Geek and proud!

Ding dong the pain has gone, the evil pain has gone.
Ding dong the pain has gone, the evil pain has gone.
(Sang to the tune of Ding dong the Witch is dead from The Wizard of Oz.)

Yes my tooth/gum pain is gone. Three days without pain killers and only a tiny bit of numbness. I'm glad that's all over. I can smile, sing, eat and drink once more. Now I just have to persuade myself to start eating on that side. I've been eating everything on my left side for the past 3 months. Eek. Don't want to wear my other teeth out.

And so to the weather, which of course we have to discuss (or I have to talk at you about) because let's face it, I'm British and it's in the old DNA. Saying that though, it seems everyone that moves here and adopts our lovely country also soon becomes obsessed with the weather. Me, personally, I've learnt not to really give a crap. If it rains then I slap on the old Doc Martens and put and umbrella in my bag. If it's sunny I still have the umbrella but I lob in sunglasses and a sun hat (how very stereotypical English of me. But I do burn easily being fair skinned and freckly.) It really doesn't bother me. I think after almost 29 years on this planet you just kind of roll with it. There's no need to freak, unless of course you get extreme weather and flooding and scary shit like that, but really as in most disasters, Britain is quite lucky. We don't have volcanoes, we have teeny and infrequent earthquakes, though some would call them earth-tickles. And we don't get things like tornadoes or hurricanes. So really, I think the fact that we don't always have the best summer weather really isn't that much of an issue.

Every one's weather is fucked up at the moment and you just can't expect the weather to be like it was when we were kids. I mean, back then you could almost guarantee that for your 6 weeks of summer holidays, at least four of them would be scorching and sunny and lovely. Now, you just can't guarantee anything, because us good old humans have right royally fucked up a lot of stuff and now global warming is here to play mind games and tricks on us.

The whole of Europe is experiencing the same, or at least northern Europe. I bet they don't complain like Britains do. I just find it really annoying. I know it's hot out there and most of the time it's too hot for me. But I don't say it. I slap on a sun hat, some factor 50 and the least amount of clothing I can respectfully get away with in an educational environment (cut off jeans - still past my knee - vest top and sandals). And I get on with it. I stay in the shade if I need to and I try not to run around like a loony otherwise I get a sweaty 'tache (upper lip) and I get that hideous trickle of sweat down my back that makes me feel like a huge sweaty man. No offense to huge sweaty man, it's just that in English myth, I'm a woman so therefore am supposed to perspire and not sweat everywhere like some disgusting beast. Urgh!

Oh, I digressed. Shocking. So basically what I'm trying to say is: British public, you've complained for the last three months that we've had too much rain and it's been a rubbish summer and all that jazz. Well now it's sunny, so get out there, enjoy it, buy an ice lolly or a cheeky ice cold cider (mmmmm salivating at thought, even though it's currently 7.49am) and soak up that vitamin D. Open those windows and balcony doors (if you have one) and 'Let the sunshine. Let the sunshine. The Sunshine in!'

Okay, I think I've said my piece now.

It's bikini weather on the tube again and it can only get worse with the coming days. 2 days till the main event and I think everyone is just expecting this enormous wave of people to just sweep through the city, destroying everything in it's path. There's definitely a degree of anticipation every time you queue or attempt to board public transport. But so far there's been no disruptions or crazy over load of people on my end. Just the usual combination of people that don't have a clue and get in your way and those seasoned pros that lock themselves away with a book and some headphones and escape to another world before disembarking at their destination.

Of course, I'm one of the seasoned pros. Ha. Ooooo. Finished book 3 of Game of Thrones. Freakin' awesome. The only reason I'm not currently reading book 4 is due to three other books turning up, so I thought I should read them first. (I pre-order books way in advance and then completely forget what I've ordered.) Anyhoo, I've read one of them (one of the many YA series I'm still buying into.....all in the name of research....), I'm part way through 2 others. One is my secret book (Thanks J but I ain't reading that on the tube) and the other is another YA series book. But I definitely can't wait to get back into Game of Thrones. It's just amazingly brilliant. Even the characters you think you hate, you still need to find out what happens to them. You still can't wait for their chapter to come around again. Genius stuff! Check it out if you can, though if you're short of space like me, you might want to reconsider the actual books and get kindle editions or something. There's a lot of them and they're all pretty stodgy. I personally have to have the book. I'm old fashioned that way, but as A keeps pointing out, we're running out of room on the shelves and there ain't really room for my shelves. Though I've had a plan....muhahahahahahaha. And I won't stop buying them. Never! I love books!!!!!!!!!

Geek! And proud!

And so to our weekend in Luxembourg. Wow! I was never expecting it to be so green! Everywhere forests and gardens and parks. Even in the capital, Luxembourg City, there's forests as far as the eye can see and luscious green valleys. This means amazing bridges as well. (I love bridges too.....really am a geek.)

Of course we did a whistle stop tour of the whole country in less than 48 hours and yes we did have a car. He he. A loves to drive when we're on holiday. It's only 2 hours outside of Brussels, so we got Eurostar there and then the rental car. I would definitely recommend.

