Sanguine Spain (The way too long of it - July 2013)

So, apologies but I'm now catching up on posting for a trip I took last year. This will also be quite a long post unfortunately. Back in July (the following week after the Belgium post I made in July) we took the opportunity to take a trip to Spain. Ironically we were just in Spain again, a few weeks ago, for another trip so stay tuned for that update soon. I started out the trip by flying directly into Barcelona after everyone else, due to scheduling. At the I was directed by the reasonably friendly airport staff to a bus that took me directly to downtown Barcelona, approximately a 15-20 minute walk from the stop to our home away in Barcelona.  Not a bad ride, so you don't need to worry about taking a more expensive taxi. The home away we stayed at was nice and was booked through EnjoyBCN.  Overall it was an enjoyable experience though we did have some delays due to a housekeeper issue.  I'd suggest you make sure you know when you can check in.

The first thing we really did was do our standard tour, the Sandeman's Walking tour of Barcelona. Again this was a big success. We had a lively tour guide who went through the history of Barcelona from the creation of the city, the story of the Chistopher Columbus to the current status of the city. One of the most amazing stops, due to the time of the year, was the Iglesia de San Felipe Neri (Church of San Felipe Neri).  We walked into what looked like a small courtyard of a somewhat hidden church.  As we walked in yellow pedals were falling all around us, almost like a movie setting.  It was really quite mesmerizing and beautiful.  I can't recommend the Sandeman tours enough, they have been amazing every time we've taken them.

In addition to the walking tour we also visited various sites of the city that weren't on the tour. The first sight that we saw was the beautiful, yet unfinished, cathedral of Sagrada Familia. While still unfinished (under construction since 1882) and designed by Antoni Gaudi, it is a beautiful example of his work and visually stunning especially when compared to other cathedrals of Europe. I was especially pleased by the curvatures and softness that was incorporated into the design, where most cathedrals are a much more jagged or square. While we didn't have the patience to wait in line to see the inside, based on external appearance alone I thought this was one of the more friendly and welcoming cathedrals I've seen in Europe. Definitely holds it's own when compared to the rest.

After the cathedral was Park Güell, the mosaic park that Antoni Gaudi also designed. An amazing and beautiful experience. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona with at least one day there. The views, garden and mosaics are well worth the trek we took from Sagrada Familia to see it.  It even had a beautiful view of the city you could enjoy as well, letting you get a feel for how some of the city is laid out. The garden was also especially enjoyable for me because it let me play with my camera in getting shots of flowers and things like that.  :-)

The final stop in our trip to Barcelona included one more site that bore the mark of Antoni Gaudi, Palau Güell, a mansion that Gaudi designed. It bore a lot of the same architectural traits that both Sagrada Familia and Park Güell bore, making it another beautiful site to see. Though I didn't enjoy it as much the other sites we visited. It was still well worth the visit. The best feature was the variety and designs of the chimneys on the roof. They were all designed and looked like they would fit magnificently into Park Güell with uniqueness of their mosaics. As a friend mentioned, it looked like they were designed for children to have fun with and claim as their own.

Throughout the whole journey to Barcelona we visited a number of restaurants for tapas and paella. All of which was fantastic Unfortunately I don't remember any of their names since they were so long ago... I'm sorry for that. But everything we tried was amazing.  In addition we did have a little bit of down time, during which we decided to enjoy the beach at Barcelona that was newly created since the Olympic games where held in Barcelona.  Finally, some actual relaxing in Europe!  Did I mention sunburn?  Yeah... Don't sleep for too long on the beach.

Once we were finished with Barcelona we started on our next journey towards Villafranca, Navarre, Spain. This was a villa we were going to stay at while going to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. I'll get to that in a minute though. On the way we stopped at another amazing place, Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, in Monistrol de Montserrat. A monastery on the top of a mountain just outside of Barcelona. The design, site and view were just breathtaking. The food in the cafeteria is definitely overrated... Essentially just gas station sandwiches and soda.  That's ok though, this is a monastery, not a 5 star restaurant.  But everything else was just fantastic.



