And on the homefront...

I decided to 'hijack' the blog for a little note about our interesting day yesterday...

The kids and I have been 'on our own' for about two weeks now. It's amazing to me that I've stayed here in Maryland both weekends - not many years ago I dreaded being home alone for a weekend and now the kids are such good company (and a huge help around the house) with such active schedules that I couldn't manage to go 'home' to Pennsylvania even if I were scared... But yesterday was a particularly busy, particularly interesting day. It was certainly one I would never have imagined experiencing.

The day started as usual, leaving the house by 6:30 am to beat the DC traffic and get to work. Summer is coming to the DC area and my commute wasn't too bad... though the marshes near Ft. Meade/NSA (which I pass through every day on my trip) have gotten really kind of gross. Lots of standing water and a green scum over it... It should be no surprise that its so humid the sheets of paper on my desk curl up at the corners overnight - the DC area really is reclaimed swamp and marshland... Meetings and data discussions made for a typical morning. I had to leave work by 11, though, to get home for the start of the interesting part of the day...

About four weeks ago, we were approached Alexa's advocate (a great person who we hire to help work with the school team on Alexa's behalf during the process of developing her special education IEP) with a great opportunity. A person who provides autism services saw Alexa deliver a speech and mentioned to Linda, the advocate, how articulate Alexa was. Linda told Steve (the service provider) about Alexa's involvement with the theatre troupe, and that many of her friends wore autism awareness buttons ("I have a friend with Autism") during April. One thing led to another and Steve decided he wanted to include Alexa in a DVD series documenting the real stories of persons with autism, which will be used to train service providers. Alexa agreed that it sounded like a good thing to do and the ball was in motion.

Yesterday was 'filming day' - the crew from Take One productions came to Old Mill High to film a rehearsal (PPTC is doing one more performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie on June 24) and to interview Alexa, some of her friends, the school psychologist, and me. I don't know what I was imagining, but I think I didn't really get the size of the project. There were at least 6 people manning the camera, dealing with the lights (so many lights!) and generally overseeing the project.

It was fascinating to watch the making of a documentary. First, they took lots and lots and lots of shots - plenty of 'B roll' to fill in around the interviews. They were meticulous about making sure that the background in the shots was interesting - costume racks, the PPTC logo, etc. They were also very careful to make sure that they had footage they could use of the kids looking at each other in certain ways or Alexa and I repeating certain lines when they were afraid background noise might have interfered.

The kids were great - they dealt with hot lights and cords and cameras filming them as if they weren't there. Three kids who know Alexa pretty well - Kensey who has been in school with Alexa since first grade, and Bobby and Kaitlyn who have been great theater pals - were interviewed about their impressions of Autism and Alexa. We intentionally stayed back (as Alexa says, that would have been totally awkward to have listened in), but the producer said they were really really great. It took a LONG time (at least 30 minutes) to shoot the interview, and the whole time a group of girls were dancing in the background - we felt sooo bad for them doing the same thing over and over.

Alexa and I were interviewed together. It was fun to do it together and interesting to think back on how far we've come. I actually made the producer cry (which then made me cry) when talking about the experience of getting her diagnosed and how my friend told me, as I called her crying on my way back from the psychologist's office, "remember, she's the same person she was 2 hours ago." Looking back, that diagnosis has unlocked so much potential because we've gotten appropriate supports and treatment, but at the time it seemed so scary.

After 5 hours of taping, it was time for our next adventure - a trip to the Folger Shakespeare Library. We joined the Folger as Members after going to see "A Winter's Tale" in March. Alexa is a Shakespeare junkie, and we all love a good play. And, Caryn, the girlfriend of John's brother Tim, works there - we all want Caryn to be our sister/aunt-in-law. So as members, we got an invite to "Member Weekend" and the Friday night event, "The Curatorial Eye" looked interesting - some of the curators' favorite items and a chance to chat with them. I thought it would be perfect for Alexa as she would like to become a librarian/archivist some day (to pay the bills before she sells her first bestseller). After I'd signed up to go, I realized that it was the exhibit opening, and Caryn is the Exhibition Manager at the Folger, so it was 'her' event! How cool!

