Luxembourg and Namur, Belgium (Plus an Ex-Pat Superbowl)

The last stop of our trip was in Luxembourg, where we were going to stay for two days, before heading to Frankfurt to visit some family friends. We got to Luxembourg in the afternoon, and quickly began a search for food. While walking around the area near the train station, we noticed that the outer parts of Luxembourg seemed to be a lot dirtier than the cities we had visited earlier. This was particularly interesting when we went into the center and found ourselves surrounded by luxury stores and incredibly expensive restaurants (Luxembourg is very small, so these two areas are about a ten minute walk apart). Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita in the world, due to its tiny size and its focus on banking, and you can tell while walking around. I personally found this a little cold and intimidating, but maybe that was partly because we had been travelling for a while and I was tired. We walked around that evening, enjoying the city as the sun set, and coming across one of our last Christmas markets. This market was almost entirely focused on food and wine, and we walked through, briefly enjoying the atmosphere, before heading off for a delicious, but very expensive, dinner.

Here are some photos of Luxembourg at dusk:

The Royal Palace

Attached to the palace: the office for state affairs/government dealings

Christmas Market

I think Luxembourg is interesting because it is a Grand Duchy, still ruled by a royal family. There were photographs of the family in every tourist shop, and I had a difficult time finding a postcard that did not have a photo of them on it. It is also interesting because the people there speak French, German, and Luxembourgish, which is a mixture of French and German dialects. Apparently Luxembourgish is the language most often used in spoken conversation, but it is not often written, German is the language of the church and the media (and the first one taught in school), and French is the language for official business and public interactions, and taught second in school (most store signs were written in French). Knowing German and having studied French for a little while, I found it really interesting to listen to what people were speaking when we encountered them. I liked trying to decipher Luxembourgish, and the few places it was written was delightful for someone like me who is so interested in languages. What was also interesting, however, was that the people in Luxembourg wanted to speak only English with us. Most of our time in Alsace we had spoken German, but suddenly we had crossed back into the area where English was the most useful. A trend which logically continued once we reached Belgium.

The next day we tried to explore the casements that run around the city, a series of underground defensive passageways that were used as recently as World War II. Unfortunately we found out that they were closed, but we got some beautiful photos looking down on the city nestled in the valley.

The Casements

The view of Luxembourg

We stopped by the casements in the morning, before heading briefly into Belgium. Knowing that we didn't have time to go all the way to Brussels, we chose a city called Namur about half an hour closer to Luxembourg than Brussels. I had read that it had a citadel to explore, and it was the largest city before Brussels, when coming from Luxembourg, that looked promising for an afternoon. As we only had an afternoon and evening in Belgium and wouldn't be seeing any particularly historic cities, my criteria for my few hours in Belgium was different than it usually is when visiting a city or country, although not entirely: I wanted to eat. My goal was to try Belgian waffles, beer, chocolate, and french fries. French fries were invented in Belgium, and are only called "french" fries because of the process used to make them. And as I knew the first fact, but not the second, I feel like I learned something in that Belgian afternoon. We accomplished the french fry goal by stopping at a "friterie" along the highway on the way to Namur. It seemed that every five minutes we passed another one of these, and eventually we felt it was close enough to lunch time and we were hungry enough after breakfast that we could stop. We stopped at one to get fries and take pictures, as well as spend a while talking to the very friendly couple we met inside, who were on their way to the coast and were intrigued to hear that we were headed to Namur (it is not a particularly touristy city). We got our fries with mayonaise, as is most common, and they were as delicious as I had hoped!

The friterie where we stopped

With fries outside of the friterie 

Once we reached Namur we headed for the citadel we had read about. The history of the citadel is really interesting, as there are tunnels and buildings dating all the way back to medieval times, that have been expanded upon and used for different purposes throughout the city's history. We had to cut our walk short as it began to rain, but we got to walk through some creepy tunnels and see a beautiful view of Namur from the hill. After driving around a lot in the area near the citadel, we headed into the center of town to try to find some waffles, beer, and chocolate.

