Time has really been flying by for Dan and I here in Luxembourg! I can’t believe the holiday season is already approaching!

The last couple weekends we have been trying to squeeze in as much travel time as possible. After Thanksgiving, Dan will be extremely busy at work, and I will be coming home to Indiana the first week of December.

Recently, we have taken day trips to Belgium, and a few cities in France. We live about 10-15 minutes to the border of France, Belgium, and Germany, so it makes the traveling quite convenient!

Brussels, Belgium was a city we were very excited to visit. I don’t know about you, but when I think of “Belgium” I think waffles, beer, and chocolate. So we made it a point to “try” all three.

We stayed right next to the main square, The Grand Place. Every review I read about Brussels said that this square is a must-see while visiting.

I must say, it was quite “Grand.” The architecture of the buildings were fascinating.

It wasn’t too long after visiting the square that we were on the hunt for a bar called Delirium. We were told by several people that you HAVE to go to this place. They have over 2,000 types of beer and is one of the best known bars in Belgium.

I am not a huge beer drinker, but I knew I was sure to find something I liked here. Both beers we tried were local, and DELICIOUS.

So, we got to check beer off the list. Next, I was more than ready to try some of this famous Belgian Chocolate.

Luckily, about every other shop we passed was a chocolate shop,but the hard part was deciding which one to go to!

We ended up falling victim to Pierre Ledent. It looked less touristy and the hot pink packaging caught my eye.

The associates were dressed in fancy business attire and the decor of the small shop was impeccable. Dan and I felt like we were in a high-end jewelry store. We hand-picked 11 decedent chocolates and claimed we weren’t going to at them all at once.

Fail. They were gone within an hour.

Below are a couple of my favorite buildings we passed while strolling the streets.

Dan had to catch a flight the next day, so we had to cut our Sunday short. We stayed for breakfast, and I had the absolutely best waffle I have ever tasted in my  life. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

On the way home, I fell asleep after driving for about 10 minutes. About 45 minutes later I woke up and was informed me we were running out of gas.

If we were in good ol’ America our problem would be solved by stopping at the next exit to refuel. Unfortunately, there aren’t many “exits” nor “gas stations” floating around in the Belgium countryside. We were in a bit of a panic and got off on an exit hoping to get lucky since a highway sign indicated there wasn’t gas for over 20 km.

Well, we didn’t find any gas stations at first, but if you ever wondered what the cows look like in Belgium, I got some really good close- ups!

Eventually, after 30 minutes of running on “E,” and going to two gas stations that happened to be closed, we found one that was opened and refueled just in the nick of time. Although it was a stressful 1/2 an hour, the detour had some really amazing views that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

I would say that this trip goes in the books for one of the most “unforgettable.”

Happy Monday! 🙂

Hello from Luxembourg!

On the schedule today: Rome, Italy. Possibly my favorite city we have visited thus far in our European travels.

We were there for 3 nights, and 2 full days. I barely put my camera down the entire time-everything I looked at I wanted to snap a shot. The architecture in Rome is just unreal!

Our first night we had that AMAZING dinner at Peroni, the place I told you about in “Roman Deliciousness.” We checked out the Trevi Fountain after, and had some AMAZING Nutella gelato after. Yum.

The next day, our tour of the city began on a walk to the Colosseum.

I gotta say, it was pretty amazing. We decided not to take a tour of the inside due to the 3 hour line, and we wanted to cover as much as possible that day.

We then head over to the Palace/Ancient Rome Area. We got solicited by an English-speaking man named Brent who offered to give us an hour tour for 20 bucks. Well, 20 euro (I keep being reminded that it is not the same thing)!

Anyways, we took up his offer, and I think we were all glad we did.

I couldn’t tell you everything about these pictures now, but I do know what Brent was telling us was beyond fascinating. The tour was well worth it, so good, in fact, we decided to sign up with him for the tour of the Vatican.

We were finished with the tour about 3 p.m., and we were all starving and sweating (HOT 80 degree weather the entire trip in Rome).  We asked Brent for a recommendation for an authentic low-key kind of place.

Brent’s recommendation was right on point, this pasta was the best I had the entire trip.

Delicious.

After our late lunch, we hit the streets again.

We started to slow down our pace and take in some of the local sight-seeing. Somehow, we even ended up doing some clothes shopping (even the boys)!

