Europe 2018 – Page 4 – Beauperi Investments

Posted on October 20, 2018 by beauperi

The Green Train

An alternative title for this Post could be Slim Dusty Part 3 as the restaurant was also Muslim and did not sell alcohol of any kind.

Old Billy the blacksmith, first time in his life
Has gone home cold sober, to his darling wife
He walks in the kitchen, she says your early my dear
But he breaks down and tells her, the pubs got no beer

Tuesday, 16 October, 2018 – Very good, low 20s

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Julie is up early and again goes to the local shop and buys important supplies: Bread rolls, Coffee for her, fresh squeezed Orange Juice, water. I again have Cold Duck for breakfast and Julie has a roll with Smoked Salmon and apple.

We have decided we will do a City tour with the Kids on a jump on/off train. The first thing I note is that all of the people that were in the windows and bars are gone, confirming to me that my theory on the public holiday yesterday was correct. Julie buys tickets for a bus to get us to the Train. The Kids will meet us at a likely hop off place where they had been yesterday.

We ride the bus to the place that the ticket seller had recommended in the old town. This meant we had to walk back to the place where we were to meet the Kids.

20181016_114027 — Walking through the Old Town

However, when we go to the place to sign up, we are told that the Green Train does not stop here, this is for Red Bus Hop On/Off. So we have to walk back to where we were before and then quite a distance after wards to get to its ticket sellers / starting point.

20181016_192953 — Our route including the starting place

20181016_115254 — Selfie of me on the Train

Once the motor is started on the Train, the vocabulary starts. There is a choice of 7 different languages and English is only number 4. The speakers are a real Luxenburgian, who spoke perfect English and his young daughter. They did tell us lots of interesting facts on the tour such as Luxenb0urgh had “just” had its millennial anniversary in 1983 since it was originally founded in AD 983. Their story very much reminded me of Eastern Europe Georgia which we visited a few years ago of all of the various civilisations that had invaded them over the years and their resilience and “fight back”. We did see a changing of the guard ceremony where volunteer Policemen / Soldiers are protecting the realm with machine guns.

I did’t take any photos on the tour, that ain’t food or wine. We catch a bus directly back to the Central Station and walk back to the apartment.

Last night Ryan had set-up my Internet access with global roaming through my phone and access to the Net through the phone using Blue Tooth. It worked great in the room. This morning, it did not work at all. So I go down stairs into the café. We had made friends with the manager of the café and he shows me to the “smokers corner” outside where I am able to directly access the Net. I get lots done.

20181016_174753 — A poobah parking and checking-in, taken from the smoker’s corner

When our friend comes out for a smoke, he asks if I am English, I explain that we are Australian. He really warms up then, saying he is from the Punjab, is hoping to become a Luxembourg citizen and travel to the USA, England and Australia.

Julie comes back and we decide to have dinner there, again. I ask for some wine or beer – no way, they are Muslim and alcohol free. Hence, the reference to Slim Dusty Part 3.

20181016_182427 — I ordered a pizza with chicken satays, turned out to be a chicken roll

20181016_182607 — Lots of meat, lots of chicken, very filling

20181016_182922 — Julie asked our friend for extra salad before he left to which Julie added Smoked Salmon

Our friend left early but ensured we got what we wanted and at a good price.

Much quieter night outside than the previous two. Good stuff. I did have a reflux attack in the night probably due to too much food.

Posted on October 20, 2018 by beauperi

(Not So) Quiet Day in Luxembourg

Monday, 15 October, 2018 – Very good, low 20s

Julie is up early and goes to the local shop, as she does every morning, and buys important supplies: Bread rolls, Coffee for her, fresh squeezed Orange Juice, water.

20181015_092159 — Cold Duck for breakfast

20181015_092208 — Smoked Salmon and apple for Julie with her coffee from the shop

20181015_141913 — We walk down the street to the train station

20181015_142323 — Walking back up the street from the station, our Hotel is on the left

Notice the Hotel Zurich on the right, as time went by every window was filled by loud people partying, as were the other windows of residences, other hotels and restaurants across the street.

The previous night we had found a free city wifi that had worked well in the restaurant. In our room it did not work at all. So we went downstairs and turned right into a restaurant / takeaway shop which is sort of attached to the Hotel. We sit down at a table near the door and my free wifi works well but Julie who is sitting next to me wifi doesn’t work at all. The restaurant fills up with people for the lunch trade.

Eventually, I spend most of the day there quietly working on the Blog. However, the noise from across the street continues to grow. We decide to have dinner in that café.

20181015_201052 — Julie had a fish salad

20181015_201100 — Chicken fillet and chips with spicy sauce for me, Julie scored the salad

The end of a quiet day for me but not quiet at all outside. I eventually worked out that this must have been a large public holiday in Luxembourg which was the special event that the travel agent had told us about. The window being closed helped keep some of the noise out but not all.

Posted on October 20, 2018October 20, 2018 by beauperi

Luxembourg

Sunday, 14 October, 2018 – Very good, low 20s

We are up early to catch a large van to go to a major station to catch our train out of town to go to Luxembourg. We had been told that it would cost us 50 Euro but it turned out only to be 10. Because we got there too early, again, there was a long wait for our train which we finally board

We know that the trip is going to involve a long ride to Frankfurt station, around 6 hours, roughly an hour stopover there, another train to a town I cannot pronounce, around 3 hours and finally a bus to Luxembourg. Or at least that was the way it was supposed to be.

The trip to Frankfurt was fine and there was good internet which enabled serious Blogging to be done. I had spread out to another seat but at a stop outside of town a guy boarded and claimed the seat. OK, I went to a bigger one across the aisle.

At Frankfurt, Ryan selects a Mexican place at the end of the building because it is largely empty and there is room for all of our suitcases.