View of Namur from the Citadel

Old walls and tunnels

Beer and chocolate were achieved at the Christmas market we found. Unfortunately the stall selling the Brussels variety of waffles was out of waffles, so he gave us some sort of fried dough balls to try instead. While delicious, I was disappointed, as my friend Ivor had told me I had to try the Brussels variety of waffle. I did manage to try one of the Liège variety waffles, which I got dipped in dark chocolate. The waffle had sugar crystals inside, which made it extremely decadent. I really enjoyed it on such a cold, rainy day, but my dad and Lisa both found it too sweet. I think in a different circumstance I probably would have as well, but it did the trick that day. I also bought some amaretto dark chocolate from another stall, and thus my wish-list was fulfilled!

Christmas Market:

Waffle: Liège Variety 

The replacement given to me in the place of a Brussels waffle

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown, buying chocolate and coffee, and eventually searching for a place to stop and have a beer. My dad spotted this place called Le College, where we stopped in. It turned out to be the perfect place to go. A local struck up a conversation with us, and told us how perfect it was that we had ended up in Le College, and told us a little bit about the beers we were drinking (some of which were actually dutch, whoops!). After this we headed back to Luxembourg, tired but satisfied.

The next morning we stopped at Vianden castle for a brief tour on our way back to Germany. Vianden is right on the border, and is where Victor Hugo stayed during his exile. It's a picturesque little town and the castle is beautifully restored, so we enjoyed our morning before a long drive to Frankfurt. After a lovely night there with old friends of my parents (old in time, not age :)), I headed back to Tübingen. My dad and Lisa stayed one more day, before flying back to the States. It had been a whirlwind ten days, but a wonderful trip full of new places and new experiences.

Vianden Castle

The view of Vianden from the castle

And along the line of new experiences, I had another one yesterday. I watched the Superbowl in another country. Actually, just having watched the entire superbowl was a new experience for me, but doing so from 12:00-4:00 am made it even more fun. I went with Catie and my friend Dee, and we sat surrounded by a shockingly large number of German fans (all the seats were taken and there was barely standing room at first) at the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut. A hard Patriots loss was made worse by the lack of fun commercials and the cohort of German Giants fans, many of whom were routing for New York just because it was New York, but we had a lot of fun anyway. Especially as the resident experts in our corner of the room. I never thought football would make me feel patriotic, but I guess there's a first for everything!

This is only half of the crowd, and at least two-thirds of the room

Americans watching the Superbowl!

And in one last bit of delicious news, I tried stroop syrup (also known as the syrup used in stroop waffles) the other day. My friend Ivor made us Dutch pancakes, which you cook and then top with cheese and/or bacon which cooks into the pancake. You top that with this sweet syrup that tastes sort of like molasses and maple syrup combined, and you end up with pure deliciousness.

The syrup (and my friend Sinéad)

My cheesy pancake

The meat version, which I must admit looks beautiful, even if I would not want to eat it

A Very International Thanksgiving

So I now know what it's like to cook for 25 people. For Thanksgiving, Catie and I thought it would be incredibly fun to invite over our friends from all over the world so that they could share in this most wonderful of American traditions. I took responsibility for making the stuffing and cranberry sauce that we eat every year at my house, as well as roasting brussel sprouts and cauliflower as a side. I also made pumpkin and apple pies, which is my annual contribution to my family's Thanksgiving dinner (recipes for all dishes below). I went shopping on Tuesday, and skipped class Wednesday afternoon to begin cooking pies. With only a brief, two hour break to babysit, I baked from 2:30 that afternoon until 3:30 that morning, and then woke up at 10 am to begin again (I didn't finish until everyone began to arrive around 5:30). It turns out that between the incredible amount of food that Catie and I made, and the food contributed by our other two American friends who were co-hosting, we had enough food for about four thanksgiving dinners.

