Tag Archives: Luxembourg

Posts from Base Camp

Everybody wants to see more food!

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

I’m now back in Kingston after a very enjoyable trip to France, Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands. I still intend to do a wrap-up post but first I am going to take the populist approach and write about food. I didn’t include too many food pictures in my day-to-day posts, as I realized fairly early on that I would have enough for a post devoted solely to food. I’ve noticed that food also tends to draw the most blog comments and personal e-mails.

Sometimes food can be a tasty history lesson.  Two examples on this trip were Tibetan food in Luxembourg and Indonesian food in the Netherlands. Tibet is not currently an independent nation. However, the idea of Tibet as an entity has been kept alive in several ways. Many Tibetans have fled home to establish new lives elsewhere and a significant number have established restaurants specializing in Tibetan cuisine. My wife and I have eaten Tibetan food in Montreal, Toronto and Northampton (Massachusetts), among other places.

Bhutanese cheese soup and Tibetan butter-and-salt yak tea (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg)
Bhutanese cheese soup and Tibetan yak-butter-and-salt tea (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg)

So, even if you couldn’t place Tibet on a map, you may still be familiar with the Dalai Lama…or Momo dumplings!  I really enjoyed my Tibetan meal in Luxembourg City and I’m glad that I can now also share a photo of my Bhutanese cheese soup.  Bhutan is an independent country but it is very small and I do not think that there is a very large Bhutanese expatriate community.  Bhutan occasionally makes the news because its leaders have taken a rather unique approach to tourism and economic development: the number of visitors is very strictly limited…and the nation has determined that “Gross National Happiness” is more important that “Gross National Product” (hence the restrictions on the number of tourists).

Rijsttafel at De Lachende Javaan (Haarlem, the Netherlands)
Rijsttafel at De Lachende Javaan (Haarlem, the Netherlands)

I have fond memories of eating Indonesian food as a child during my family’s visits to the Netherlands.  It was so colourful and tasty; virtually every town had at least one place where you could get Indonesian food. I didn’t really understand all of the nuances at the time, but the main reason for this proliferation of Indonesian restaurants was that Indonesia was once part of the Dutch colonial empire.  In some ways, the Dutch adoption of Indonesian cuisine mirrors Britain’s adoption of (East) Indian cuisine.  Much as I associate Indonesian food with the Netherlands, I also associate Indian cuisine with Britain.

The Man-Wah restaurant in 's-Gravenzande, the Netherlands. I remember eating Indonesian food here as a child.
The Man-Wah restaurant in ‘s-Gravenzande, the Netherlands. I remember eating Indonesian food here as a child.

There are quirks, however.  I’m not sure exactly why, but most restaurants serving Indonesian food are also described as being “Chinese”.  The food served doesn’t really match up with this Canadian’s perception of Chinese food, but the naming convention remains in place.

Even though I could happily eat Indonesian food several times a week, it doesn’t seem to be that trendy in the Netherlands these days.  Like many other people, the Dutch have taken a liking to showarma, doners and kebabs…foods that became commonplace in western Europe partly because of the economic migration of guest workers in the late 20th century.  The fresh flavours of Thai food are also very popular with the Dutch (see photo at the top of this post – which is from a “Chinese” restaurant in Zuidlaren).  But what struck me most was the proliferation of Spanish restaurants (generally focusing on tapas) and Argentinean steakhouses.

Dimly-lit North African food in Groningen, the Netherlands
Dimly-lit North African food in Groningen, the Netherlands

The Netherlands has had a new king since 2013.  His wife is Argentinean and she is quite popular with the Dutch.  Indeed, most of my relatives believe she is the reason  that tapas bars and steakhouses can now be found in any decent-sized Dutch town.   Her popularity may not last forever but, in the meantime, eating tapas or Argentinean steak seems to be almost a patriotic act in the Netherlands.

And what of “traditional” Dutch food?  I regularly ate krokets (croquettes) as a snack, loaded up on various types of excellent Dutch cheese on sandwiches, and ate hagelslag (“hail”, a type of chocolate sprinkle) whenever possible for breakfast.  Only in the Netherlands can adults enjoy this food without guilt. It’s great to start your day with some buttered (as an adhesive layer) bread and a thick coating of dark chocolate hagelslag.