So, we headed to the Metro (traffic is so much better going against the flow - 30 minutes to the Metro - woot!) and then into the District. The Folger is on Captiol Hill, so we got off the Metro right outside the Capitol and saw a bunch of young staffers and interns heading the other way. The Capitol South metro station was plastered - literally the entire entrance area - with banners promoting limits on antibiotics for animals. It was interesting because it was clearly aimed at congressional staffers, and I'm guessing it was timed to coincide with a documentary I heard about on NPR that morning, dealing with big Agri-business. It was awesome walking past the Capitol and the Supreme Court on our way to the Folger - so quiet on a summer Friday evening.

The event itself was really wonderful. They have some beautiful items on exhibit - a notebook with lovely Shakespeare-related illustrations by a Romanian schoolgirl, a book of magic, gorgeous illustrated books, various copies of Shakespeare inscribed as gifts from famous people or to famous people. Ben was enthralled with a nifty setup that allows you to see a folio in a case and then use a computer-based interface to 'flip' through scanned pages of it. Alexa got to talk to a couple of the staff members (one who is the Reference Librarian), including the curator who did her favorite case, amazing illustrations including one that included tin embossing. Caryn's parents and grandmother were there and so it was also great to get to visit with them.

Because John is out of town, we had to convince Ben to come with us. And the 'carrot' that did the trick was the promise that not only would he see Uncle Tim but that we would also finish up the day with a 'floodlit' tour of the monuments. I'm ashamed to say that even though they've lived here their entire lives, my kids have not gone to visit the monuments per se. They've been to the Smithsonian too many times to count, been on the Mall for events, but never specifically visited the monuments. So last night I figured it wouldn't be too crowded and we could skate in for a quick visit.

We took a cab from the Folger to the Lincoln Memorial - it was muggy and we were tired, so it seemed the easier thing to do. We tipped the cabbie quite nicely (now that the 'zoning' system is gone, a 2 mile trip is hardly worth it for them), and headed out of the cab to the monuments. There were tons of tour busses and people milling around. We got there at the perfect time - dusk. Looking down over the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument and the Capitol was gorgeous. The sun was setting behind the Lincoln and the lights were already on making it look so majestic. We hopped over to the Korean memorial for a quick visit - its a really neat complement to the Vietnam memorial - a stark black wall with faces of soldiers etched on it and statues of soldiers in front of it. The number of tour groups there, including student groups, was really surprising. Then we went to the Lincoln, stopping at the "I Have a Dream" mark to look out and think about how amazing it must have been to look out on that day. When we got to the top, Ben was trying to use what little was left of his battery to get the inscription over Lincoln's head - alas, to no avail.

We were exausted and so we skipped the other parts of my planned excursion (FDR and Jefferson), jumped in a cab, and headed back to the Capitol South Metro station (again overtipping, and going back that far just to make it half worth the cabbie's while - he was a great guy and probably wouldn't have minded anyway, but ...)

We were soooo happy to make it home (by 10:00, no less) and get showers (I forgot to mention, in our journeys, one of the Capitol Hill pigeons hit me). Exhausting, but a really cool day. The only way it could have been better would have been to have John with us... 10 years ago, I'd have never guessed I could do all that on my own, but its funny what one mom and two amazing kids can do!

Some Amsterdam Impressions

Took a lot of pictures today but a little too tired, sore and sunburned to do more than pull them off the camera. So I thought instead I'd ramble on a bit about my impressions of Amsterdam.

You only really need three colors to describe Amsterdam: brown, green and gray - unless the sun is out, like it was today. Virtually all the buildings in much of the city are brick or stone, and usually brown brick at that. Oh, there's all sorts of trims and accents, but they tend to be in shades of cream, beige or occasionally black - and when you see a real exception, such as some old 17-century warehouses with doors painted purple, it really stands out. Even most of the streets are brick-paved - brown bricks, naturally.

But it's every shade of brown imaginable, at least when one considers the city as a whole. The section I'm staying & working in - Oid Zuid, or Old South - was originally a neighborhood created for the well-to do merchants and traders. It actually contains a few stand-alone houses - clustered closely together, natch - and a few of the street names (like the one my hotel is on) contain "-plantsofen", or "-plantation". But virtually all the buildings in a given swath of several blocks (barring the occasional rehabilitated site) will be the same uniform scheme. Somehow it doesn't have the same fingernails-on-chalkboard aesthetic sense that cookie-cutter suburban communities have back home; I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's due to my sensibilities and expectations; one expects to see large numbers of generally similar buildings close together in the city, but I grew up in neighborhoods built during the prime post-WWII suburban expansion years, and the residents had time to personalize them considerably by the time I came along.