We were originally going to take a cable car up to the top, but ended up driving our rental car to the top. The cable car might have been icing on the cake, but it definitely wasn't needed to enjoy this trip. The entire monastery is beautiful, and the insides of the buildings you can go into are astounding as well. One of the neat items is a step like, cube structure, something like a child might build. A number of people braved the climb of this monument to take pictures on top, with the amazing view. And it definitely looked worth it, if not a little reckless from the safety of the ground. Definitely one of the most amazing monasteries I've had the pleasure of seeing.

After this, we continued on to our lodging for the next two nights, the Hospederia de Alesves inVillafranca. I have to say, in my current 18 months of being in Europe, this has definitely been my favorite place to stay. And honestly speaking, some of the best food I've ever had in my life. While this hotel is in a small town in Spain, as you can guess they mostly spoke Spanish. The daughter or niece there did speak reasonable English, and the hostess spoke a small amount. That wasn't too difficult for us though since two of our company spoke reasonable Spanish, and I with my 4 years of high school Spanish was able to hold short, yet fun, conversations with the English the hostess knew. The staff at this hotel when well above and beyond in making us all fell at home. I would stay there again in a heart beat. They even translated their menu by hand, into English as best they could to help us understand what we were ordering. Every meal was fantastic and our hosts even provided us with free wine every night. They served what I think is common in the Spanish country side of 3 course meals. We were given the choice of an appetizer to start with. One night I had a Spanish dish of tomato, drizzled with egg crumbles, cheese and a vinaigrette. The other night I had a seafood based salad, which I believer was some kind of mini eel. Every appetizer they had listed was tried by at least on person in our group, and every one fantastic. Next came the main courses. One night I had a fish dish, and the other was a pasta dish. Again every option was fantastic. Finally comes the choice of desert. One night I chose a fruit cup and the other a pastry. Again amazing. The one warning about Spain, is that they didn't serve dinner until 2200 or 10:00pm at night, but it is well worth the wait. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting this area of Spain, even if you don't have a bit of Spanish in your repertoire they will go out of their way to make you welcome.

The next day, we woke up bright and early (4....am...) to go to Pamplona to get ready for the Running of the Bulls or what they locals call it San Fermin. We were there for the first bull run of the week, and already Pamplona was completely trashed from the party that had started the night before. While a few of my company were going to participate in the running, I was not.

The remainder of us went into the Plaza de Toros to get ringside seats to the Arena. If you want seats you will have to buy tickets to get in, if you don't want to run. But well worth it. After a long wait, but before the running they had a spanish marching band (ok, they didn't march) playing to entertain the crowd. Then you head the gun fire and could watch on a large screen the oncoming bulls as they charged towards the arena. Those that ran into the arena before the final bulls were allowed to be the fodder and entertainment for the rest of the crowd. 

They then let the baby bulls into the arena to play with the crowds. All in all it could be quite amuzing when a young bull would throw some of the more foolish people around. Though there were definitely moments of shock as someone took a particularly nasty toss from the bull. Luckily no one was hurt while we were there. Eventually the bulls had their fun and the people were allowed out and you wander the city until the real bull fights happen. Since we were all exhausted we grabbed some pastries, wandered around the city like tourists do, and then drove back to Pamplona for a much needed nap.

After the much needed nap we did one more thing (besides the amazing dinner that night) in the Province of Navarre. We visited the castle Palacio Real de Olite, in Olite, Spain. Castles have definitely turned into one of my favorite experiences in Europe. Every castle is soo different from the last, the castles in one country are especially different from ones in another country. Spanish castles (granted I've only seen one) looked sandy and, almost had a bright feeling to them. Probably helped that it was a bright, sunny, beautiful day. This castle seemed especially grand since you were able to wander on your own through the whole grounds and it is quite large. I think that if I had never been to Europe and you put a number of castles in front of me, and asked me which was the "Spanish Castle" this is the one that I would pick out. Amazing.

