Sunday Afternoon Drive

A couple of Sundays ago, Todd and I decided that we wanted to take his new car for a drive.  What car you may be asking ... well, we purchased him a '97 black BMW coupe.  Its nothing fancy and the price was definitely right.  I'm not much of a car person, but the Germans really do know how to make a good car.  We haven't had it for that long and we both already love it.   For those of you who haven't seen the new addition picture on FB, I'll be sure to post a picture later.  (Todd took his car to work and then went on an unintentional extended trip, meaning his plane broke.)

Anyways, back to the real story .... our Sunday Afternoon Drive .....

Since I hadn't been to Luxembourg yet, we thought this would be the perfect chance.  After a little internet research we were on our way!!

Our first stop was in Remich, Luxembourg.  I had never heard of it, but I must say I loved the little )or maybe not so little, I'm really not sure) town.  It's right on the Moselle River which is great.  The only part of town we saw was the river walk area.  I have no idea if that's what its called, but its makes perfect sense. (See pictures below.)   This area of Luxembourg is covered in vineyards which was an awesome surprise for us.   It just so happens that St. Martin wine and sparkling wines are made in Remich.   Unfortunately for us we didn't know about it until we drove past it on our way back home.   But, we've already decided we will be making an overnight trip there and checking out the wine cellar there.

Even though pretty much everything about Remich was awesome, I must make one complaint.  With the amount of people that were out and about on a Sunday afternoon (it was hopping) you'd think there would be more parking.  It took us over 20 minutes to find somewhere to park.  Both of us were getting super annoyed of driving around the same parking lot stalking looking for the next available empty spot.

Typical Todd driving picture, but with vineyards in the back ground

Flying cow

View from our table - Moselle River 

We decided to eat at a place called Hotel de L'Espanade.  Todd had read that one of the local specialities was Friture de la Moselle, better known as the deep fried palm size fish caught in the Moselle River.  [Sidenote: Before we moved over to Germany we made a pact that with every new place we went to we would try the local cuisine.]  So without hesitation we decided to order the fish and split it.  It wasn't until we got our meal that I became a little skeptical.  As soon as you look at the pictures below, you see exactly what I mean.   Todd had mentioned the fish to me during the car ride over and said he read that you are supposed to eat the whole fish - including the head.   When he told me this I kinda shrugged it off and thought it wouldn't be so bad.  Well, boy was I wrong!!  Turns out this Friture de la Moselle is just as I described it a COMPLETE palm sized fish deep fried with the exception of the scales.  To clarify that means the bones, eye sockets, fins, etc were all still on the fish when it was served.  I didn't really want to eat it, but a promise is a promise.  The last thing that Todd mentioned was that he read that the head was the best (& tastiest) part.  So we both ate the head first.  All I can say is that we each ate 1 (and only 1) whole fish.  After the first fish I wouldn't eat anymore and Todd picked at his in the literal sense.  He pulled all the bones out and tried to eat just the meat.  Considering how small the fish were he didn't get much to eat.   [Another sidenote: We later found out from our awesome landlords, Thomas and Sandra, that you aren't supposed to eat the heads.  I'm not sure if they were laughing at us because they thought it was funny, grossed out, or because they think we are stupid for doing it.]

Our lunch spot

Friture de la Moselle 

I made Todd try it first - head first.

After Todd picked it all apart.

My leftovers

After our unsuccessful attempt at eating something good, filling, and/or normal we both ordered dessert.  Since Luxembourg is partial French I though a chocolate crepe would be a safe choice.  Thankfully I was right, it was delicious!

Me & my crepe

After lunch dessert, we drove to Luxembourg city.  Our first stop there was to see The Luxembourg American Cemetery & Memorial.  Todd had already visited it on a prior visit to Germany but thought that I should see it.  I must say I'm so glad we did.  Granted I can't say that I've been to too many other places like this, but I can't remember ever being so mesmorized by a memorial.   Some people might think its nothing speical, but for me just to know that we (the USA) have had that many soldiers buried over here due to one battle is a little crazy to me.  This place contains the remains of 5,076 US military members, most dying during the Battle of the Bulge.  It even has the grave of General George Patton in front of all of his soldiers.  In my opinion (which doesn't mean much) this is a must see for anyone coming to visit or already living here.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Outside the gate

1941 - 1945: IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER SONS AND IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The small chapel

Military Operations through Western Europe

Military movement around Ardennes and Rhineland

Military movement around our area

General George S. Patton Jr. 

An unknown soldier

The entrance to the chapel

The border has a written message:   IN PROUD AND GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THOSE MEN OF THE ARMED SERVICES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHO IN THIS REGION AND IN THE SKIES ABOVE IT ENDURED ALL AND GAVE ALL THAT JUSTICE AMONG NATIONS MIGHT PREVAIL AND THAT MANKIND MIGHT ENJOY FREEDOM AND PREVAIL.

I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH

Next we went to the Bock Casemates.  In short, Todd really liked them, but I wasn't a big fan.  I think it was because it was close to closing time and I didn't want to get lost or locked inside for the night.  For those of you who haven't heard of the casemates, don't worry, I hadn't either.  The Casemates are/were an underground tunnel system that provided defense for the Castle of Lucilinburhuc built in 963.  The first casemates were built in 1644 under Spanish rule.  After almost a century of many countries fighting over this defense mechanism a treaty was signed which caused the dismantling of Luxembourg, the castle, and the Casemates.  The Casemates were supposed to be demolished, but considering they were built underneath the city it proved to be a hard feat.  In the end they were reduced from 23 km to 17km.

The city of Luxembourg

View from on top of the Casemates

The start of the Casemate pictures

Peep hole

Silly Todd

Remains of the castle and Casemates

After the Casemates we decided to head home.  We were hoping to buy some wine as we were heading out and happened upon Cep D'Or.   Another thing that Todd read about was the cremants of Luxembourg.  After the fiasco earlier in the day I'm not so sure I should believe anything Todd or the internet has to say!!  But, turns out he and the internet were right.  Cep D'Or specializes in "fine wines and cremants of Luxembourg".   We were lucky enough they were still open since it was 6pm on a Sunday and made sure that we took full advantage of it.  We came away with 5 or 6 bottles or wine and sparkling wine.  To date we still haven't drank hem all, we are saving the sparkling for a special occasion (i.e. 1st anniversary even though it turns out we didn't drink it for that). 

And that folks concludes our day trip to Luxembourg.  As I said at the beginning we plan on going back to Remich for an overnight to do the St. Martin wine cellar.

Next up, our 1st anniversary trip to Grindelwald, Switzerland!  Stay tuned!