Green finds its way into many places: the canals, the strips of parkland, the green trees that grace the streets of Old South and a few other places, the green-painted metal rails on many of the bridges. The city isn't as green as tiny Luxembourg, set admidst its lush river valleys. But it certainly feels more green than any American city of comprable size (750K people) I've visited recently, with the exception of Boston, which being a colonial city still has a very European feel. It feels more green than Paris. I suspect if I weren't staying in Oid Zuid in a hotel next to a long strip-park I might feel differently, since starting and ending my day walking beneath the trees must make some sort of impression. (But it felt pretty green on the bus from the airport, too.)

(And now that I think of it, the color that I'd used to describe Paris is white. Not the people certainly, but so many buildings built during the Hauptmann era, the gypsum soil - it almost feels oppressive in some parts of the city.)

Gray pops up from time to time, usually in concrete or granite trim, the supports of a bridge, the usually gray sky.

Bicycles are everywhere, and people use them for everything. Many families don't seem to have a car, they have a family bike on which mom or dad carts the children - in specialized baby seats, in wooden boxes affixed to the handlebars, riding side-saddle on the little flat cargo space behind the seat. I've seen people texting, talking on the phone, carrying their groceries, you name it! Most seem to have only a few speeds and are built very sturdily - but then these are made for commuting in a city where the only real elevation changes one encounters will be canal bridges, or the occasional ramp from the street onto a portion of sidewalk devoted to the bike path. And when they're not riding the, Amsterdamers are locking their bikes to whatever is handy. There's countless bike racks but I've also seen them secured to fences, trees and signposts. Cant think of any locked to a bench, though - those must be off-limits.

Bikes have right-of way, even over pedestrians and cars except for a few circumstances. There are dedicated bike lanes all over the place, and it definitely seems possible one could get just about anywhere in the city by bike. (If my knees were up to pedalling my obese butt around, I'd have used one today.)

Like any large city it's both ethnically and economically diverse. At the Albert Cuypstraat market this morning I saw quite a mix of people, and I don't mean just the generally Caucasian tourists (incredibly easy to spot for the most part, not like I'm not by my size or the first time I open my mouth). Holland's history as a trading nation with possessions in East Asia means there's quite a few people from that part of the world here, as well as blacks. More than a few Moslem women who's ultimate ethnicity I couldn't place as well.

Speaking of the market: besides the usual tourist kitsch one expects in these, there were a large number of stands that obviously cater to the locals. There were six or seven cheese shops, several seafood stalls, meats, numerous produce vendors - sandwhiched between cheesy t-shirts and cheap plastic toys. A number of second-hand clothing stands with things that actually looked decent and substantial.

Much later in the day I found myself needing to cut through part of the infamous "Red Light District". It really only covers a few blocks, though there are other smaller zones throughout the city I'm told. I didn't see anything racier than a few stores selling erotic items as I cut through on my way to Nieumarkt.

What I did encounter there, but also in the Jordaan neighborhood and in a few other places, was the unmistakable smell of pot. In Amsterdam, a "coffeeshop" is a place where one can buy and consume the legal soft drugs, and they're not solely confined to the red light district. Since I also caught whiffs while passing through some purely residential areas (when I'm traveling solo, especially in a generally safe city like Amsterdam, I'll pop off the main drags if my maps and bearings are good enough - wouldn't try this in Hong Kong) I guess it's legal to smoke at home too, which a few people were doing out on their stoops.

I love being in a city with real, working mass transit. Virtually everyone who's not on a bike uses the electric trams at some point. I'm told the tram network connects pretty seamlessly to the train system as well; since the major train stations are also served by several tram lines each it seems reasonable. Haven't had to step onto the busses yet.

The only people I've met who don't speak excellent English (albeit accented sometimes) are foreign visitors. I took a canal boat tour this afternoon and sat with a French couple, with whom I was able to communicate just a bit. (Quite a few "Je nes comprenz pas" on my part.) However, English is definitely the default second tongue of everyone I've encountered who has one - Germans, Lativians, Japanese that I've recognized (and some probable Russians, but I'm not sure - definitely Slavic-sounding.)