The next day we started our trek back to Barcelona for our last night before returning to Germany via plane. We had one last place to visit, which was Zaragoza, Spain. It was a reasonably quick stop. We mainly wandered around the city talking and stopped for a quick bite to eat. We ate at a little restaurant where you can order single servings of various foods from a small slider like sandwich, to hot chocolate to an assortment of other individual serving items. The big site that we saw in Zaragoza was Nuestra Señora delPilar Basilica, or Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar. This was huge, and the only thing I can say to describe the inside... was Grandiose... huge. It makes you think of how small you really are, which who knows? Maybe that was exactly what they were going for. After finishing up in Zaragoza, we continued our drive to Barcelona where we stayed one final night before flying home. I have to say that while it was relaxing, it was also a little lame. My dinner that night was at Ikea. What can I say, there wasn't a whole lot next to the airport and I didn't want to wander.

Once again, the trip was awesome. We didn't do a whole lot of relaxing besides a little time at the beach, but we did see a whole lot of things. And all of it was fantastic. The food, amazing. The hotels, fantastic. The activities, outstanding. If you get a chance to go to Spain, GO to Barcelona, go into the country side. I think Spain is one of those places where if you don't go outside of the major cities, you're missing a lot. Spain may be a little challenged (from what I hear) economically, but it is beautiful and friendly. Visit all you can.

A Quick Run - Nov 2013

Last weekend I took the opportunity to make a run to one of my favorite places, Val Dieu Abbey, just inside the Belgian border from Germany. The purpose of this trip was two fold. First, was to introduce a couple of my old friends who recently moved to Germany to my favorite Abbey and current favorite beverage and cheese source. Two, and most important, a beer run. A fairly short trip, but a pleasant one.

This trip was doubly exciting, the first is because we were able to see the Abbey and it's park in a fall setting, wandering it's park with changed leaves and a slight nip in the air. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me to take any new pictures, so some old summer pictures will have to suffice. The other reason that this was a great trip was that the Abbey had a seasonal Christmas beer "Biere de Noel". Which none of us knew was going on and tasted fantastic.

Our trip entailed sitting down to lunch and enjoying the meal and a Belgian beer or two. Almost all of use ordered the Noel beer to try, and everyone loved it. I also tried a new meal here, the duck (or Canard) dish. After enjoying a meal under a portion of the gears using water power in part of the brewing process, we purchased what beers we thought we might like to take home to share with friends and then wandered the Abbey's park for awhile. Enjoying the fall scenery and letting our delicious food settle. After that we hopped back in the cars and drove home content and happy.  I think part of the reason I enjoy this Abbey so much is just the chance to wander around such a beautiful park for a few minutes, and praise God for such a wonderful place.

Illustrious Italy Fall 2013

So, I know it's been a while since I last posted, more than a while actually, and I'm a few trips behind. Hopefully I'll get to them but for the most part I am going to skip past my trips to Barcelona/Pamplona, Spain and a second trip to Brussels, Belgium and hopefully I'll post them later. I want to jump to my most recent trip to Italy, which will also be a pretty long post since we did so much.

Our first night into Italy we stayed in the hotel Grand Hotel Duca di Mantova in Sesto San Giovanni outside of Milan. I have to admit, this was just a basic hotel and we didn't go into Milan on this trip so I don't have much to report. All in all, a reasonable hotel with adequate food in the restaurant. Nothing to shout home about but comfortable.