We made it back to the hotel early evening and started to get ready for dinner. That night, it was Rob and Lauren’s 2nd Wedding Anniversary, so Dan and I gave them some alone time.

Rob and Dan both took the advice of Rick Steves, and again, we had another fabulous Italian meal.

The next day, our final “full” day, we were up early to take the hour walk to the Vatican for our guided tour.

On the way, we stopped at the Pantheon.

And the Castle Sant’Angelo

And then finally, after a much longer and hotter walk than expected, the Vatican was in sight. It actually gave me goosebumps seeing it for the first time- it was pretty surreal.

We barely made it to our meeting point for the tour, and within minutes, we were entering “Vatican City” through this entrance.

And once we entered, holy moly was it crowded, and HUMID. You weren’t allowed to enter without your shoulders and knees covered (even for men), so needless to say, our long sleeves were not helping keep us cool.

After about 30 minutes of the group leader organizing and getting us ready for the tour, we were finally ready to start. He told us that in a long tour, we would walk about 8 miles, but thankfully for us, we were only taking the 4 mile, 3 1/2 hour tour. Lauren and I were a bit concerned that we would even make it that far without air conditioning( maybe we were a little dramatic).

I will let the pictures do the talking from here.

And…here is where my camera died.

Yep, I was pretty upset- guess I should have taken it easy with the 500 other pictures I already took. Or, check the battery before we left. No place to learn a hard lesson than in THE VATICAN.

Anyways, at least I have memories of the 3 hours following these pictures, I am just bummed I can’t share them with you! The experience of walking through the Vatican and Vatican City for the day is simply unforgettable. There is SO much history and art, it is hard to process it all.

Our tour guide was great, and made it very interesting for the group. He obviously could only show us a portion of what there is to see, but just that was incredible. Probably my biggest goose-bump moment (and there was more than one) was standing in the Sistine Chapel, just frozen with amazement of Michealangelo’s work.

The Vatican ,and Rome in general, was an experience I will never forget. If you ever have the opportunity to go, don’t turn it down. I hope that we will be able to make another trip there, but if not, I am so grateful I have gotten the chance to be there for those couple of days.

Have a great Monday! Until next time!

Bonjour!

Long time no talk(sorry about that)! Believe it or not, I have  gone from having tons of free time, to barely having time to cook/eat dinner before 9 p.m.!

However, I am not  complaining, life is great. I am loving Europe more and more everyday, and am in NO RUSH to get back to the U.S. of A.,(no offense). 🙂

My agenda Monday-Friday has filled up a bit since my last post. I started a French course that I attend in the evenings, and I am really enjoying it so far. I’m one of two Americans in the class, the rest of the class is a nice blend of students from: Italy, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Korea, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Denmark, England, and Portugal. Yeah, it is pretty diverse, but it has made it very interesting!

Dan and I have also joined a gym that is not too far from our flat. I started working out with a personal trainer there a few weeks ago, and so far it is going very well! I am hoping to loose the 8 pounds I gained since moving to Europe, (I blame the bread and beer) and hopefully by the time Christmas rolls around I won’t gain it  back from all the yummy holiday food!

Dan has still been gone working in Germany during the weeks. I hate that we have to be apart, but at least I am used to getting around on my own here in Luxembourg. We have made an effort to go somewhere new every weekend (within geographical reason, of course). At the beginning of October, we went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. It was AWESOME! We had a blast. We even spent a ridiculous amount of money on the traditional German outfits, but it was worth it. I guess it will save us money in the long run since we now have one-of-a-kind Halloween costumes for the next 20 years.

The past two weekends we have gone to France and Belgium. It sounds like a big deal, but we are only about 15 minutes from the border of each country. Can’t get better than that!

I am finishing up my “Rome” post now, it will be finished tonight or tomorrow. Afterwards, be looking forward to Barcelona, Paris, Oktoberfest, Metz, and Brussels (phew, I am going to be busy)!

Merci beaucoup for following! Au revoir!

Happy Tuesday!

Per popular request, I am going to start part one of “The Euro-Trip” with our most delicious encounters, in none other than Rome.

On our first night in Rome, we decided to try a place our guy, Rick Steves recommended, L’Antica Birreria Peroni. It was hard to find, located on a small side street near the Trevi Fountain, with minimal signage. Although it was a bit of a scavenger hunt, I think that all four of us can  agree that this place was a home run for an authentic Italian meal.