Sidebar #1 - the Latvians were three women who got off at my tram stop after my expedition who asked for help with directions. They had a copy of the really excellent map provided by the tourist bureau (I have one also) and after a few moments I was able to get them sorted out and sketched out how to get to their destination from the intersection we were at. They asked where I was from and were surprised that I was an American - they said "Your English is like the King's English!" I wished them bon voyage, which may have confused them further. :)

Sidebar #2 - When talking with the French couple, I couldn't find ways to say things in French but could remember how to do so in German. Frau Reuter and Frau Middlebrook would be proud that their lessons have stuck after 30 years!

Sidebar #3 - The Dutch speak English so well that I'm not even packing my Dutch phrasebook anymore. It may be different with the older people, and perhaps when I'm in Nijmegen & Arnhem next week, but all the Dutch I've encountered speak such good English that I'm embarrassed to yank out more than "Dag!" or "Gut avend".

And it's after 11 PM, so time to start winding down. Today was walking and shopping (Saturday and Thursdays are the days to shop in Europe); if I hold up, tomorrow is museum day.

Some Amsterdam Pictures

Not much time to write as we've (my colleague George & I) been working kind of late, but a few pictures from our walks to & from dinner Tuesday & tonight.


Even some new buildings built long after the need for them have the beam & hook assemblies projecting from the top floor.


Neighborhood church a few blocks from our hotel, south of Vondelpark.

The canal bridge on which our tram stop sits. Bicycles are everywhere in Amsterdam.


Busy square closer to the center of town, near where we ate dinner tonight after I purchased an expensive (100 Euros) but much-needed jacket.

Sweets, Sights & Sunshine - and then to Amsterdam

I'd set my alarm for 7:30 Saturday morning. It went off, I rolled over to hit snooze and contemplate my original intent to hop a train to Vianden, a hillside town with a big castle, a house Victor Hugo had lived in, and a few other sights. And then my joints voted.

"Remember that weight you said you were going to lose before this trip? Remember how you didn't lose it? Well, we do. Plus, it's raining cats & dogs out there." So I switched the alarm clock off, slept in until almost 11 (!) and then switched to Plan B, which was to see the two museums in the Old Town.

But after wandering down to the ATM at the post office I heard something familiar. Heading into Place d'Armes yet again, I discovered another band, this one playing - of all things - Carpenters songs, followed by a "Jesus Christ Superstar" medley. Ah, well, so it was raining - time to grab one of the umbrella-covered tables of Cafe Francais and fortify myself against the cold & wet:

After a pleasant if slightly damp half-hour or so I made my way over to the Museum of History & Art. (No photos permitted.) This is a remarkable facility that extends five levels below the entry level and five above - 10 floors in total! The overall floor space is nothing like the Louvre or something like the Smithsonian Air & Space museum, but it's still an excellent museum. Starting from the bottom through the first floor, one works through Luxembourg from Paleolithic times, through the Bronze & Iron Ages, up through the Gallo-Roman period. More recent history gets comparatively short shrift - perhaps because the region was so often a possession of some other power - but in addition to a remarkable trove of artifacts there is a massive bronze cast of the town's massive fortifications as they stood in 1867, when Luxembourg became neutral and the process of razing the fortifications began. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could usually puzzle out the French placards at each exhibit at least well enough to understand the gist of the display. It probably helps that these are likely written to be read by kids Ben's age. ;)

The upper floors are devoted to art from a variety of periods. There's a little bit of everything in there, from medieval through Renaissance through the 19th century and Impressionism and on to modern pieces. There's supposed to be a sketch of Schengen Castle by Victor Hugo somewhere in the collection but I seem to have missed it.

Back to the main level; a few purchases in the Boutique and then a cup of excellent vegetable soup with croutons and a few slices of dark bread, and then downhill and a few blocks away to the Museum of the Hitory of the City of Luxembourg.

This was another multi-level museum. There are three floors below the level of the main entryway, with the lowest actually having a street exit on the back side of the building - it's built into the eastern face of the city, above where the ramparts lay. It's actually three buildings now joined together, with the oldest parts of the structure dating to medieval times; the complex was an abbey at one point, and parts later served as merchant's homes. This musuem is very modern and makes use of a lot of multimedia features. For example, there are a number of wooden macquettes on the various floors that show the development of the town and it's fortifications throughout history, from 963 onwards. Next to each macquette is a touchscreen video terminal displaying the overall view of the macquette. You can zoom in to various sections, and key structures are in red with a little movie projector icon next to them. Touch the icon and you get to see a short video that starts with early photographs of the scene (if there are any) and follows with film and photos of the structure through the years, ending with pictures or video of it today.