The next day we started our drive into western Italy, towards our next destination of Savona, near Albenga. Two of our cars GPS's took us along the Mediterranean Coast, which while a slow and somewhat tedious drive at ~50-60kph, was very beautiful with clear blue sky and water along the coast. The other two took a more direct route of the Autostrada. Ironically we only arrived ~10 – 15 minutes apart. At Albenga was our second hotel for the night, a villa called Villamir, a quaint and beautiful and very reasonable villa turned into a bed and breakfast. The proprietors (who had only been managing this B&B for a few years, spoke enough English to hold pleasant conversations and give us excellent suggestions for lunch and details of the surrounding area. I'm getting ahead of myself, but breakfast the next morning was a fantastic assortment of local meats, cheeses and pastries (including a few baked fresh by the proprietors). We the chatted pleasantly with the owners until we paid (cash or credit card) and left for Florence the next morning. I highly recommend and will definitely be interested in staying in this villa again.

After checking in, but before spending the night in Villamir, we also ate lunch in the local town of Savona. We grabbed some pizza at a local pizzeria while cautiously eyeing our sportier cars from some slightly sketching looking locals. Odds are nothing would have happened, but we decided to take no chances. As we've found with all Italian pizzeria's, the pizza was delicious. After lunch we took our main trek for the day which was planned to go to Monaco, and at least see the famous Monte Carlo Casino if not go in. Monaco was a very clean, if not crowded small country where the population reaches a staggering 50,000 per square mile (The country is .74 square miles). There also happened to be what appeared to be a Halloween related festival going on while we were in town. 

After finding parking in one of Monte Carlo's many parking garages, we wandered around, taking pictures, and even entered Monte Carlo Casino which was gold embossed as you might expect but rather underwhelming otherwise. In the public area there was a smidgeon of tables that tourists could poke at but the action was probably in all the private rooms where we weren't allowed. After that we wandered until it was dinner time and decided to eat at a small restaurant called which I believe was called La Shangre`la. All in all a very lack luster and uninteresting restaurant. While the food was not bad, we regretted not visiting another restaurant we had passed. Once we had finished dinner we began the hour plus drive back to Villamir and stared at the stars for a little while before going to bed. And you've already heard the rest of the story.

The next morning, after breakfast, we departed to head to our final, multi-night, destination of Park Hotel Chianti in Tuscany. This was a fantastic hotel, all the quality of a good Hilton or Sheraton without the need for membership for WiFi or breakfast. And quite affordable, it was lovely.  On the way to the hotel, we took the time to stop at a famous part of Italy, Cinque Terre, specifically the village of Riomaggiore.  We did have to hustle through the village since we were a little short of time, and parking there was extremely difficult.  I suggest leaving plenty of time to find a parking spot so you can leisurely spend time in the area.  It is very beautiful.

After we checked in and almost immediately departed for a food and wine tour (apologies, I didn't organize the tour so I don't have a link for you. I'll try to find one). Normally the tour is an all day affair, but our guide was flexible and picked us up from the airport to start us on our tour around 1200. After pausing for some history and picturesque photo opportunities from our guide, we started by heading towards the Tanuta Torciano Winery near medieval San Gimignano. where we were served a fantastic 3 course meal of meats and cheeses for appetizer, delicious Ribollita soup, and the main course of one of the best lasagna's I have ever had, drizzled with truffle flavored olive oil. Each course paired with a variety of wines for tastes and introductions to the wines, olive oils, and vinaigrette that this winery has to offer, all for direct purchase or delivery to your home. I came way with two bottles of wine and a bottle of the truffle olive oil. 

Once lunch was complete we continued for a small walking tour of San Gimignano, which was fascinating and a pleasure to wander it's streets and take photographs of it's 14 remaining towers representing families from medieval times. We even sampled gelato from the local gelato shop Gelateria Dondoli that has won the World Gelato Championships TWICE. Our guide knew and introduced us to the owner and it really was fantastic gelato. Finally to round of the day we headed to the winery at Fattoria Poggio Alloro where we sampled a few more wines and Italian appetizers of bread, cheese and olive oil and enjoyed a history of making wine and great conversation with our guide. Here I brought home some Italian pasta for future use. Another great stop. We then headed back to the hotel for the night, content and ready to sleep soundly through the night.