20181014_121619 — I order an Americana burger with much of the salad saved for Julie

The girls wandered away and came back with some food from elsewhere. Julie had a salad to which I was able to add more. Then it was time to board the next train. We had been told that there was a big weekend on in Luxembourg and the trains would be crowded. Well, in this leg there was just one other passenger in our first class carriage.

When we get to the next destination, there is a little trouble finding where our bus should be but Julie eventually finds it. A short time later, our bus pulls up from Luxembourg. The passengers alight and there is confusion in getting the bags out. Then the bus driver, who was a very big black guy, raises the hood over the engine in the back of the bus and tells everybody that the bus will not be leaving. We learn from another passenger it was because the bus motor had overheated.

Some people went off, probably to catch a train but we did not know how to do that, so could only wait and wait and wait. Ryan and Tanika go off and disappear for ages. Finally, a replacement bus shows up. The black driver takes it and the other driver drove away the one that had overheated. Fortunately, the Kids showed up at just the right time or else we might have had to hope for another bus later on. Ryan takes charge of loading the bags in the under storage. We board and it is quite full. I get a seat in front of a black lady and the brat of her kid. What I remember distinctly was her singing some obnoxious repetitive lullaby the whole trip to try to keep him calm.

When we get to Luxembourg station, it is only a short walk to our Hotel. Ryan guides us there. The Hotel was very old and had had awful Trip Advisor reviews. However, they had obviously done a lot of renovations. The Hotel check-in staff were very friendly albeit the Lady only spoke French. The elevator was still small and ancient but got us up the two flights of stairs.

We again selected the room with two single beds and the room reminded me of the modern room we had had in Stockholm, quite small and one had to crawl over the person at the small desk to get to the suitcases. Julie worked out a rearrangement of the room which made it not too bad plus good space for our cases. Photos of the Hotel tomorrow.

Julie went out and bought some supplies and brought them back. We then went out to find some food. The Kids had left us to go out on their own. Again it was a Sunday evening and a number of restaurants were closed. There was an interesting Portuguese place across the street but it was very expensive. Finally we go to a place quite close to our Hotel at the end of the street – Asian. The people there were very friendly and we settled in.

20181014_191950 — Our wine from Chile, Julie’s Miso soup and prawn crackers

Julie ordered chicken salad but they brought it initially with no chicken.

20181014_192202 — That’s better, a decent amount of chicken

20181014_192252 — I ordered Duck with green curry and vegetable sauce. Quite a generous serve.

20181014_200358 — Photo of our Hotel from the outside

Back at the Hotel, it is very noisy as celebrations are going on. Turns out that there was a window open, which blew cold air on me, and did not restrict the noise from the big celebrations across the street.

The Kids reported that they had done a lot of wandering through the Old Town, etc. and found the people to be quite friendly, unlike those in Berlin.

Posted on October 19, 2018 by beauperi

Slim Dusty, Part 2

But there’s nothing so lonesome, so morbid or drear
Than to stand in a bar, of a pub with no beer.

Friday, 12 October, 2018 – Very good, low 20s

I spent much of the day inside trying to work out a restaurant that we could go to tonight. Our hosts had given a list of recommendations. I went through these carefully trying to translate German menus to see if the particular place would work for us. Each of them had their own unique problems such as only open for lunch, no meat dishes, too far away, etc. There was a Schwabian restaurant on the list but it really had nothing suitable, no seafood, no chicken, for the girls. I also considered some local restaurants that were not on the recommended list including Little Marlene which was named after the famous German actress Marlene Dietrich who grew up around here. But, I rejected that idea too.

Any way, Julie who is now an expert with the bus system, heads out to places unknown:

20181012_154345 — Who is that little green guy?

20181012_163022 — Julie bought me a Ham Hock

Back at the apartment the kids show up early as we now have a dinner booking.

20181012_163134 — Ryan and I have another beer tasting

20181012_181252 — Our Restaurant the Ryan had booked

20181012_181242 — The Guys picked a table outside, only problem is there were lots of smokers

So, what has this to do with Slim Dusty? The place was run by Muslims and hence there was no alcohol available at all.

20181012_183900 — Chicken salad for Julie, the chicken was overcooked

20181012_183907 — Chicken Burger and Chips for Tanika

20181012_183913 — Chicken Gorgonzola Meal for Ryan

20181012_183920 — Chicken Jalapeno meal for me – note the little chunks of jalapeno in the cream sauce

After that less than stunning meal, it was back to the apartment for some real drinks.

Posted on October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by beauperi

Big Girls Don’t Cry

Thursday, 11 October, 2018 – Very good, low 20s

In spite of the good weather, I don’t make it outside until late in the day. After a smoked Salmon breakfast, Julie did a lot of prancing and here is one notable photo:

20181011_181800 — Doesn’t every cathedral have a row of food trucks in front of it?

20181011_181844 — Julie entering the restaurant The Market recommended by our Hosts

The restaurant was presumably called the Market because of the open air farmers market just diagonally opposite it. Julie went over to the market but it was closing and was only open on Thursdays.

20181011_182034 — Julie looking out at the Market.

20181011_184148 — Julie’s Chicken? Salad

20181011_184202 — Creamy Veal? Dish for me

20181011_191452 — Our Waitress is a very Big Girl – 6’5″

You can see in the photo above of Julie entering the restaurant that the waitress towers over her, just like the family in Estonia earlier in her trip. Julie is not short.

20181011_191501 — Too much make-up for my mind

Back to the apartment. That’s all folks!

Beauperi Investments – Wine Consulting

Category: Europe 2018

The Green Train

(Not So) Quiet Day in Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Slim Dusty, Part 2

Big Girls Don’t Cry