Next time on the blog – a Dutch recap and my next destination!

Posts from the road

Urban Luxembourg and Tibetan Food

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(Vianden, Luxembourg and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg)

After returning from my hike through the borderlands on August 10, I spent the remainder of the day exploring the “urban” sights of Vianden.  It doesn’t take long – it’s not much more than a village and the main sight is obviously the castle.  There are lots of hilltop castles around here but this is definitely one of the largest.  After a tough uphill slog (or “sog”, as it poured ferociously), I spent about an hour wandering through the castle.  Parts of it date back to Roman times but it has been rebuilt often over the centuries.

View from my hotel room in Vianden, Luxembourg
View from my hotel room in Vianden, Luxembourg

The town itself is very quaint and clearly owes its prosperity to tourism.  Vianden was apparently a favourite of the writer Victor Hugo; there is a Hugo museum here and I am staying in the Hotel Victor Hugo.   Given the castle’s association with the royal family of Luxembourg (which is closely related to the Dutch royal family), the town is understandably very popular with visitors from the Netherlands.

The main street in Vianden, Luxembourg
The main street in Vianden, Luxembourg

I spent two nights in Vianden and then returned to Luxembourg City for a night as my flight from Luxembourg City to Amsterdam left early in the morning on August 12.   It is the only sizable city in Luxembourg and is quite diverse due to the many financial institutions and international organizations that are based here.  It reminds me a lot of Quebec City, being a walled city on a hill, but with a more youthful and transient population (many of whom looked somewhat uncomfortable in their suits).

View from just outside my hotel in Vianden, Luxembourg
View from just outside my hotel in Vianden, Luxembourg…with part of Vianden Castle visible on the hill

After finding a shoemaker who was willing to repair my backpack (well worth the price, just to see how he worked with his hands and improvised a solution), I did a bit of shopping and visited the free postal and bank museums.  I enjoyed the postal museum more; it helped that there was an audio guide in English.  I can get by here with pidgin German, but it is a little more tiring than using my native language.

Home of the Bank Museum in Luxembourg City
Home of the Bank Museum in Luxembourg City

The dining options in Luxembourg City are much more interesting than in Vianden.  I chose the “Restaurant Tibet” and it was probably the best meal of the trip so far.

I was brought a complimentary pappadum with 4 dipping sauces.  I don’t know what they were really called, but I’m going to call them sweet and sour, hot chili, spicy pickled onion, and mint/cucumber yogurt.  They were all delicious and I combined some of them for increased effect.

The Rolls-Royce of telex machines, at the Postal Museum in Luxembourg City
The Rolls-Royce of telex machines, at the Postal Museum in Luxembourg City

My appetizer was Bhutanese Cheese Soup.  I have never eaten anything from Bhutan but it was excellent:  very cheesy, with a variety of vegetables and a nice tinge of hotness.

For the main course, I gladly went with the standard Tibetan dish:  Momo dumplings filled with either chicken or vegetables.  The sauce was great:  I don’t know the name but it was chili-based with a very smoky flavour.  Everything about this dish was delicious, even the presentation was very appealing.

My main course of Momo at Restaurant Tibet in Luxembourg City. There was more rice and sauce in separate dishes on a burner, but I couldn't fit them into the picture.
My main course of Momo at Restaurant Tibet in Luxembourg City. There was more rice and sauce in separate dishes on a burner, but I couldn’t fit them into the picture.

My beverage was Tibetan tea with salt and yak butter.  I’ve had this before and it can become somewhat difficult to drink if there is too much salt and butter.  This one had just the right amounts.

I’ve had some bland Tibetan food in Canada so the spicy flavours of this meal were a pleasant surprise.   I am now really looking forward to the exotic flavours of Indonesian cuisine – one of my favourite parts about eating out in the Netherlands.  Actually, I already had some Dutch food in Vianden:  for a snack, I had a “Goulashkroket” from the snack bar near my hotel.  The owner was Dutch, the menu was in Dutch and every single customer was Dutch!

