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2003-09-01
Let's go to...Luxembourg?

12:55 p.m.

Nick and I had a fantabulous weekend. Not what we had had in mind, but I think it turned out well. Nick was really determined to go somewhere this weekend, and plans had changed from Italy to London to Germany to Switzerland. I was getting a little frustrated, so I finally said, I don't care, you find a good deal and we'll do that. Well, he didn't find anything particularly spectacular, so we were thinking of just heading to Frankfurt, Germany, which was a three-hour bus ride and hanging out there. On the way back to my apartment, we ran into Brooke. I asked her how her trip to Paris was with Ray (another ISU student) and she said that they ended up not going to Paris, but to Luxembourg and that it was a great trip. So, on the spot, we decided that we (Nick and I) would go to Luxembourg. This was about 1 PM. We were at the train station around 3:30, and left at 5:30. Talk about spontaneous.

At the train station I talked to the teller (in French, thank you very much) and purchased two tickets to Luxembourg's capital city, which they just call Luxembourg. By the way, yay me and my French. I love French! I am having more and more conversations entirely in French. I still get frustrated because I can't do it very well at all, but it's at least passable, and when I was talking to the ticket agent, something amazing happened, and that was that I didn't have to think in English and then translate into French. I just KNEW what to say and understood the response! That doesn't sound like a big deal, but to me it is.

So, we went to Luxembourg. We had to change trains in Metz, France. The first train, from Strasbourg to Metz was cool. I felt like we were going to Hogwarts, because the train was composed of the same little compartments, just like Harry and Ron rode in. Unfortunately, though, no Hogwarts. And I am not a witch. I wish I was, that would be so cool to be able to do magic. Ah well. Tanget.

Anyway, Nick was really funny; he had barely been on a train before, so this was an entirely new experience, and then to get to ride on one of these trains, he was like a little kid. When we got off in Metz, we were late and ended up missing our train to Luxembourg. Fortunately, another one came along about five minutes later - same exact train as the one we were supposed to be on, even same number except for the last digit. Nick was really nervous that they would kick us off of the train because our ticket wasn't for this train, but rather the one before that we had missed. However, I wasn't worried; we weren't trying to cheat anyone, and there was only a seven-minute layover between the one from Strasbourg and the one that were supposed to catch, and I am sure that they would understand. Sure enough, when the guy came around to punch our tickets, he just glanced at them and punched them and didn't say anything.

We got off in Luxembourg around 7:30 or so. We wandered around for a little while, trying to get our bearings (not easy to do when it's getting dark) and then hopped on a bus. Another conversation with the driver (in French!!!) to determine if he knew the location of a hostel, which he did, so we were doing well. There were two other girls on the train going to the hostel, and Nick started up a conversation with them. They were Swedish, but spoke excellent English. Nick left his camera on the bus, and one of them grabbed it for him. Thank goodness; he would have been inconsolable!

We finally found the hostel, they did have beds for us, so we checked in, bought our Hostelling International cards, and after dropping our stuff off, we headed out for something to eat for Nick. They actually had co-ed dorms, so Nick and I were in the same room.

We went into town, passing part of a castle along the way. Nick has quite the fascination for castles, as do I, so we were pretty excited. Luxembourg was turning out to be a great idea, and we hadn't even been there for three hours! Anyway, we headed into town and look for something to eat. Nick zeroed in on a Pizza Hut. He was absolutely thrilled because people in Luxembourg actually speak some English. As it turns out, everyone in Luxembourg speaks several languages: Luxembourgish (yes, that's a real language; from what I can tell, it's similar to German), French, and German, and most have a pretty good handle on English, too. Although, when he tried to order a pepperoni pizza, they gave him one with jalapeno peppers. He likes spicy food, so it wasn't a big deal.

After dinner, we went back to the hostel and went to bed. Nick slept above me (they were bunk beds), and there were about 20 people in the room, and three of them taking turns snoring throughout the night, one of them Nick. I managed to get some sleep because I had earplugs, but I guess Nick didn't get any sleep because he says that he finally got up and found another bed as far away as possible from the worst of the snorers and slept a little there.

We finally got up around 8 and grabbed some breakfast, which consisted of bread, salami, swiss cheese, cereal, tea or coffee and marmalade, butter, and Nutella for the bread. Nick didn't eat much - he's a little put-out by the salami for breakfast idea - but I was fine and ate a lot. Turns out, I actually like this swiss cheese. Not bad at all.

So, that was our first night in Luxembourg. Today is registration, and as Nick is done with his and has already finished his email, he is probably pacing the floor downstairs waiting for me. I think that I am going to drive him nuts because I move slower than he does. Just as he's going to drive me crazy because he never slows down and when we go on trips, never wants to stay in one place for very long, whereas I enjoy slowing down and looking at everything and taking my time. But, in some ways, we're a good complement to each other. For example, after one night in Luxembourg, Nick wanted to go and stay in Germany. I convinced him that it wasn't possible to do Germany in one day, and that we should stay in Luxembourg, albeit at another hostel, and do some more exploring there. So, it was a good compromise.

I will finish up the rest of our trip later. I think that this is long enough.

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