And so to Luxembourg's main attractions and there are a lot of them: CASTLES! We went to visit so many of them. They're in various states of composure, some renovated quite recently, others a little down trodden, but all beautiful in their own particular way. (Photos will follow, I just haven't had time to put them on my computer yet. Maybe I'll do a photo only blog with some pics in.)

The most confusing thing about Luxembourg is that you never quite know what language they're going to speak. There are three national languages: Luxembourgish, French and German. And most people speak some English as well. Sometimes you talk to someone in German (okay well A does) but they answer in French or vice versa. A was getting well confused, But me, I'm always confused. I just smile and nod...
Big respect to them though. Speaking three languages is just incredible. I really am in awe of people that can fit more than one in their head. I think my excuse is that there's too much other stuff in my head. No room for a fluency in another language. It's stuffed full of story ideas (currently about ten projects going on at the same time). Basically, words that haven't been written yet. Text that is waiting to be typed. The thing is, I know that as soon as I clear some, more ideas just nestle their way in, filling all the nooks and crannies.

Still I hold on to the hope and I'm sure A and his whole family do too, that one day there'll be enough room to squeeze some Italian vocabulary and the confidence to use it. I promise, I am working on it.

There were some amazing clouds over the Luxembourg skies and of course, the Cloud Appreciation Society Member that I am (again geek status!) was getting pretty snap happy. My favourites were the cumulus clouds (the big fluffy white ones) that were hovering over the entire sky as far as the eye could see. They were varying sizes and looked to be barely moving. It honestly looked like an alien invasion. (Speaking of alien invasions, we've just started watching an American series called Falling Skies with Noah Wyle in it. It's quite formulaic and a little predictable at times but I quite like it. Plus, Noah Wyle is yum as the dad figure.)

Again, I digress. Okay, so the food in Luxembourg is a combination of stuff, influenced by both French and German cuisines and also with some of their own specialities and of course some americanised stuff like burgers and what not. Here are three facts about eating and drinking in Luxembourg.

1. They don't scrimp on portions. (I felt so ill after our meal on Saturday night. My body just couldn't handle that much food. But don't get me wrong it was insanely delicious and the fat girl in me - oh yes, she's still there lurking - was having a lovely time.)

2. Chips come with almost everything. (This of course is fine if like me, you never eat chips unless you go for a pub lunch or a holiday. Although, they do get a bit much after a while. Bloody good chips though. Chunkier than the Belgium Frites but still yummy.)

3. Their wines are delish! (They have a famous wine region that make all my favourites: Pinot Gris and Reisling. It just so happens that these two have the nicest bottles as well. Weird that. You can go to one of their cellars and try a load. We bought two cases. One with 6 bottles of Pinot Gris and the other with a mixture including their own special sparking wine which is meant to be great! So anyone coming for dinner in the next couple of months, you can know what to expect. Ha ha.

So basically, Luxembourg is beautiful. A bit of a pain to navigate due to a lot of road works and construction going on. But full of green pleasant lands and forests you could swim in. Plus wine and food a plenty for very reasonable prices and their local wines are available in all restaurants and cafes, so you can try various ones at your leisure. There are an abundance of beautiful towns and villages all nestled away in these almost secret locations, just waiting to be discovered. And to be honest, it was the height of July, presumably high season on the tourism and there was barely anyone there. Amazing. Explore at your leisure and soak up the strange combination of French, German, Belgian influences, as well as their own quirky take on things. Expect clock towers, Abbeys and Gothic turrets. And everyone.....GO TO LUXEMBOURG!

He he. I will just finish with our wonderful getting back to Brussels panic. (I realise this is a long blog. Believe me, I've been here over an hour already. I'm still in my Pj's and I haven't eaten brekkie yet. oooops.)

And so, we're pounding our way along the motorway, heading to Brussels for the Eurostar home and with 50 kms to go, A starts to panic. We're on the red light on the petrol gauge and cannot seem to find any petrol stations. We use various I phone apps which tell us up to 30kms to the nearest one. But we dont' think we have 30 kms left and we have no way of knowing. PANIC!

We pull off the motorway and A goes into a bar to ask for the nearest petrol station. And bam. We are saved by a tiny self-service machine on the side of the road. And amazingly we had to go past a big castle to get to it. (Any excuse to see another one. )

Then of course, It's only 90 minutes to our train and we're still 50 kms away. We have to return the car, sort our bags out and get some food, hopefully having enough time to swing by the business lounge. There's nothing like a free vodka and some nibblies before the train home.

So we get into the centre of Brussels and the traffic is horrendous due to being a busy capital and also works everywhere. Of course we get lost trying to find the parking, but eventually with about 40 mins to go we manage to return our car and head off to find food and drink. We board with 10 mins to go, wine bottles rattling in our bags. Can't wait to crack a bottle open.

I really must fly now. 25 mins before I leave for work. I need to get my bikini on ready for the inevitable sweat fest of my underground metal tube. Yippee!

Happy, sunny Wednesday. ENJOY. (That's an order.)