The food here exceeded expectations, all of it was incredible.

L’Antica Birreria Peroni has been in business for over 100 years, and the atmosphere is just as you would expect of an old Italian brewery/restaurant. The chef/owner was our server, and we had a blast with him.  It was a hoot trying to communicate, since he spoke ,almost no English.

And of course, the boys had to get their photo with him; we just loved this guy!

This place set the bar high for our meals to come in Rome.

We had  lunch the following day near the Colosseum at La Tarverna dei Fori Imperial, and it actually ended up being another awesome experience.

Our tour guide, Brent, recommended this place for traditional Italian at a reasonable price.

This dish is my #1 ranked meal for the entire vacation. I have never before eaten pasta so fresh ,and the sauce with pork  was amazing. Dan kept reaching over to snag some bites, and I l eventually had to cut him off- it was just too good to share!

On our second night, we had dinner at Ristorante de Giovanni, another place Rick recommended.

The atmosphere had that “old Italian” feel, and we received excellent service from our server, who ironically was also the chef.  We even got a nice bottle of Chianti with dinner for only 13 euro, can’t beat that price!

It is not hard to notice that everywhere you walk, there is food, and good food at that. You don’t have to get restaurant quality food dining in while in Rome, just looking at a  few of these pictures are proof!

There’s everything- pizza, pasta, meat dishes, and seafood in every shop window. It’s so hard to not want to try everything!

Oh, and of course, gelato. In every direction you look, you see a gelato stand.

We may have fallen victim to the gelato nearly every day we were there-it was just too good! The Nutella flavor was my favorite! (Europeans love Nutella)

I was also dying to try an authentic Tiramisu.

It was different than I was expecting, more of a pudding/custard rather than a pie/cake form. Nonetheless, it was incredible.

I think all of us would agree that every calorie we consumed in Rome was worth it.

Is it normal that I already can’t wait to go back to Italy just to eat?

More of our adventure in Rome is next to come!

Hello my loyal,  “AnnaInEurope” readers!

Hopefully you can forgive me for my extended absence. The past few weeks have been a bit hectic, and busy is an understatement.

As you know, we  officially moved into our flat, and about a week following, one of our shipments from the U.S. arrived. Dan has been out of town during the week, so all of the unpacking and administrative duties that come along with moving has been my responsibility. It’s not so fun having storage space for only about 40% of your belongings, but I am trying to make it work!

Also, I  started online classes a few weeks ago. Five courses sure does keep a girl busy!

Then, last Thursday, our good friends, Rob and Lauren arrived from the U.S. They came to visit us in Luxembourg, but we also had a little vacation planned while they were here.

Nothing extravagant, just Paris..

Plus a little beach time Barcelona….

Then, 3 nights in Rome…

Yep, we hit France, Spain, and Italy in just 1 week! A bit exhausting, but totally worth it. This trip is going to be a three, maybe four-parter on the blog!

Stay tuned, our “Euro-Trip” pics are coming soon!!

Well, it is official! After living in Europe for four months, we finally have a home!

The apartment in white, that’s us. Despite the buildings that are hundreds of years old with cobblestone streets, the interior of our flat is newly renovated and extremely modern.

The kitchen…

And this is my fridge…on the right. Most of the flats we looked at had the refrigerator and appliances built into the cabinetry this way. Personally, I love the look, America needs to catch up to this style.

Now, if you just turn to the right and walk about 3 steps, you are in our living room.

That’s the lamp, coffee table, and couch I was telling you about. The lamp will be removed immediately, but the others I can work with (well I don’t really have a choice). We also get the pleasure of having a brand new flat screen, which will never be watched since we aren’t fans of German and French Game Shows and Soaps.

With a short walk down the hall, you will arrive in our ultra modern bathroom.

Yep, that’s a square toilet.

Also might I mention, there are no cabinets, shelves, or linen closets. I am going to have to  count on IKEA to help me out with this dilemma.

And down the wooden/glass stairs we go…

Our bedroom. Europe is big on putting two twin beds together to fit on one bed frame. Maybe I am missing something here, but I feel it would just be easier (and not as weird) to just put one larger mattress on the frame. Perhaps I’ll understand one of these days.

Walking  up the stairs will take you back to the living area, kitchen and bathroom.

So, like I said, it is small. Very small. But it’s Europe, it’s for two people, and it is for a short time.

Plus, our window views really “wowed” the both of us.

