Waffles to Alpacas

 

Week ends are wonderful, its a time for doing fun stuff and enjoying life! This week end was a perfect example! At 5.45am on Saturday I was up and getting ready for our trip down to London, by 7.12am we were getting on the train at Lichfield Trent Valley Station. I've never seen so many people at the station, clearly a popular day to head down to the Capital!

We arrived at Euston at 8.30am, where we wonderful American friend Lisa met us, it was so good to see her again! I love the fact she is here every year and we can catch up. Our first stop for the day was the Coppa Club down near the Tower of London. I love this place, the food is good and the staff friendly. Plus it has great views across the Thames and Tower Bridge. Its the best place for brunch, and I can truly say the summer berry waffles were heavenly!!! It was a lovely relaxed start to what was Lisa's birthday. I am so glad we got to spend it with her.

Next stop was Docklands, where we headed to the Emirates Sky Line at Royal Victoria. This cable car takes you across the river to North Greenwich and the O2 Arena. The views are spectacular as you glide gently across the river. The 'flight' takes about 12 minutes, and is worth the sum of £3.50 which is all we paid. When you arrive at the other terminal there is a café/gift shop so we stopped here for coffees before heading to the underground station. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Greenwich, a place I have always loved. Somehow it manages to retain the feel of a village. We explored the market, and then walked up to Greenwich park to visit the Queens House. This houses a wonderful collection of artwork, and admission is free. I always feel the need to point out to people who say....oh, but London is so expensive....NO, its not!! There are so many museums, art galleries and other tourist attractions that are free. Part of the Queens house was closed for a wedding, but we got to see the famous Tulip staircase, and admire the beautiful art. After leaving the Queens House we headed to the Spanish Galleon for lunch, we were definitely ready for a sit down by then. The day flew by so fast, but we had time to visit a vintage market, and have a walk down by the Cutty Sark before returning to Euston for our train home. It was sad saying good bye to Lisa, but hopefully we will meet again next year!

And then it was Sunday, and I was so happy because we were going on another alpaca walk. We did this a few weeks ago and loved it. We arrived at 3pm, bout some alpaca feed and waited for the walk to start at 3.30pm. There were 14 people on the walk, and once everyone was gathered we were taken over to the pen to be paired up with an alpaca. They are such adorable animals, curious and apparently always hungry! This time my alpaca was called Saunders and he was so lovely. Much better behaved than Portofino who I ran with last time (walk would not be an accurate description!). Saunders was happy to amble along  somewhere in the middle of the pack, constantly stopping to munch on clover. Half way through the walk we stopped for photo's and the chance to have a cuddle with our alpacas. Alas, Saunders had his own agenda which involved eating more clover! After the walk was complete, we returned to the Chilli Bean café for afternoon tea, which like last time was delicious. The do the best cakes, and we love the sweet potato fries and banana ketchup! So despite the rain, and getting slightly soaked, we had a great afternoon. Can't recommend this experience enough.

Cake overdose at the Chocolate House

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and when we woke up on Tuesday it was our last day. After a nice breakfast we threw the last few things into our case, put on our waterproof jackets and ventured out into the rain. Luxembourg has weather like England - varied!!! Cathy came into the city to meet us, and after navigating our way through the road works in the city we arrived at a larger car park. Luxembourg City is introducing a tram system, hence the roadwork chaos, it will be interesting to see how it all looks in a couple of years. I am sure the tram will make travelling around even easier.

And so we spent our last few hours exploring the city, there were parts we had not seen on Saturday and  truthfully I am not sure we would have found them without Cathy. We visited the Chemin de la Corniche and walked part of the way. The views were amazing, even in the bad weather. There is a lift that takes you from the top down to the ground level where you can explore the Barrio Grund area - The Grund neighbourhood is calm and central, and along with Clausen is one of the most authentic areas of Luxembourg City. Located in the lower fortified part of town it follows the flow of the Pétrusse river, which joins the Alzette.

There was time to look around a church and visit a few shops and then we went to the Chocolate House for lunch. As you enter you're totally overwhelmed by the amazing display of cakes! But they do have a more extensive menu and serve light lunches, which I can highly recommend. We all had Quiche and salad which was delicious. And to follow?? Well, cake of Course!! Paul and I shared a piece of Black Forest Gateaux which was full of cherries and creamy goodness. Thank goodness we only got one piece!

Finally it was time to head to the airport, Cathy kindly took us. It was sad to say good bye to such a dear friend. She made these few days something so special, I will forever be grateful! The flight home was short and uneventful, and there ended our adventure in the Grand Duchy. But we have so many wonderful memories, and we have learned so much about this small, but perfectly formed country!

 

 

 

To Vianden and Beyond

On Monday, we headed back to the station and hopped on a train to Ettlebruck - getting to be old hands at it by now! Cathy picked us up from the Ettlebruck and we headed to Vianden, a pretty town very close to the German border. Our first stop was the beautiful fairy-tale castle. Along with many other tourists we had a wonderful couple of hours exploring this wonderful castle, so full of history and beauty. Paul and I both love castles, if only walls could talk - the stories they could tell!

