Vianden and Luxemburg – Monday 12th October 2009

Happy Birthday to ME! And for my birthday, a trip to Luxemburg was on the cards. It took us about an hour to get over the border due to our junction on the motorway being shut. This was not really a problem, we just had to go cross country and the scenery was stunning. It is a bit like Bedfordshire, travelling along roads where you can see the landscape for as far as the eye can see to the volcanic mountains in the distance.

It was a bit wet and rainy but this cleared up when we left Germany and got into Luxemburg, travelling through Diekirch (where they mainly make beer) to get fuel (at 86.1 cents per litre) and then on to our first stop, Vianden.

I’d seen the name on the map and it rang a bell, I don’t think I have ever been there before but we were not disappointed when we arrived. It was a very quaint little town in the bottom of a valley with a river running through the bottom. The old town was classically cobbled with lovely old buildings, good for a wander should you wish to.

Above the town was a dominating castle which was in the process of being renovated however it had got past the stage where scaffold was needed so it looked quite pretty actually.

The castle was a complete ruin up until the end of the 1970s when funding was found to bring the place back to life and work continues to this day.

In the cellar of the castle all of the archaeology was on display. The ancient Roman walls of a fairly modest outpost that were originally there had been built on top of over the centuries until the large castle was formed.

Much of the renovation consists of concrete replacement pillars in the darker more rough areas where the servants would have existed, but in the real places that mattered the stonework has been recreated to the original specifications and the castle looks pretty much as it would have done when brand new.

Probably the most impressive thing about the castle I can think of was a large gallery in the main building. It is covered by the pitched roof and is as wide and as long as that section of the building. With a flagstone floor and large open windows running along each side it was a sheltered, light room that looked like it belonged in “Theed” from Star Wars (Where Queen Amidala is from in Episode 1)

We were at the castle for just over an hour before we left and continued the drive to Luxemburg.

It was our second trip to Luxemburg. We went there with Sean and Laura this time last year but this time the weather was completely different. Today we were blessed with puffy white clouds and sunshine. We could see the whole valley and the park at the bottom of the old city ramparts.

We wandered round having a look in the shops. Anna found an H&M which (by being in Luxemburg was tax free) and they had a 50% off sale, score! I didn’t buy anything though!

We also caught some things we missed the first time like the beautiful park below the town and we also went to have a look at the court complex.

The courts were very interesting. It seems that they have county, magistrates, high and youth court all in the same courtyard opposite each other. The site looks very new as well. It has polished stone floors and the buildings were Daz white.

We grabbed a couple of Geocaches whilst we still had light and we headed off to Prüm for my birthday dinner.

I love Prüm, mainly for its Post hotel Restaurant but it has a lovely looking Abbey. To my despair and disgust, the Post Hotel had been made into a coffee bar and a chaps fashion shop, RUBBISH! We shared meals at that place with Sean and Laura and Chris and Faith and the food was always brilliant, home cooked and in man size portions. It was the kind of place that locals would come as a complete family for a regular meal. The other thing we liked about then was they sold really nice Schnitzel in every style known to man, veal, pork or turkey with creamy mushroom, Jager and cheesy sauces to name but a few.

With no glory food of wonder and joy, we had to find another place to eat as we were starving. We happened upon a place next to the Abbey called “The Old Abbey”.

Inside the bar was pretty cool actually. It was wood everywhere and furnished as if it were an old brewery with copper pipes and drums everywhere. One of the booths had been cut out of a massive copper vat and seated about 8 people inside.

It looked ace, so what about the food.

We Anna had a pork schnitzel with cream and mushroom sauce. It was pretty nice actually but it didn’t come in the same quantities as before. I on the other hand had a turkey schnitzel with a cheesy sauce. It had some chip shaped vegetables in the sauce but we couldn’t work out what they were. I think they must have been turnip or some such. It wasn’t obvious from the menu but hey, it tasted nice so I wasn’t overly bothered.

The whole thing, including drinks and coffee came to about €30, which was very reasonable!

We left Prüm after food, and made our way back to Sunparks where we discovered that most of the world had descended for ½ term week, joy!

Dortmund - Friday 11th July 2008

Right, 6am, a good healthy start to the day, well, for real people who are able to get up in the morning,… well, me. The sun was out, shining brightly and a great day was waiting, just in front of us. We were off to DORTMUND for a long weekend break.
My alarm woke me with a start and the first thing I thought as I woke up was “AHH CRAP, I’VE ONLY HAD 5 HOURS SLEEP!” I nudged Anna (NEVER a good thing) but it had to be done as we would never have got going! I left the bedroom making sure I at least had some shorts on for in the living-room- our travelling companions awaited us. By waiting, I don’t mean they were doing it awake, Faith was awake, just,… I think that the thin curtains and the bright sunshine might have destroyed any chance of her getting any decent sleep from about 4am onwards…. Chris on the other-hand was totally sparko.

