Galavanting around Luxembourg :)

Today was a whirlwind of adventures over here in Lux... They sure do keep us busy! So far (out of 2 days...) today was my favorite. We saw a lot of the country and some important sites, as well as some fun ones too :)

After morning lectures, we headed off to do some "field trips." The first stop was the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. It was a really moving sight - and sad, because many of the soldiers were so young - and reminded me of pictures that I've seen of Normandy. We only had 20 minutes to walk around and see everything but it was both beautiful and heart wrenching to see and experience.

The feel of the German memorial was much different... not only did the sun go away but it was just a bit grim in general! Each country (the USA and Germany) pay for the care of their respective memorials.

Later, we headed back into the city for some wandering. There were so many interesting shops and restaurants and important buildings...most of which looked like castles!

Here I am hanging with a GIANT lion in front of the Hotel de Ville. Alex said this guy would look nice in front of his house...

We went into a beautiful and very old Catholic church...the stained glass was amazing...

Then we headed to...the CHOCOLATE HOUSE!

Note the blankets on outdoor benches...so people can cozy up and still eat outdoors where they can examine passers-by. Almost every restaurant is like this!

The Chocolate House is right across from the Grand Ducal Palace. There's always a guard out there. 

A big group of us went into the Chocolate House and decided to try a few different things. We each had a "chocolate spoon" - there were tons of different flavors - which would be stirred into a cup of warm milk to make your own drinking chocolate. DELISH.

The 5 of us nibbled on 2 different kinds of cake too... 

After all of the exploring we went to CACTUS which is a Luxembourg hybrid of Walmart/Target/a grocery store. We navigated a bus ride there and back. I needed a new power adapter and a few things to eat in my apartment. We spent at least an hour (?) roaming around and looking at all of the things they had there (I was mostly obsessed with different kinds/brands of food) and finally came back with the essentials. I got some rice and almond milks which I adore at home, and some apple sauce, and some speculoos, which was amazingly delicious!!!

After all of the navigating and running around and French-speaking (?!?) I feel more at home in Luxembourg, even if it's only my second day here. Tomorrow will be the final day of integration, with Sunday as a day off before classes on Monday.