We decided that waking up to this everyday  makes up for the minimal square footage, wouldn’t you agree?

And when  I need to leave the house for a trip to the market, or to a local cafe, I have nothing but incredible  scenery all around me.

I am one lucky girl.

I hope you have  enjoyed a virtual tour of Dan and my new home! We are thrilled and extremely thankful to have what we have, and for our amazing family and friends supporting us–thank you.

And on a closing note, I would like to introduce my very first neighbor, who I met today on the lift.

His name is Kenzo. He is Portuguese and was very friendly.

🙂

Have a good rest of the week!

Hello All!

Just wanted to check in! We have been super busy getting things ready for our new apartment, and of course, the administrative work never ends! Things are finally coming together, but they don’t seem to  make anything easy or convenient here, that is for sure!

Also, our close friends from home are coming to visit us at the end of the month! I have been doing much research on different places we could visit during their time here. So far, Paris, Barcelona, Naples, Rome, and The French Riviera are all in the realm of possibilities! Our friends are looking to spend a part of the time on a beach, and the only beach Dan and I have been to so far in Europe was in Croatia. Please share recommendations/suggestions if you have any good ideas!

Tomorrow I will do an inspection of our new apartment, and we will officially move in this weekend when Dan gets home from Germany. We are SO EXCITED!

The apartment comes “furnished,” but this pretty much translates to having a bed, a small couch, a coffee table, and a lamp. It is a small apartment of course, but we definitely have space to spruce it up and make it more our own.

I will take photos of the flat tomorrow, as it comes. Then, after we move in, I can do an “after” pic and you can judge my interior decorating skills. 🙂

Have a good Tuesday!

TGIF!! Hope you all are ready for the weekend! Dan has been gone in Germany all week for work, so I can’t wait for him to get home tonight! We are going to our favorite (well, the only one we have been to) sushi place tonight, Tomo. I have been cravin’ spicy tuna and seaweed salad ever since I left the U.S., so needless to say, I am looking forward to it!

Yesterday, I did some new exploring,  and this time, in my new neighborhood, Grund.

From Gare, (where we are currently staying) you must walk down this street into the valley. It doesn’t seem like a big hill, but trust me it’s longer and steeper than the picture portrays.

Or, you can walk across this bridge and take a public 24/7 lift (elevator) down into the Grund.

I am sure we will end up doing that from time to time, especially going UPHILL, but for now, the sight-seeing and the burning of calories make it worth it for me.

Along my walk down into the valley, I pass the homes of my future neighbors, cafes, cupcake shops, elephants,etc.

There are lots of little shops scattered around, but  nothing comparable to the Centre Ville shops and restaurants in the main square. Here in Grund, the atmosphere is very relaxed and peaceful. I find myself walking straight ahead from passing this elephant and entering an even more peaceful environment of my neighborhood.

Pretty beautiful, right? I had no idea this is what I was going to be strolling into.

I have a lot of research to do on these magnificent structures that are literally everywhere in the Grund. There is much more exploring to do here, for there is SO much to see, but I wanted to go ahead and give you a little sneak peak. 😉

Have a great weekend!

Happy Hump Day!!

The time is just flying by here in Luxembourg! Last week we were busy with administrative duties and getting settled in. Oh, and we found the most amazing flat that myself and Dan both loved. It must have been meant to be because it was in our budget and the landlord approved us! We move in August 15th and I couldn’t be happier with the place we chose!

The flat is in the district of Grund, which is down in one of the many valleys of Luxembourg. It has a very “European” feel with cobblestone roads and quaint aged buildings throughout… AND it is literally a two minute walk to Dan’s work. We couldn’t have gotten a place any closer!

Another plus of the Grund area is that it is very centrally located to two other areas in which we feel have a lot to offer: Gare and Centre Ville. Gare is the area where we are currently staying, and Centre Ville is on the other side of Grund. Both areas are 5-10 minute from our new home. It is just perfect!

The last week and a half I have done a lot of exploring around Gare, but not as much in Centre Ville. Dan is out of town for work this week so I decided it’s time to check out the Centre Ville neighborhood.

I have about a 5 minute walk down Avenue de la Liberte to approach the bridge that connects the two districts.

