Lux City

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








Father’s Day



















A globe’s distance from Dallas to Germany

is much shorter than you are from me

so fold half the map

and use just one tack

and together as pins we can be.


But pins can’t show love enough for me,

and I’m still stuck on this side of the sea

So hop on your boat

I’ll pray that it floats

and together again soon we will be.


From this picture till now I have not ceased looking up to everything you do. I don’t know how I got so lucky, and I hope someday I can make you as proud of me as I am of you. Love you pops


xoxo

21


Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag Jenns!! I’m so glad I’ve gotten to get to know you and travel around the europe with you so much! You’re a lovely girl and I’m sorry everyone ate all your cupcakes before you got one..

Visit from Pops!

My Dad came in town this past weekend! It was so nice to have a face from home, as well as someone to show all these things I’ve come to fall in love with! He’s still on his cane from some knee surgery so I tried to keep the walking to a minimum, which actually wasn’t so hard since Trier is so tiny!


He got to the train station at 8pm from a week of business in Amsterdam, and we walked in the rain to his hotel that was right across the street from my house and got him something to eat in the restaurant on the ground floor. We enjoyed some tiny beers and then we headed over to my apartment so I could give him a tour and introduce him to my roommates. He finally got to see my room on the other side of the webcam! And I gave him some of my roommates fresh apple juice that she makes with her dad on their farm back home! yumm. And he also met the dreaded Crookshanks..

The next morning I met him across the street for breakfast, and then we headed to Karl Marx’s house that is now a museum. The Marx house was bought by the Social Democratic Party in 1928, but the house was confiscated by the Nazi Party in 1933 and turned into a printing house, which explains why the inside of the house has been cleaned out. It was a little strange to visit a famous house sans old furniture, but it also allowed for some pretty cool design elements to lead people through the house while learning all about the history of Karl Marx. Also it was cheap, and we got cool translating headphone things to hear it all in english!

After the tour, we went to the grocery store to get some things to make lunch in my apartment- caprese sandwiches and spargles with hollandaise! and Guiness! We ate and my dad iced his knee, and then we left, all full and fresh, to walk all around Trier and see the sights. I took my dad to the big Dom church thats pretty magnificent on the inside and has a really cool courtyard/graveyard. One of y favorites. Then we went on to the Porta Nigra- the main Trier landmark, though I had wished I knew more about it’s history before we went.. pretty spectacular none-the-less. We walked to my school and stumbled upon Jarred, who my dad had recognized from my amsterdam blog post! haha We got back to my street and went to the coffee shop on the corner in the Hauptmarkt and called my mom. We went back to our rooms to get ready to go to the wine tasting at Deutschherren-hof, and I had some last minute recruits- Jenn and Krista! Who had just flown in from Kansas to visit KP, but she stayed with me a couple days before KP got back from England.

The Wine tasting was sooo fun, and I think everyone had a really good time getting stuffed and being cultured. It was Jenn and my second time to this place, and it was even better this time around because we had some german under our belts to impress our foreign guests, and also the wine guy talked a lot more to our table than last time when it was a big group of students. At the bus stop outside the wine tasting place someone threw a donut out their window and it hit Krista and left a bruise. My dad went to sleep when we got back, and we headed off to the Panic Club and danced till 5:30 in the morning and my dad soon called me at 9:30 and was ready to check out of his hotel. We dropped his suitcase at my place then walked all the way down to the Mosel river. We got some coffee at a small place on the river and i got some apple pie with vanilla frosting. mmm breakfast. We took an hour boat tour and saw the university crew team practicing, and my dad tried to figure out what the german boater signs meant, because that’s what he does. It was soon time to take him back to the train station, but of course we found a little time to find a hole-in-the-wall thai restaurant and grab a quick lunch first.

A goodbye with a train is very dramatic. I didn’t really realize before, but trains are very “movie-esque” for me and most Americans I feel so I didn’t expect to cry when my dad left, but when the train pulled out and I was still standing there waving and watching my dad get settled in his seat, my eyes just started watering..

Love you dad. Thanks for stopping by to say hi 🙂








thoughts from the shower

I thought of this when I was in the shower this morning. thoughts..?






















and then this was just a creepy picture i took last night of the basillica! I want to go back now with a make-shift tripod and a super long shutter speed 🙂 ooooOooOoOoOh

and yesterday was my roommate Claudia’s birthday and we had brunch together in a really cute cafe around 2ish 😀 She’s such a sweet person—it was sad because everyone was out of town and her boyfriend couldn’t get off work back in her hometown, but in a positive light it’s always nice to get to hang out with her one on one because she’s so quiet. She’s also so patient with my German speaking skills and teaches me so much! How did I get so lucky with my roommates?? Danke schön Jesus

Copyright Kim Koelling 2015. All Rights Reserved