Castles and Wineries and "Grunde."

Yesterday was yet another jam-packed day in our Integration process. We started out by having a morning lecture at the Chateau, and then headed to a local school to learn about the local school systems. Afterwards came the fun part… we each split off into a few different groups and went to different sights. 

My group went to the Chateau de Vianden, which has been standing since something like 900AD. I LOVED it. Not only did it have beautiful old architecture, but it was also built into a mountain and looks down onto the city around it. It was breathtaking. Seeing such old structures is really amazing…and I can’t help but wonder how long building such a castle would’ve taken during those times.

I also saw a beautiful lamppost… I like lampposts a lot :)

Also saw a cool log cabin!

I kept wondering about things like how people could ever stay warm in such a castle and how they would manage not to get lost (like we did…).

Later on we went on a tour of a winery called Domaines Moselles . Apparently it’s the oldest winery in Luxembourg. The man who must own it (or at least runs it) gave us the tour, and was very funny. Though this winery mostly makes white wine, he told us that actually ALL grapes make white wine. For red, you have to use the skins. Back when the winery first was started up (he said something about 2000 years ago???) they could only make white but later got the means to make some reds. 

Finally we headed back home and made a little dinner in our apartment.

This morning our host-mom took us all around Luxembourg City to show us her favorite super markets. She showed me one “bio” market that sells alternative health-foods like gluten-free foods and things like that. Another was more like your classic American grocery store.

As we were driving around it struck me today that I’m living in a big, hustling-bustling city. It might not quite be on the same level as some place like NYC but it sure has that fast-paced, intense feel to it. After living in Oxford for the better part of the last year and a half, this is quite different! I love it though. Good vibes. I love the public transportation and the fact that it can get you EVERYWHERE. I’ve used the train quite a bit now and I really love the long train-ride to the Chateau. There’s something really pleasant about riding around and not worrying about anything. I like the rapids in Cleveland, but this is so much better without scary people and crazy bumps during the ride. A lot of people here do use the public transportation, but surprisingly it’s only about 20% who use it consistently! Gas is so cheap here that many people prefer to use cars.

Speaking of which, being a pedestrian is DANGEROUS! Alex almost got run over by a bus the other day. A group of students crossed just as the light was changing and the driver actually accelerated INTO the group of students when his light turned green! He was making eye-contact with them and they were NOT going to stop him from being punctual, apparently! I’d heard about it being dangerous on the roads but I didn’t think that public transportation drivers would intentionally want to run us over…

Later this afternoon our host-mother showed us the "Grunde." Little did I know, Luxembourg is built on a whole other part of the city, which is mostly ruins! There's lots of other cool things down there to see, and lots of businesses and shops and homes and very old structures. Our host-mom has lived here her whole life (except for 15 years in the United States).

Looking down into the ruins.

Going down into the Grunde/ruins.

Looking up into the city.

(looks like a nice place to row... ;).

It was nice to see this aspect of this city because the majority of it down there is non-touristy and inhabited by locals. I felt lucky to get to see all of that stuff with someone so familiar to it! This is somewhere that I would definitely want to show my family when they visit.