The following day, after a light and delicious breakfast at the hotel, we decided to take a trek into Florence for touring around the city. We consolidated our group into two cars and drove in. One group parking in a garage just inside the river, and the other parking in a small parking lot just below Piazzale Michelangelo which provides a fantastic overlook of Florence. We wandered around Florence, visiting such attractions as the statue of David, had lunch near the outdoor markets, Cathedral of Santa Maria delFiore and the Piazza della Signoria where the Fountain of Neptune lies. We even stopped for coffee at the Gucci Cafe outside of the Gucci Museum. The hot chocolate was had by a member of our group, and looked like melted chocolate. 

 Following a full day of wandering we returned to our vehicles via the Ponte Vecchio bridge and returned to the hotel. We then went next door to the restaurant Ristorante Pizzeria Pontenuovo and had some more amazing Italian food. Italian restaurants (at least the ones we attended) are organized into courses. You can order appetizers, first course and second course (or only one or two dishes) and you get treated to delicious dishes. Here I had Pappa al pomodoro, a tomato and bread soup, as well as a Gnocchi and seafood dish (potato noodles with seafood). All were fantastic. Finally, we ended the night with playing monopoly before going to bed to put a good relaxing feeling to the day.

The next day after breakfast, our group split up. Some heading home early, some going shopping, and some (me included) going to Pisa. Once arriving at Pisa and parking we wandered toward that famous leaning tour and the cathedral. Even doing the obligatory holding the tower up. We even paid to go up into the tower and partake of the fantastic panorama of Pisa and the nearby mountains with perfect weather. Another great day. 

 

When we were finally done wondering and acquiring some souvenirs we headed back to the hotel where the remainder of our group reconvened and we went out for our last dinner at Ristorante La Fattoria where once again we had amazing service and amazing food. Dinner this evening consisted of another bowl of the fantastic Ribollita, as well as the main dish of fried rabbit with fried vegetables, also quite spectacular.

After an amazing night sleep, we departed the hotel to start our last day in Italy and our trek home later that night. We had preplanned a trek through some Italian mountain roads on our way to Maranello, Italy where we planed to visit the Ferrari Museum. There we also took the opportunity to pay for some time (80 Euros for 10 minutes) to drive Ferrari's around for the fun. While some of us had great co-drivers that encouraged us to "have fun", I unfortunately had a co-pilot who grumpily kept me slow and steady. All in all a decent experience driving and seeing Ferrari's. (I no longer want one). After the museum we also visited the Pagani Factory in Modena and received a tour of the factory. We were able to see a Zonda R super car and walk through the factory as they actively worked on building new Pagani super-cars

. This was a very enjoyable tour. Finally we started our trek home at around 4pm, and after about 9.5 more hours of driving we arrived home after 1am in the morning to go to sleep and end our weekend vacation.

Even though we had a lot of driving, I highly recommend a road trip through Italy. Just remember to stay in the speed limit, since both Italy and Switzerland can gift you with speeding tickets of 100-200 Euros if caught. Safe travels!

Beguiling Brussels Summer 2013

It's been far too long since I had an excursion out and about, so I decided to head to Brussels for the weekend with a few of my friends, and some new friends. This turned out to be a decent trip though it did have one or two disappointing aspects.

We drove to Brussels and arrived just in time to attend the New Sandeman's Walking Tour of Brussels. As usual, this provided a great introduction to the history and sites available in Brussels. From Grand Place, to le Manneken-Pis, Cathedrals, Space Invaders, and even the Musical Instrument Museum. All in all, it proved to be another winner in my trip through Europe and it's history.

  In the middle of the walking tour, we took a break in a central market area near Grasmarkt to grab a snack and a break. We decided to try some Belgian Fries at Belgian Frit'n Toast, and I have to admit they were the best fries that I have had in a long time. Apparently the secret is to fry them once, at a lower temperature until cooked and then flash fry them at a higher temperature for the crispiness right before serving (or something like that). Fantastic.

