronde van Vlaanderen? Will expressed doubt: our fitness level wasn’t there and we weren’t ready for something like this. Nonsense! I replied. This is a fan club ride. I’ve done a fan club ride! We’ll just take our time and have fun. We’re there to make memories, not win a race. (more…)

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