Along  the way, I pass some beautiful, historic buildings and a couple of elephants. Yes, elephants. Apparently, this summer is “elephant themed” in the city, and a local artist painted 121 elephants and they are placed throughout the entire city. Ever since our relocation agent told me this information,  I am obsessed with taking a photo of each one, and challenging myself to find them all!

Don’t worry, I wont post them all at once!

And here I am crossing the bridge going over into Centre Ville. Not too bad of a view.

It only takes only a few minutes walk to cross.

Almost immediately, I run into a very significant monument and church. The monument is, “Gelle Fra,”or “The Monument of Remembrance.” It was built in dedication to the Luxembourgers who volunteered in WWI.

This church is “The Notre Dame,” and perhaps the most famous church in Luxembourg City.

And.. we have another elephant on the entrance of The Notre Dame.

I then take a left from the church and find myself getting closer to closer to the main square. As I approach, I see families, locals, tourists, children.. everybody! The square is the place to be on a Wednesday afternoon!

Here, there is everything you could possibly need to enjoy a Wednesday while not at work (or perhaps taking a 3 hour lunch break as Europeans do)

Restaurants…

Shopping…

Flower shops….

Fresh fruits and produce…

More elephants…

And TONS of cafes to enjoy afternoon coffee and sweet treats

Gelato, pastries,cakes, macaroons…they are all  a big hit here in Europe, and every age enjoys them, with no fuss about the “calories.”

I end my walk around the square and side streets at the beautiful, red, white, and blue Luxembourg flag blowing in the perfect 73 degree weather.

I am excited for my many more adventures ahead in this city!

Stay tuned!

Happy Wednesday! I am excited to announce that Dan and I have finally made it to where our permanent residence will be, in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg! Words cannot describe how happy I am to not be living out of a suitcase in German hotels on a regular basis!

Before I begin, I want to apologize for my absence the last two weeks. I actually had a last minute trip to visit the U.S., and I happened to be having such a wonderful time there, I had very little extra time on my hands. I am,however, back to business now! 🙂

So, might I just recap the past 3 months of my ever changing life just so you are caught up to speed.

Dan and I started our journey in Edinburgh, Scotland for him to begin his work assignment in early May. Our time there was a short 6 days, and then we were off to good old Germany. Luxembourg was always going to be our official residence, being it is so centrally located to many destinations where Dan will have to travel, but our immigration paperwork was taking much longer than expected, which forced us to stay near Dan’s work locations in Germany the past two months.

Eventually the paperwork went through as it should, and we arrived in Luxembourg City this past Monday. We have a month of corporate housing while we house hunt and search for our own flat.

Our corporate housing is very nice, modern, in an awesome location, and small. And I might emphasize “small.”  Perhaps not what I was expecting, as it is more of what I would describe as a hotel suite, but none the less, it is awesome and definitely a major upgrade from teeny tiny hotel rooms.

This place has everything we need, really, I can’t complain. It is a one bedroom flat with a mini kitchen equipped with a mini fridge and mini dishwasher. The couch,bathroom, closets, and washer/dryer are all mini too.I would say almost everything here is mini, but that is Europe for you, I suppose!

Of course, as an American this was a little frustrating for me at first, especially being I couldn’t wait to cook and I have literally no counter space in our tiny kitchen. We have learned that several apartments here in the city are just as small, if not smaller. Luxembourg is the same as many other cities, you pay for location. We can rent a a 2-3 bedroom flat more than double this  size for the same, if not cheaper price, but we wouldn’t get this amazing location.

These photos are literally right outside our front door. We are also a 5 minute walk from the Train Station and tons of shopping and restaurants.

I love this district, Gare. Dan can walk to work in 20 minutes and it has everything we could possibly need. Our issue now as we have started our house hunting is that we must weigh the pros and cons of living right in the city. We won’t be able to have much space, but the location is ideal. Fortunately, with the help of our relocation agent, we should be able to find a flat that has the best of both worlds, space and location.

We saw one flat today and tomorrow we have appointments set all day to view more flats in different neighborhoods. What makes it more challenging for us is that the apartment must be furnished, for all of our furniture is in the U.S.  Furnished apartments are more expensive and scarce. We are planning on making a final decision after our viewings tomorrow, whether it be the one we saw today, or another that we will see tomorrow.

Wish us luck! I feel like I am on House Hunters International(awesome show on HGTV if you haven’t seen it).

I will post updates and hopefully photos from our different options so you can just see how different living in the EU is from America.

Have a good Wednesday! Au revior!