Once we finished with the walking tour, we went to check into our hotel room. This time we stayed at an interesting hotel only a few blocks from Grand Place. It was called B-Apart Hotels. This hotel is intended to be a long term stay hotel, and it doesn't actually employ any desk staff. They email you an access code for the front door, and a code to retrieve your key from a key box in the main lobby. They do employ a cleaning staff that does not work on the weekend. So if you're staying from Friday to Sunday, don't expect your towels to be cleaned on Saturday. All in all, I thought this was a very good venue, with decent access. One of our group used the attached car garage for their parking, where we decided to park in the parking garage at Grand Place. This is easily able to fit small pickups if you need that. The parking garage at Grand Place was definitely cheaper than the attached garage, if you don't mind having to walk a few blocks with your luggage.

Once we checked in, we all went to Drug Opera for a quick beverage before continuing to wander around Brussels. As with everywhere in Brussels, if you like beers this is a pretty good place to visit. I can't actually comment on the food at this location since I wasn't hungry after those amazing fries. But the location and atmosphere was pretty good.

Following that we decided to try a local brewery Cantillon Brewery and go for a tour of the brewer as well as sampling of what they provide. The tour was actually pretty neat, they basically do a self-guided walking tour of the brewery. You buy a ticket, receive a brochure and you can walk around at your own pace and see how they do things. Not as informative as some breweries I've done a tour, but it is a neat change of pace. This brewery focuses on lambic style beer, so if you like really sour beer then you will really enjoy what they provide. Unfortunately, my friends and I weren't all that into this sour of a beer and did not really enjoy the samples. The lambic what I imagine a really sour, wheat wine would taste like. I also tried their Cherry beer, and while definitely tasting like cherry it was also very sour. So, I wouldn't suggest this brewery unless you have a taste for sour beers. A neat experience though with the tour, but a long walk away from the center of town.

After the brewery we walked over to Moeder Lambic for another beer or two, where I was introduced to Val Dieu beer. A very tasty beer if you like the standard Belgian style beer, but we'll get to that later. This Bar again, had a very nice atmosphere and was a pleasant break from our walking around Brussels to chill until dinner. Unfortunately I can't remember where dinner was at the moment so I'll have to provide that later. Needless to say it was very good :-)

After that we tried out Delirium Cafe. While not a scene I like to go to a lot, if you like bars than I could see it being a very good scene. They have a good selection of tasty beers to try from around the area. It will be very busy though. On our way back to the hotel afterwords, we stopped at one of the many Belgian Waffle stands around the city and had one. They make two styles, one is heavy and sweeter while the other is lighter and more like your standard waffle. You can put toppings on, but if you want to eat it like the locals do than stick with simply powdered sugar. Definitely something delicious to try.

The next day we wandered around Brussels and picked up souvenirs, Belgian chocolates, and tasty things to drink that we wanted to bring back home from our weekend excursion. All of it turned out to be amazing when I got around to trying them. We had breakfast at a local stand called Panos which is your basic European cafe with pastry treats. A great way to start the day or take a simple break.

After eating some breakfast and picking up somethings to take home, we started our trek back. This is where we headed to the Belgian Abbey I mentioned earlier called Val Dieu. We wandered around, explored the grounds and even stopped for some food. The food there is fantastic, the Abbey is amazing at making beers as well as cheeses. I ate Cheese Croquettes that were perhaps the best "cheese sticks" (OK not really cheese sticks, but an OK description for those that don't know what Croquettes are :-) ). 

When we were finished we picked up some cheese and a few more tasty things to drink and drove home.

