An old friend from High School (Tommers!) wrote on my facebook a couple weeks ago saying that he had just been in Trier for dinner, had no idea that I was studying here, and that he was studying in a small village in Luxembourg. So of course I hopped on the train early friday morning and 45 minutes later we met up in Lux City. He had never really been there, since he was in a village outside it, so we explored together! We wandered around trying to find the Gründ, which was the one place I’d heard I needed to go to. Lux City was an old fortress town with walls and everything, but after all the wars and medieval times they started building all around the walls and in the valley, which is now the Gründ. The town is really cute and pretty, and we played on a playground and tried to stay in the shade since it was probably 85 without a cloud in the sky. Tommers remembered where a chocolate shop was so of course we had to go, and we tried all the little chocolates under the glass and they would start to melt the second you picked them up.
We met up with one of Tommers friends, Javo, who was also from Miami University, and searched for a place for lunch. We found a bistro, and after our lunch and our beers we revived the search for the Gründ. We found it pretty quick and walked down the narrow cobblestone road into the Gründ. We walked and walked and came to a dam where I had to stick my feet in. The water was so cold and wonderful, and it just felt like summer in Texas. That was my favorite part. The heat had drained our energy so we walked to a pub we’d passed on the way to the dam, and sat outside with another round of beers watching people walking over the bridge and listening to the plethora of languages being spoken under the shade of the umbrellas.
We went back to the train station and headed to his host family’s home in Noertzange. His host mom, Dani, was ironing on the porch with her 3 year old, Sam, next to her playing with a bowl of water and squirt toys. Max, the next oldest son was so friendly and shook my hand and showed me all the instruments he played and a mini recital with each one. His mom told us it was his birthday tomorrow and he promptly invited us all to come because they were having burritos, and the Dani invited me to stay the night if I wanted. We played with the kids, and then left to take the train to the next village to see the chateau they study in. We came to Differdange and rain started pouring down. When we got to the castle soaking wet it was locked of course so we waited for the rain to let up and ran to the italian restaurant we’d passed for dinner. After dinner they took me to their usual bar where we ordered beer in the glass boots from Beerfest! We drank and played darts, while the barkeepers kids played computer games next to us and Michael Jackson played on the radio. I decided to stay the night, so that I could have burritos for the birthday brunch, and we headed home on the last train to Noertzange.
In the morning I went downstairs first, and helped Dani vacuum and prepare for all the family that was coming in for the party. We met the grandparents and aunts and uncles, and I learned a little Luxembourgish. We had burritos on the porch, and followed it up with some strawberry shortcake. I played with Sam, running away from his squirt guns and speaking in charades, faces and funny noises since he didn’t know enlgish. It was time to leave and I gave everyone a big hug, and Dani invited me back anytime. Tommers, Javo and I got on the train to Lux City, and I annoyed them with my comments of how much I want to babysit for them. They came with me all the way back to Trier since there was a big annual Trier festival going on called Altstadtfest. There were rides and carnival food stands everywhere and stages in every square. Javo was meeting up with his german au pair that he hadn’t seen since he was 4. Crazy. And Tommers and I went to eat at the only restaurant I’ve been to in Trier, but it’s so cheap and good, and we needed to get out of the rain. We talked for 2 hours just eating and catching up. We met up with Javo and walked around a little more before they had to go back to the train station. It was so nice to see an old friend! And one more country down :p
kiddos! ah look at 'em.