I’ve enjoyed my solo trip to this corner of Europe, but I am really looking forward to meeting my wife in Amsterdam and (re-)discovering the Netherlands together.

Posts from the road

Journey to the Borderlands of Luxembourg

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(Vianden, Luxembourg)

On August 9, I left Reims for my next destination: Vianden, Luxembourg. I chose this place for the castle and the hiking; I also had fond memories of a 1987 family trip to another small town (Clervaux) in Luxembourg.

It was not a simple journey. First, I took a local train from Reims to the “Champagne Ardennes” TGV station, then a TGV to the Lorraine TGV station, then a bus (actually a large van) from Lorraine TGV to Luxembourg City, then a train from Luxembourg City to Ettelbruck, and finally a bus from Ettelbruck to Vianden.

Place Drouet d'Erlon (Reims, France)
Place Drouet d’Erlon (Reims, France)

While I was waiting for my TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse), another one passed through the Champagne Ardennes station. I now know what a dog feels like during a thunderstorm: I didn’t really know what was going on but I knew I didn’t like it. I suppose the closest equivalent is standing right beside a runway as a jet is taking off; it was incredibly loud and fast.  The ride on the TGV itself is much smoother than on VIA Rail, even though the TGV travels at up to 320 km/h.

Obviously, the TGV portion of my journey didn’t take long and I was soon in Luxembourg.  Luxembourg is linguistically fascinating.  Everybody seems to speak at least three languages:  French, German, and Lëtzebuergesch (Luxembourgish, in English), which seems to be an unusual hybrid of Dutch, French and German.   Most people also speak English reasonably well.

Crossing from Luxembourg to Germany, at Roth an der Our
Crossing from Luxembourg to Germany, at Roth an der Our

Vianden is extremely close to the German border (although one could say that every town in Luxembourg is very close to a border, as it has an area of only 999 square kilometres), so on my first day I decided to walk to Germany.  I took a circular route and was back within about an hour.  Roth an der Our, the German village on the border, is tiny and probably has been in decline since the elimination of border controls within the European Union.  Even though crossing borders is a non-event in the EU, it still is fascinating to look for traces of the old system.  Usually there is only a small concrete marker in the ground, but sometimes there is a more substantial reminder.

Insect hotel, near Bettel (Luxembourg)
Insect hotel, near Bettel (Luxembourg)

On August 10, the forecast was for heavy rain by the afternoon.  As a result, I decided to go for a longer hike in the morning and visit Vianden’s famous castle later in the day.  The tourist office recommended a hike through the Kammerwald, so I would be walking to Germany for the second day in a row.  This time my route would take a few hours and take me through the thickly forested “mountains” that rise above Vianden.

German-Luxembourg border, somewhere east of Vianden in the Kammerwald
Remnants of the German-Luxembourg border, somewhere northeast of Vianden in the Kammerwald

Within 5 minutes of departure, a large deer and I startled each other on the trail.  By the time I retrieved my camera, the deer was nowhere to be seen.  I really wasn’t expected to see large animals here, as the hiking route is well-publicized, but I encountered very few hikers along the way.  In fact, at one remote part where the route runs alongside a highway, a motorist even offered to give me a ride as I must have appeared to be out-of-place.

With the lack of traffic, my hike was very relaxing.    I often heard streams before I saw them; the relative silence of the forest meant that the streams sounded much bigger than they actually were.   The rain started just before I returned to Vianden; it added a mysterious mist to the deep woods.

The Königseiche, in the German portion of the Kammerwald
The Königseiche, in the German portion of the Kammerwald

I found out later that many of these paths were first established by smugglers.  It was nice to discover this, as I imagined while hiking that this would be a good place to train border guards.  One of the highlights of the hike was the Königseiche (“The King’s Oak”), a huge tree which is nearly 400 years old and has a circumference of 5 metres.  I would like to try some more hikes in this region – my schedule doesn’t permit it this time, but I am sure I will return to Luxembourg at some point in the not-too-distant future.

View of Vianden, Luxembourg, just before the end of my hike through the Kammerwald
View of Vianden, Luxembourg, just before the end of my hike through the Kammerwald