Let's Do Lunch--In Luxembourg

Food aside, the very best part of living in Europe, is that you can pack up the car on a whim and drive to another country. For lunch. And Friday, that's exactly what we did. The kids informed us Thursday that they didn't have school the next day, and Josh had already taken the day off 'just because'. So we made an impromptu trip to the quaint little country of Luxembourg.

Did you know that Luxembourg is the headquarters of Skype and the European division of Amazon? (Me either). It also boasts the second highest minimum hourly wage in the world ($13.89 in 2013). Natives of the country use three languages: French, German, and Luxembourgish. {Funny little fact: nowadays when we travel to another country, my default language is German. When we first got to Germany, when I'd try to say anything other than English, it would come out as the little bit of Spanish I know. Now it all comes out German!} In Luxembourg, the written language is generally French, and from what we saw, they didn't try very hard to put an English version on anything, like a lot of places. Luckily, on the menu where we ate, they printed French with the German translation under it. It is kind of amazing how much we can read/understand in German versus just a year ago!


We started our day at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. This is the burial site of over 5,000 Amercian soldiers who lost their lives during The Battle of the Bulge during World War II. Also among those buried here, is General George S. Patton. I can't begin to put into words the feeling you get walking into this memorial. It brought me to tears to look out and see so many graves of those who fought to protect not only American freedoms, but those of the world. To know that without their sacrifice the world would be a very different place, and yet their families don't even get the simple comfort of visiting their graveside, it was really one of those moments that stops you in your tracks. It made me very proud to be American.

After the Memorial, we headed into Luxembourg City for lunch. After three hilarious times around the city looking for a parking garage, we finally found a place. Once we packed up our bag, we headed out looking for lunch. We really need to get an international data plan for our phones, because trying to navigate to our predetermined destinations without one isn't really working. So..we ended up winging it: our specialty. We found the main little square in the pedestrian zone that was surrounded by restaurants. We decided on Veneziano right off the square. It was a very nice little cafe with an endless offering of ice creams and waffles, but also some delicious lunch options. This was probably the best panini sandwich I've had, and the portions were huge! The waitress tried her very best to speak English, but there was a lot of pointing to items. We definitely made it work, though! 

After lunch, we headed out exploring. But not before grabbing some macarons from the Laduree I spied on the corner! I love those little things, and they have the flavor I love the most--Marshmallow Chocolate coconut. ((AND..after checking their website, I see they deliver! Even Better.)) So, macarons in tow, we walked around looking for the famous bridges and ruins. We managed to get some good pictures from the bridges, and we saw some of the ruins, but didn't venture down to them. Given more time to actually get out and explore what Luxembourg City has to offer, I think it would be a city the kids would really enjoy. We did get to see the Palais Grand-Ducal, and the cute little guard steadfastly patrolling his post.

I'm starting to feel like every place we go, we leave unconquered. It all goes on a list of 'must see again'. Do you ever feel that way when you travel? Like you saw a lot, but not enough? Luckily this trip was just a short ride away!  

So where would you like to go for lunch next week??