While not my favorite trip in Europe, I did enjoy my stint in Belgium. There is a lot of history there, and a large number of museums that I would like to see so I plan on going back. Luckily for me, you don't have to be a big drinker to enjoy Brussels. There is a lot to do, and a lot of great food to try. Enjoy! :-)

Luxurious Luxembourg 2013

Since I had Memorial Day off, I decided to take a day trip to another country that is close by to Germany, that would be Luxembourg. Again I find it very weird that I live in a location that is only a few hours from a number of other countries, I've never had that before and to be honest I probably never will again. But, enough about that, you're not here to hear about anything but the trip itself. :-)

Our first stop in our day trip excursion to Luxembourg was to visit the city of Echternach, Luxembourg around 9am. This is a very small town, probably actually a village, that houses an Abbey of Echternach founded by a gentleman known as St. Willibrord. This was one of the things that I had really wanted to visit. In the process of looking at Echternach I found that they have a yearly dancing procession that they are known for. Unfortunately this wasn't the day we visited. We started out the day by eating breakfast at a small little place that I believe was called La Petit Poete. Aside from the cafe hostess only knowing French and some German (luckily we know some German), we were able to order breakfast of some cappuccinos and Croissants. They were very good, after driving for a few hours and being very hungry.

We then started wandering around, and found the Abby of Echternach and wandered into a small garden of the Abbey where we were met by the groundskeeper who noticed us aimlessly wandering. He, speaking German, directed us to the local tourist office located right in front of the Abbey where you can get a map and do a self guided walking tour of all the sites of the city. This tour took us from the Abbey to its properties and other various sites in the city.

One of which, perhaps my favorite, was periodic remains of the city wall through the city. The residents have creatively converted parts of the wall to apartments people can actually stay in, including a tower that was apparently converted to apartments specifically for tourist visitors. This might be a neat place to go for a honeymoon or other romantic getaway in this quaint location.

The next place we visited was Vianden Castle, in the village of you guessed it, Vianden, Luxembourg. Now, if Echternach was quaint, I'd almost call Vianden a little majestic. The castle itself was fascinating. It is one of the largest, fortified castles west of the Rhine, and very beautiful. My only disappointment was that the castle was organized more like a museum with exhibits in each room behind glass cases, instead of letting you wander through and see things like it might have actually been. But even still, it is perhaps one of my favorite castles so far and I really enjoyed the visit, especially seeing what I would call the Great Room and its' spectacular view. I enjoyed the castle so much, that I am seriously considering returning for a Medieval Festival they hold in the fall.

Next we decided to go down into the village of Vianden for lunch. We decided to stop at a little place that was called Beim Hunn. This was a small restuarant and it looked like a hotel catering towards bicyclists. The food was fantastic as well, and the service wasn't too bad either. I had Chicken Cordon Bleu, and the portions were more than generious. I salad I saw was comparable to the size you might get at The Cheesecake Factory. Again, all of it was delicious.

Finally our day in Luxembourg took us to the capital itself of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. I slightly wish we weren't there at the last part of the day and already pretty tired. It is a quiet, yet very beautiful city. We visited the Casemates, which apeared to be, or at least be near, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It gave us a pretty spectacular view of the lower city of Luxembourg. 

 We also visited the Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg. This cathedral again showed me that I love to see these old churches in Europe. They are all so beautiful and fill you full of awe. After wandering around taking many more pictures, we stopped again at a small little coffee shop before heading home. Unfortunately I can't remember the name, but it was lack-luster to me.

I will say that the drive from Germany and throughout Luxembourg was fantastically beautiful. The scenery and the terrain was amazing and well worth the trip on it's own. My only regret was something I found out after the fact, that I didn't know that Luxembourg contained the largest American Cemetery outside of the United States. Luckily that, in itself, is a reason to return to Luxembourg again right? :-)

Again, this trip was a very enjoyable trip. There are more things to see in Luxembourg since we were there late and only saw a few. I definitely recommend a quick view, and I think that a day trip was the right choice for me. I hope you can enjoy Luxembourg too!