This weekend was spent on the home front; discovering Luxembourg and all its underrated glory. I have been partial to Luxembourg city as a cool and hip place ever since my first stint there just six short weeks ago, but one can only see so much during the week, what with classes and all. Or should I say, "classes". Just kidding! Hi mom!!
Friday was a day purely reserved for city boppin'. I had been to some places and heard of some cool places (shoutout to the tourism magazine in the seat pocket of my flight last weekend), and was ready to hit 'em all up. My roommate and I sat in a coffee joint called The Golden Bean, which I had been to before but it was more of a hit-and-run, and we reveled in the joy that is coffee shop sitting. My over-caffinated barista self could write an entire essay on the joys of coffee shops, so I will spare you for the moment. But let it be known that it was, as they say, delightful.
After coffee, we shopped, and got lost. Definitely my fault. I brought us on a wild goose chase in search of a vegan restaurant called Beet. In my defense, who wouldn't be in hot pursuit of such an establishment? At this point, I would pay big money to never have to eat another sandwich again. All I eat are sandwiches!!! Oh, the humanity! I digress. After an impromptu tour of a bougie neighborhood full of political people, we found what we were looking for, quite literally in the center of town. The center may or may not have been where we started. I will just leave that up to you to decide.
The food was delicious and decidedly vegan. I would like to offer a word of thanks to my roommate for allowing me to drag her there, as I know that fake meat is not her favorite. Our waiter had a T-Shirt with a screen print of The Dude, so that alone was enough to sell me on the restaurant. That, and the fact that everyone around us had heads full of dreads. My thirteen-year-old dream! (It actually was my thirteen-year-old dream to have dreads. It was also my fourteen, fifteen, and partially sixteen-year-old dream. Every once in a while I have a reoccurrence, but it's nothing major. Fear not, corporate America!)
Friday was a day purely reserved for city boppin'. I had been to some places and heard of some cool places (shoutout to the tourism magazine in the seat pocket of my flight last weekend), and was ready to hit 'em all up. My roommate and I sat in a coffee joint called The Golden Bean, which I had been to before but it was more of a hit-and-run, and we reveled in the joy that is coffee shop sitting. My over-caffinated barista self could write an entire essay on the joys of coffee shops, so I will spare you for the moment. But let it be known that it was, as they say, delightful.
After coffee, we shopped, and got lost. Definitely my fault. I brought us on a wild goose chase in search of a vegan restaurant called Beet. In my defense, who wouldn't be in hot pursuit of such an establishment? At this point, I would pay big money to never have to eat another sandwich again. All I eat are sandwiches!!! Oh, the humanity! I digress. After an impromptu tour of a bougie neighborhood full of political people, we found what we were looking for, quite literally in the center of town. The center may or may not have been where we started. I will just leave that up to you to decide.
The food was delicious and decidedly vegan. I would like to offer a word of thanks to my roommate for allowing me to drag her there, as I know that fake meat is not her favorite. Our waiter had a T-Shirt with a screen print of The Dude, so that alone was enough to sell me on the restaurant. That, and the fact that everyone around us had heads full of dreads. My thirteen-year-old dream! (It actually was my thirteen-year-old dream to have dreads. It was also my fourteen, fifteen, and partially sixteen-year-old dream. Every once in a while I have a reoccurrence, but it's nothing major. Fear not, corporate America!)
A post-dinner visit to the oldest pub in Luxembourg was a risky move, as it was only 20h, but our boldness paid off. We made friends with the bartender after he overheard us discussing his T-Shirt ("Motherf---er"). Turns out his English was pretty good. Luckily, he thought we were interesting, not malicious, and ended up speaking to us at great length about life in Luxembourg. He had immigrated from Greece, like his siblings before him, and was just living his life tending the bar. His name was Kostas (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, anyone?) and he appreciated our use of French expletives. This is a direct quote: "You are very funny". This is important, as being "very funny" got us free drinks. Polish that humor, kids!
Other noteworthy events of the weekend included a trek to Little Switzerland, which has nothing to do with Switzerland and everything to do with hiking and nature trails, a community charity concert that featured the band of our host sisters as well as some metal heads from Belgium, and Sunday brunch for Luxembourgish Father's Day. What better way is there to spend a weekend on the home front?
Other noteworthy events of the weekend included a trek to Little Switzerland, which has nothing to do with Switzerland and everything to do with hiking and nature trails, a community charity concert that featured the band of our host sisters as well as some metal heads from Belgium, and Sunday brunch for Luxembourgish Father's Day. What better way is there to spend a weekend on the home front?
A main highlight of the weekend was the discovery of a bookstore that carried english translations. I could hear the hallelujah chorus as we perused the shelves. The books were extremely overpriced, but what can one expect when buying foreign goods? Actually, I'm not sure. Should I have paid fifteen dollars for a paperback? No matter. My only problem now is figuring out how to get all these heavy books back to America come December. Curse my love of literature! Curse it!!
I had an inkling that Lux City didn't get enough credit for being a cool place to be, and this weekend confirmed my suspicions. Sure, Luxembourg City is home to a lot of banks, restaurants, and bars, but since when is that a bad thing? We stumbled across countless gems during our exploration this weekend, and still have so much ground to cover. We sipped on coffee at various trendy locations, stopped in some very cool shops, relaxed in parks, enjoyed some fountains, ate delicious food and tripped over multiple small children. Seriously, why are there so many kids running rampant in the city? Isn't that dangerous? I actually encountered a baby walking a dog. I will let that sink in.
Also, I feel like a top-notch contributing member of Luxembourgish society after attending the benefit concert on Saturday. Not only did I get to cheer on my host siblings (party on, Wayne), but I was able to witness some local philanthropy. I don't think I partook in it though; my ticket was free.