Various sections of the museum cover politics, municipal facilities like water & sanitation, life under the Nazis (really disconcerting to see soldiers goose-stepping through Place d'Armes and recognizing the buildings, and seeing a Nazi general speaking from the bandstand), local heroes, etc.

On the main level and upper levels is temporary exhibit space. The current temporary exhibit is one Michelle would have found fascinating and appealing - it's about faith, belief and non-belief. You're issued a neck lanyard with a plastic card containing an embedded USB memory stick, which at various points you insert into terminals and answer questions about your faith (or lack thereof) and attitudes about religious belief and faith. Along the way, you enter small booths to listen to audio or watch video of a selection of people (all living in Europe - the audio & video were produced in Switzerland, I think) with varied religious beliefs - an elderly Catholic, a Muslim woman in her 30s, a young evangelical Christian, a young Jewish girl, etc. At the end the system tallies up your answers against a six-axis grid and tells you where it thinks you fall on the scale. You can optionally enter a bit of demographic data (age, gender, level of education) and the system is tallying all the visitors.

(I came up as "Irreligious, with a tendency towards 'culturally religious'" - no great surprise.)

But wonder of wonders, when I left the museum, the sun was starting to break through the clouds! I wandered back into the main part of town, hungry for something but not sure what. I ended up parked at another cafe/restaurant having something to make Michelle & Alexa jealous:

Profiteroles and a Coca-Light! Yes, the glass really is made in that tilted shape!

After enjoying my snack and some jazz (yet another band had taken the stage) I wandered down towards Place de la Constitution again to get some pictures of the Petrusse valley again in the sunlight:


I also strolled over to and across the Pont Adpolphe, getting a grand view of Luxembourg's Notre Dame, and a close-up view of the building with the intriguing clock-tower on the south side of the valley.

I went back to the hotel, rested for a few hours, and then met my colleagues from work for dinner that lasted until 11 PM. Had a lovely conversation with Sue from the Facilities team in London who had driven in the day before with her partner, John. Turns out they were heading today to their cottage in Normandy, just outside of Honfleur. I told them that I'm insanely jealous that they get to go there every three weeks! Turns out they bought about 6 years ago, when prices were still reasonable.

By the way, the Brits seem pretty sure Gordon Brown is going down, possibly by the end of the week. He's got Bush-level approval ratings it seems.

Monday was spent in the office making sure the local associates got settled and everything was working satisfactorily (it was, and they were very happy) and then packing up for today's trip to Amsterdam. Dinner at a Thai place recommened both by Lonely Planet and George from the London office, who's here with me now in Amsterdam, then off to bed.

Today was automobiles and planes. Luxembourg to Amsterdam is a relatively short flight, a bit over an hour, in yet another city-hopper. Schipol Airport here is very large (Europe's 4th busiest) but extremely well laid-out. It's also got a full-blown supermarket in the shopping concourse! Caught the shuttle bus to the hotel and checked e-mail, napped and read a bit while waiting for George to arrive from London so we could meet up for dinner.

Amsterdam and this entire part of the Netherlands is flat. Like, not even Great Plains flat. I'm talking billiard table flat here. It's also got to be some of the most well-watered ground I've ever seen; remnants of canals and ponds were everywhere in view as we flew in. (Being largely reclaimed land, this makes intellectual sense, but it's another thing to actually see it.) The section of the city we're in is supposed to be relatively genteel; it's largely made up of bronwstone and brick buildings built in the classic narrow and tall fashion, complete with the ancient hoisting hooks & beams protruding from the front of many. (Pictures forthcoming.)

We strolled up north in the direction of Vondelpark and eventually settled on what seemed to be a neighborhood cafe (read pub - cafes here are pubs as opposed to the French mode) and enjoyed a leisurely dinner of lasagna (George) and a hamburger (me) with wonderful small salads and a few pints of Grolsch. Fortunately for us the rain has held off and we had sun for both directions of the trip.

Most Amsterdamers all seem to speak excellent English, by the way, often with distinct American accents - which actually sound funny to my ears after hearing so many French and British accents recently.