I grabbed a quick shower and by the time I was out, Anna was up and dressed,… I was shocked, well, pleasantly surprised! Chris was still out for the count.
Anna and Faith both had turns in the bathroom,…. And after about 30 minutes, Chris was still asleep.
A vigorous shaking was in order and in minutes he was in the shower and getting ready. He took forever though – worse than both us girls!
After a quick round of toast and some last minute emailing we packed the car and were on our way!

Traffic was fairly heavy, leaving at about 0710 is generally not a good plan, we might have to make it a little earlier next time.

We got to the shuttle terminal in just over an hour. Chris and Faith slept most of the way… this was the start of a general theme for Chris’s weekend

The thirty minutes on the shuttle was passed by eating bite sized scotch eggs and wiener sausages that we had pre packed (from M&S don’t you know!) This was a handy breakfast as we had pretty much no time in the Terminal to score some cheap foods for brekkie.
There was a really cute small child that touched Anna up and almost damaged his face on my car, but ill let Anna tell you about that later.

Ah yes the child! He was really lovely, all ears and face and stuff. He’d spent quite a lot of the journey waving to us whilst “driving” and then on one of his little walks about the train, he missed the edge of the walkway and smacked face first into the back of the car. Thankfully he just looked a little confused and got straight back up and carried on. On his way back I was leaning against the car and made sure I pressed up to the car out of his way at which point he decided to pat me on the bum, much in the way you would pat someone on the back! It was cute and I thought he was funny :)

Unloading of the shuttle took very little time and we were soon cruising along the roads around CALAIS. We had to make a short stop off at Auchan to fuel and then we headed out onto the open road.

Our route saw us drive out of CALAIS on the northern roads to the west, on the motorway, through France and into Belgium. It always makes me laugh. The road goes from shiny blacktop to rough and bumpy concrete. The streetlamps vanish and the road markings fade. For the trip to GENT, then on to ANTWERP, round the ring-road and out the other side, nothing much happened. It was the same from Antwerp to the border of the Netherlands where the sexy smooth blacktop returned and the roads became quieter. We made a quick stop for a leg stretch and some food at a picnic site and chowed down on some rolls and potato salad.
The rest of the journey was uneventful, Anna found some cool place names that we passed and the usual game of I SPY was won I think by her as well. Wankum, Wickede and Asseln. Some of the best names we’ve seen on signs so far. Not forgetting Koksijde and Dijksmuide (the “j” is silent in both. Snigger). Already looking forward to going to Titisee in May next year!

I was getting really tired by the time we hit Germany and DUISBURG. I checked the Satnav and it said that there was only about 50 miles to go so I stuck it out and we arrived at our first destination at about 1600 local time.

TRINKGUT is by far the greatest and best shop in the whole of Europe. It is floor to ceiling with beer, wine and other beverages and snacks. If you own a bar, or just like to drink, this is the place to be.
I bought a crate of 24 BITBURGER Alcohol Free beers for about 12 Euros and some more local beer for about 7 Euros for 25 1/2L Bottles. They also had three varieties of the peanut crisps that I have a severe addiction to. I restricted my self to just 2 bags, and as we speak I even have half a bag left! Go me! Faith has also been introduced to their wonderment and even Chris liked them. Andy is still rubbish and doesn’t eat them. More for me!
I love Germany, if you take back your empties, they give you a rebate voucher for the crate and bottles, knocking 3 Euros of you price, EVEN BETTER!

Once this was all packed away, we slowly made our way through the traffic to our home for the next two nights.
The City Centre MERCURE HOTEL is pretty much like most other basic hotels. The room is a good size for the two of us and has all the usual expensive drinks and sweets in the mini-bar. And not forgetting the contact card for “Club Amore” – they provide home visits, hotel visits or escort services! Bunch of mingers in the pictures though…

We are out tonight for dinner so will report in later!

That was a lovely night! We had a wander round DORTMUND, which is pretty much a generic German shopping town. It has all of the post war style concrete developments and the shops are similar to those all over Germany. They have Kaufhof, H&M and C&A. All good though, we saw some lovely churches and at the moment they have winged rhinoceros scattered round the city that look like they have been paid for and pained by local businesses. I think they’re related to the Superlambanana from Liverpool.

Dinner was at a restaurant called “Der Thuringer” near to the Hansaplatz. It was definitely ‘SnitzelUhr’ so we all had supersexy meat that was beaten to within an inch of its structural integrity before being covered in breadcrumbs,…. OM, NYOM, NYOM. Salad was a bit weird though, the carrots were cooked and in orange juice, there was an onion and celery soup which smelt like feet. Garlicky mushrooms were yummy, so that helped.

After grub, back to the room for munchies and some German TV.

Night all.