In April, we visited Luxembourg and fell. in. love. The city is absolutely beautiful and so picturesque up on the mountain. We loved the food and the people we met. We enjoyed venturing outside of Luxembourg city to Echternach, Joe’s familial home town. Food I loved the food of Luxembourg. It’s a peculiar mixture of German and French cuisines, and is quite unique. I love the heavy, saucy, creamy, old-world style foods, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. We visited a brewery and had bouneschlupp, a green bean and ham soup, followed by Kniddelen for me, which is a giant version of spaetzle, and Wainsaucisse for Joe. The kniddelen were superb,…
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Final Day in Saint Petersburg
Travel takes its toll My last day in Saint Petersburg and I wake up at 4 a.m. and my face is all runny and gross. :/ I have glared at every coughing child on the train and every lady who sneezed in the elevator, but after 3 weeks, I finally got some sort of cold. I get up and close the window and take some dayquil, hoping to get control over this. I finally get up at 8:30, and have to get ready for my photo tour at 11. Feeling only marginally better, it takes the entire time to get myself showered and dressed and ready. Photo tour Once the…
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Listvyanka
So I have 1 full free day in Listvyanka. It’s a balmy -10C out today, snowing heavily and constantly. The lake is not yet frozen, which I was expecting to see. It freezes completely clear and colorless but has mushroom-looking bubbles from natural gas release while the water is freezing. Breakfast I started my day with breakfast from Nikolai, my ever-smiling host. I am in a guest house with perhaps 4 rooms, only mine is occupied. So we agreed on a time for breakfast, 8:30, and I meet him downstairs at 8:30. He is slightly disappointed that I showed up right on time and didn’t wait for him to ring…
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Arrival in Listvyanka
Train Living My lack of sleep has finally caught up with me and I am exhausted. I get on the train at 2:30 and take a nap from 4-5. I try not to sleep too much, afraid I won’t sleep tonight. I wake up, chat with Joe a bit, and eat a ton of cookies with some fruit tea I picked up in China. But the rocking and the darkness and the constant hum finally lull me back to sleep at around 7, so I set an alarm for 9 p.m., as the border crossing is at 9:50 and I need to fill out my customs forms. The train is…