Back at the hotel we picked up tram tickets (we're over a half-mile from the office and tomorrow we both have to lug toolkits & such) and made arrangements to meet up at 8:30 to head in.

Further adventures to come..

Chilly & Rainy, with a chance of "Whoa!"

While we've gotten everything done in the office, things took longer than expected (for reasons outside my control!) and we wound up working this morning to polish a few things off. This torpedoed my original plan to grab a train up to Vianden in the Ardennes today, but I'll try again tomorrow. Meanwhile, I did get to spend the afternoon knocking around the Old Town (the "Haute Ville") of Luxembourg City. (If the weather doesn't get too nasty I'll try to see Vianden tomorrow.)

While people have lived in this area a long time, the city got it's start when Siegfried, Count of the Ardennes, built a fortress on the Bock, a promontory overlooking the Alzette river in 963. The Old Town formed on the upland behind the fortress, which was expanded, improved and strengthend over the centuries. It's said to have been the strongest fortress in Europe after Gibraltar at it's peak in the early 19th century. Eventually, Luxembourg was declared neutral and most of the fortifications were torn down. What's left is still pretty impressive!

The core of the Old Town is pedestrianized - no cars in the core of the city. Saturday is the big shopping and market day in Europe, and despite the lousy weather (cold and rainy, and me without a coat!) people were out in force.



My colleague Sead (from the London office) and I split up - he to pursue some presents for his "princess" (his five-year-old little girl) and I for some lunch and wandering. I wound up eating at a pizzaria off the Place d'Armes, the central square of the Old Town. The three-cheese pizza was tres fantastique! But the real delight of the meal was the family next to me which included two adorable little girls. The youngest appeared to be about 4 or 5, and when her mushroom and ham pizza arrived, she began pumping her arms in the air and cheering "Champignon! Champignon!" ("Mushrooms! Mushrooms!") I've never seen a child so excited about any vegetable, much less mushrooms!

Fortified by my leisurely pizza and Coca-Lite (and let me tell you, I really appreciate the Continental European dining attitude - "take your time, enjoy the meal") I decided to set off on a shopping expedition of my own, and decided to do at least a bit of site-seeing. I wandered down south from Place d'Armes and and down a side street found a toy store that looked promising. Going inside, it turned out to have three levels, and part of the second level was devoted to baby things:

The third floor actually had one of the best scale model selections I've seen in a long, long time. I wound up making a few purchases here, and then continued south to Place de la Constitution, which has splendid views overlooking the Petrusse valley (the Petrusse joins the Alzette east of town) and across to other parts of the city.

This clock tower belongs to either the Bank Museum, or the State Savings Bank

Looking down from the Place d' la Constitution at the park in the valley below

The Pont Adolphe, one of the many impressive bridges spanning the valleys

Looking east from Place de la Constitution along the valley; the Viaduct is the bridge here.

Following the street (Boulevard de la FD Roosevelt!), one follows the remnants of the old city ramparts.

Ramparts and Blvd. de la FD Roosevelt

I passed behind the Cathederal Notre-Dame, which while not as large as it's namesake in Paris, is still pretty impressive.

The boulevard slides southeast, following the edge of the heights and the old city walls, and winds up at the Plateau du St. Esprit. This is where the city and national court buildings are, with a large courtyard between the buildings of the complex. It's another promontory jutting southeast out of the highlands, and has some amazing views of the two river valleys. Unfortunately, what looked like some of the best vantage points are currently blocked by contruction work, but I did my best to capture things!

The Cite Judiciare complex

View northeast; the modern buildings in the distance are in the Kirchberg Plateau district.

View north from Plataeu du St. Esprit - note the old city wall beneath the buildings.

From there I followed Rue du St. Esprit and eventually the "Chemin de la Corniche", a pedestrian path the follows the eastern walls and got great views of the valley, the Grund district that lies in the loop of the Alzette, and the southern side of the Bock.

The Bock promontory, and the Church of St. John in the Grund

Truly ancient stairway leading from Rue du St. Esprit to the Chemin de la Corniche

Looking southeast from along the Chemin de la Corniche

The Chemin, the Bock, the valley and Church of St. John; if you blow up the image you'll see the old Wenceslaus Wall running out from the Bock across the river to the Grund.

East and down into the Grund. The complex attached to the church is the Abbey Neumunster, which now houses an art gallery, brasserie and outdoor performing space.

