A week of culture!
Trip Start
Mar 07, 2008
1
16
19
Trip End
Jun 09, 2008
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Thursday, May 15, 2008
After work I went with Anna to an exhibition opening at the Mudam (Museum of Modern Art). The building was just as amazing as anything inside and had been designed by the same guy as the Louvre. Saw some great exhibits - took a few pics of a couple I particularly loved although it's impossible to show it properly in a photo.
Thursday
I went to the huge cinema for the first time to see Iron Man - great film. Almost came unstuck though because they only take cash not cards - that seems to happen a lot here.
Friday
After work, I went to Happy Hour with a couple of girls from work, and then on for a very quick drink in the Pyg before going home. I had planned to do go out a bit more with Melanie but the weather really changed - after work we sat outside on the terrace in Eats Time enjoying some sun but by about 10pm a storm had started with rain and lightening and neither of us were really in the mood to get wet walking between pubs. I was driving anyway so went home about 12 and settled for a glass of wine and a film (which I fell asleep watching!)
Saturday
After a bit of food shopping in the morning, I had arranged to meet Anna in the city centre for lunch. Her friend was visiting from London (our old company) and so the three of us enjoyed some food in the sun. Lunch itself was a bit of a surprise...Anna, who is fluent in French, proved that anyone can get it a bit wrong and when she asked for the menu, the waitress asked if she meant 'menu du jour' (menu of the day) to which Anna answered yes thinking they maybe had a different menu depending on the day/week. Instead they brought out the dish of the day for us to eat! It looked good and tasted great so we decided to keep it(!) except for the friend who was vegetarian so we managed to get that one swapped...I'll just be sure to remember to ask for a 'carte' rather than a 'menu' next time I go anywhere.
This weekend was an 'open weekend' for a number of the museums and galleries in Luxembourg so that entry was free. We decided to make the most of this and visited the 'Casino' Contemporary art gallery and the Museum of Luxembourg, which were both in the town centre.
The Casino had some great pieces including the butterflies in the photo - all made of card and stuck on with blue tack but very effective! I also loved another artist that used dead insects to create a tiny fantasy scene with ant 'people' and bees and beetles etc. I couldn't take a good photo of that because it was so small and delicate. (I'm sure Owain would have been able to get the right settings on the camera but I couldn't!!). Why didn't I get the names of the artists? I don't know :(
The museum of Luxembourg was over 5 floors and in the underground part you could see some of the original walls, beautifully complemented by the glass and wood of the modern part of the building. Through the center was a huge wooden floored lift with glass walls so that you could see the walls and exhibits as you passed through the floors. There was a great selection of artefacts, information and imagery about Luxembourg, and I particularly liked a simple circular room with street scenes painted around you, so that it felt you were in that environment.
In the evening, I went to the cinema to see 'Street Kings' at the cinema - it was really busy there on a Saturday but managed to get in there. Now I have to decide whether I should go to see Indiana Jones that comes out on Thursday? Will he be too old or will it still be good? Mmmmm
Sunday
On Sunday morning, I went with Robbie to 'Little Britain' and English shop about 20 minutes away. It had some weird 'tat' like the namesake tv show's 'precious things', but also some foods from home, English newspapers, magazines and books. I got a newspaper and some hobnobs :) The sausages looked great but I have decided to go back on my fruit and milk diet on Monday - I'd better be a bit good after all the lovely food I have been trying!
The weather was cooler and we had more rain so I spent a bit of the day just relaxing, sorting out my washing and watching DVDs, then decided I should be a bit more active and drove up the map again and had a walk along the beautiful lake a little to the west of where I had been the previous Sunday in Insborn. Despite the weather (that was at least was dry at this point) quite a look of people were there- walking, fishing, picnicking and a couple even swimming! Brrrr!
So another week starts and can't believe I have only 3 weeks left...