After leaving the castle, we walked back into the town and had lunch at a restaurant Cathy knew. Luckily Cathy had been wise enough to book a table. It was a lovely place, and I was able to try the ham, salad and chips which I believe is a popular choice locally. It was good, as was the drink I chose. Poor Paul and his total lack of French struggled with the menu, but we found something he was happy with. Once we'd finished lunch, we walked around the town. It was so pretty, I got some wonderful photo's as we ambled about. There was a small church which we looked around, and a very pretty river.

When we finally left Vianden, Cathy took is to Beaufort to visit another castle. This one was also very interesting to look around, but much more a ruin than Vianden. There was a tall tower and I was determined to climb to the top - even though it nearly killed me. I am nowhere near as fit as I could be! Before leaving the castle we had coffee and found a shady corner to sit and enjoy the ambience. It had been such a wonderful day. I am so thankful for the amazing friends I have, who are so generous with their time!

After Cathy dropped us off at the hotel, we decided to go back to our room and pack as much as we could. Then we went for a last walk around the city centre. It was late and the shops were shut, but there were lots of people about in the main areas enjoying dinner. We couldn't decide on where to eat so we returned to the hotel and ate at Le Bec Fin. The waiter was charming and spoke such perfect English - what a relief to be able to ask questions about the menu. The food was nice, but the local wine was fabulous. We had a very leisurely dinner, the restaurant was quiet and they didn't rush us at all. We were so sad it was our last evening, how quickly the time flew by!! Finally after dinner we had a walk around the hotel complex and enjoyed the view across the Adolph Bridge.

 

 

Adventures in the Grand Duchy

On Sunday we woke up excited for the adventure the day would bring. After breakfast we walked to the station, which was about 20 minutes away. The train service is cheap and easy to use, they also have double decker trains here like we have seen in America.  We took the train to Ettlebruck where my dear friend Cathy met us. It was so good to see her again! First stop of the day was the General Patton monument which wasn't too far from the station. There is a lot of history in Luxembourg, there has also been a lot of war and conflict. It was interesting to see the monument and learn a little of the story behind it.  

From here Cathy took us to a little village which I think was called Rindscheiden - I could be wrong, I really had trouble keeping track of the names. We visited an interesting little church, which had some amazing paintings on the ceiling. Across the road was a  very quirky little bistro called Ranschelter. We stopped here for tea - quite the experience and I can honestly say, I've never had tea like it! We were served a little tea pot of hot water, a little container of loose tea, and little spoons with sugar in, and a jar of honey. The inside of the bistro was tiny and the walls completely covered in writing, quotes of all sorts, in numerous languages. Certainly made interesting reading, and we both got excited when we spotted one in English!

From here we headed to Cathy's home, this for me was the highlight of the trip. We got to meet Paul and her beautiful dog Eika. Cathy has a beautiful house and truly amazing garden. And this is where we relaxed for a few hours drinking champagne and nibbling on canapés while Paul BBQ'd - how wonderful is that! I was thrilled to finally meet Eika, who is the cutest dog I think I have ever met. I loved the way she truly seemed to understand everything Cathy said. Lunch was wonderful, and then much to my delight Cathy brought out a birthday cake she'd had specially made to celebrate our birthdays. It was Alice, the Mad Hatter, Cathy and me sitting in a tea cup. Quite the coolest cake I have ever seen, and what a lovely thought. I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends. The time flew by, and in the afternoon Cathy took us for a drive through the countryside to visit another castle. There are many castles in Luxembourg, it would take a long time to visit them all I think!! They stay open till much later in Luxembourg, giving us plenty of time to look around. The whole day was wonderful and we got to see so much.

Finally two weary travellers were delivered back to the hotel. Sleepy and ready for bed, but what a fabulous day. We saw so much, talked so much and enjoyed life so much!

 

Arrival in the Grand Duchy

After many months of planning and growing excitement, it was finally time to set off on our adventure. The 3am start was a challenge, which was not helped by Sat Nav issues and a panic about finding the car park!!  But we made it to the airport and our Flybe flight took off on time. By 9.25am we were in Luxembourg. After some confusion at the airport we found someone who told us to take the #16 bus into the city. The buses are free on a Saturday - how civilized is that!! Luckily the bus driver spoke English and we told us where we needed to get off, from there it was easy to find the hotel. As it was so early, we dropped the cases off and headed into the City to explore.

Luxembourg City is beautiful, amazing architecture and sculptures everywhere you look. The main shopping area is full of designer shops, sadly a little out of our price range. So mostly, we glanced in the shop windows are carried on walking. We did stop for coffee and croissants at a café, how lovely to sit outside and watch the world go by.

 

By early afternoon it was very warm, and we were shattered so headed to the park near our hotel and found a shady spot to sit and enjoy the day. At last it was time to go and check into our hotel, alas when we got there the receptionist said our room still wasn't ready. I must have given her the look of a woman on the edge - because she 'found' us a room a few minutes later. Sadly the room was like a sauna when we got to it, and despite opening the windows as wide as they would go, it took ages for the room to cool down.

We had a shower and a rest then later in the day when it had cooled down we went out to have dinner.   Dinner was at a burger and beer restaurant called Snooze - good food, but pricey!!

We enjoyed walking around the city as the evening progressed, it was cooler and there were less people about. There's so much to see, around every corner you discover something else. One of the highlights was finding Queen Charlottes statue, which was something I had wanted to see.  By the time we got back to the hotel we were definitely ready for bed, and even the very low flying and noisy planes didn't keep me awake!