View south from the Chemin de la Corniche - fortress on the right, Grund to the left.

There's still a bit left of the old fortifications on the Bock but not much. What's left gives you just an impression of just how strong the original medieval fortress must have been. The Bock is also honeycombed with casemates - tunnels dug primarily by the Spanish in the 18th century when they ruled this part of Europe. My knees definitely let me know they weren't up to exploring the casemates after bopping around the top of the Bock for a little while.

West edge of the Bock

Bridge connecting the Bock to the Haute Ville (Old Town)

Inside the Bock; folks with better knees than mine heading down into the Casemates

Wonder what's down there? Roll for initiative.

Waterfall on the Alzette, and a bit of the Wenceslaus Wall connecting the Bock to the Grund
Old fortifications on the Rahm Plateau across the river, uphill from the Grund

Cheesy tourist transport everywhere! Kirchberg Plateau complex in the distance.

View north along the Alzette valley from the Bock. The bridge is the Pont du Grand-duchess Charlotte, or the "Pont Rouge" (Red Bridge).

Feeling a bit tired and sore (I spent a lot of Friday wrestling equipment in and out of computer racks and moving boxes) I passed up hitting any of the museums for the day. But I did get a look at part of the Grand Ducal Palace (it's not open to visitors this time of year).

Entrance to the Grand Ducal Palace

After a quick stop in the city tourist office to pick up a map (now that I don't need it!) and a Luxembourg card (good for free admission to sites all over the country, and free use of the train and bus network - 10 euros for 1 day, quite the deal!) I wound up back in Place d'Armes, where the band that had been setting up when I left was just kicking off a medley of - get this - "The Age of Aquarius" and "Let the Sun Shine In" from Hair!

Band performing in the rain in Place d'Armes

Finally back to my room at the Hotel l'Royal (very, very nice and only three blocks from the office) and time for a bit of refreshment before calling home and writing this up.

Fuel for the weary tourist: an almond croissant, water and a Coke Zero.

Tomorrow's outing will depend on the weather. If it's truly nasty I'll stay in town and hit the local museums. If it doesn't get too chilly, I'll head down to the Gare (train station) and try to make my way up to Vianden. Au revoir!

If It's Tuesday, I'm in Zurich/Munich/Saarbrucken/Luxembourg

So as you may have heard elsewhere, I'm in Luxembourg this week for work. As you may have also heard, I missed a connection in Zurich and thus extended by travel day by another 8 hours or so, with layovers in both Zurich & Munich. The Munich-Luxembourg flight actually made a 15-minute whistle-stop in Saarbrucken, so five take-offs and landings in 24 hours - the last time I had so many flights that close together was Airborne school!

Despite being in Switzerland, I couldn't see any mountains in Zurich:


But onward we pressed, my three fellow strandees and I (two musicians enroute to a short tour in Luxembourg and Germany and a young lady headed to see her Italian banker boyfriend). Pulled into the hotel about 6 PM; got settled, took a shower and then headed out to locate dinner.

My land navigation skills must be really rusty, but fortunately Luxembourg is a small city, and the "Old Town" section I'm in has pretty clearly defined boundaries - it's set atop a rocky hill, with a promontory jutting out over a river. (It was originally a fortress and I'm hoping to see what's left of the fortifications over the weekend.) However, serendipitously I stumbled across Place d'Theater, which had this nifty sculpture in the middle:


I eventually made my way over to Place d'Armes, which these days is full of chain restaraunts and cafes. I passed up the McDonalds, Chi-Chi's (yes, the American Chi-Chi's!) and after a narrow internal vote, La Boucherie (a French chain we discovered in Normdany last year) and settled down at an outdoor cafe. What does the weary cyber-warrior need at the end of a journey like this?


Warm, crusty fresh-baked French bread with local (Luxembourgish) butter and a local beer, followed by one of the "Menu Brasserie" fixed menus (an interesting salad with deviled eggs, followed by wiener schnitzel with green beans and 'frittes', finished with a small creme caramel).

Unfortunately, no opportunities for sightseeing today as I wound up working until shortly after 9 PM local.

I've discovered that it's a mixed blessing to start out speaking to waiters here in French, even with my pronounciation and accent - or maybe I sound more fluent than I think - because they fairly rapidly shift into higher-speed French that's beyond my feeble kenning! I'll try to work on something more than "merci" and "l'addition, si vous plat".