The final spread:

We somehow fit all of our guests into my room, although not having enough chairs, we all had to sit cozily on the floor. Our guests came from the U.S., England, Ireland, Poland, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Germany, Taiwan, Spain, and Slovakia, and included my Dad and his girlfriend, who were just beginning their visit to Europe. In this visit we we will be exploring Christmas Markets in Germany, followed by a trip to France, Luxembourg, and Belgium, so I'm very excited! It was wonderful to have so many members of our Erasmus family there to celebrate with us, and I hope we can do something like this again!

Cozy on my floor:

Yummm

Feeling happy and satisfied after our feast

The next few posts will come from the trip described above, but for now here are some delicious Thanksgiving Recipes!

Pumpkin and Apple Pies:

Crust

I use the same crust recipe for all of my pies. The recipe makes four crusts, so you can halve or quarter it as necessary.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 3/4 cups shortening (can substitute butter)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1/2 cup of cold water

extra flour (for rolling)

Directions:

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt, and cut in the shortening until the mixture is crumbly. Stir together the apple cider vinegar and the egg, and add to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork until it holds together. Add water as necessary if the dough remains too crumbly. Shape into 1/4 inch discs, wrap in foil, and refrigerate for one hour.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

16 oz can of pumpkin

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out one disc of pie dough, and line the bottom of a pie tin. Mix together the ingredients, and pour into the crust. Bake for 15 minutes, and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the pie comes out clean. Let cool before eating.

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

6 cups of apples, peeled and sliced*

2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon butter

*For the apples I prefer to use tart apples, such as macoun, cortland, and macintosh. 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit

Combine the above ingredients (minus the butter) in a large mixing bowl, and let it sit for 15 minutes. While it sits, roll out two discs of dough, and use one to line the bottom of a pie tin. Fill the crust with the apple mixture, and slice the butter into small slices. Dot the pie with the butter slices, and then add the second crust. Crimp the edges, and make slits in the top to allow for ventilation (this is a good opportunity to make a pretty design if you wish). Bake 45-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife.

Stuffing:

Ingredients:
A large loaf of Italian bread
3 tablespoons Bell's Seasoning
2 medium onions
6 stalks celery
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 stick butter
one package craisins
one package pre-cooked chestnuts

Directions:
Cube the bread into squares half and inch or smaller, and lay it out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle it with the Bell's Seasoning, and put it into the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit to dry out. You can also skip this step by purchasing the bread a few days before, cubing it, and leaving it in the air to dry out.

Dice the onion and celery. Melt the stick of butter, and saute the onion and celery in the melted butter. When the onion and celery are both soft, pour in three cups of the stock, stirring until it is warm. Pour this mixture over the bread, and stir. Add the craisins and chestnuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the stuffing seems dry, simply add more stalk until it reaches the right consistency (moist but not too mushy).

Cranberry Sauce:
Ingredients:
12 oz cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

Directions:
Combine ingredients in a large pot on the stove, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. The cranberries will begin to pop, and once most of them have done so you can turn off the heat on the stove. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Making enough cranberry sauce for 25 people

The Best Roasted Vegetables:
This is a very simple recipe for roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts, however I personally think it is one of the best. I have converted many prior brussel sprout haters into lovers by making these.

Ingredients:
1 cauliflower
1-2 packages brussel sprouts
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the brussel sprouts in very cold water for 10-15 minutes to make them more tender for roasting

While the brussel sprouts are soaking, chop the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, and slice the onion into quarters. Peel and halve each clove of garlic. Cut off the bottom of the brussel sprouts, and peel back the leaves until it is green and fresh. Slice each brussel sprout in half, and add it to the vegetable mixture. Put all the vegetables in a pyrex, and coat with enough olive oil that they are slick to the touch. Add salt and pepper, and roast for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every ten to twenty minutes. Add olive oil when they seem dry, and add salt and pepper to bring out the flavor if they seem bland. They are done when both the cauliflower pieces and the brussel sprouts are tender all the way through, but still have some structure to them (do not let the brussel sprouts get mushy). The cauliflower will most likely be finished first, but they can remain in the pan until the brussel sprouts are done as well.