We left Wednesday morning for our 4-hour drive to Luxembourg. Before we left, we had to use up the last of the 30 euro punchcard I had bought for activities. Which meant we spent an hour in the morning playing mini-golf in 50 degree weather (if that) and driving the gocarts. But we had the satisfaction of knowing that we didn't waste any money. For the record, if I'm ever in a situation like that again, the punchcard might "accidentally" go missing.
We have great wifi again, which should have been good for my blogging posts. Instead it has meant that I can finally use itunes again and download a couple of episodes of Modern Family and rent a movie or two from the comfort of our home.
I'm going to be honest--I was pretty tired of moving by the time we did this one. This is the fifth place we've been to, and the packing/unpacking routine has gotten old. We've been on the road for close to 3 weeks, and the month or so before we left for Europe wasn't the most relaxing times I've ever lived through.
In fact, my mantra had become "The only way out is through". So many times I wanted to just put my head in the sand and try to ignore that I was somehow supposed to get my house ready to sell at the same time I was getting my family ready for a two month trip which would be followed by a move across the country. There was never a time when I didn't have fifty different things on my "to do" list.
But I knew that ignoring everything would just make things worse. Which would usually help me get back up and keep checking things off my list. Sometimes I would actually do the things on the list, and sometimes I would decide that they just weren't important enough to care about and I would cross them off without doing them. The closer I got to the day we left, the more I chose the second of the two methods.
I felt the same way when we were getting on the plane to Barcelona and I panicked that the whole thing I had planned was pure craziness and there was no way I was going to emotionally survive being everyone's tour guide, cook, chauffeur, etc. The day leading up to our trip and throughout the whole plane ride, I told myself the same thing--"the only way out is through". That in in end, we'd survive the transition and figure out how to adapt--and probably still like each other on the other side of it.
And so far, so good. But I'm ready to be done moving around--and I still needed to make the most of our last spot before getting to Switzerland. The weather wasn't exactly cooperative (in the 50's with sporadic showers), but we were able to manage a few excursions.
Yesterday, we drove to Vianden to a chateau that was restored about 20 years ago. I like that Luxembourg has a lot of stone outcroppings that are incorporated in the buildings. I planned my trip around what would appeal to a 6-year-old, and so far the particular 6-year-old I'm traveling with still enjoys exploring castles. The hard part is that when Ryan asks about the places we've been, I don't have a whole lot of facts to tell him since we usually cruise through from room to room. And the fact that most of the signs are in a different language doesn't help either.
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| Vianden Chateau (Luxembourg) |
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| Vianden Chateau |
Today we ventured to Luxembourg City, and started with the American Cemetery there. There are about 5000+ soldiers buried their from WWII. I had imagined having a moment to help my kids appreciate the sacrifice that those who serve their country have to make, and why that is so important. The cemetery was beautiful and had a very sacred feel to it.
Instead, I listened to about fifteen solid minutes of Chloe crying about how she needed to use the bathroom and Andrew complaining about how cold he was (something that happens when you leave.your.jacket.at.home.for.the.tenth.time). So much for our little special moment. Once we got back into the car, Ryan asked, "Amy, what was it that made you want to go there today?" My response was, "I don't want to talk about it." Ahhh, the joys of traveling with children. They help make every place memorable, but not always for the reasons you expect.
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| American Cemetery in Luxembourg |
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| American Cemetery in Luxembourg |
In fact, Katie decided it would be a good opportunity to see if we would realize it if she was missing, so she stayed behind in one area to test us. Um...we failed. I told her we would have figured it out eventually. And that she should probably keep up if she wanted to go home with us. Because I wasn't making any guarantees since I was trying so hard to not have Chloe tumble down one of the many, many winding spiral slippery stone staircases we traversed.
Mason used the casemates as an opportunity to see if he could scare me by jumping out at me and yelling every chance we went around a corner. He did get a reaction out of me--but it wasn't the one he was looking for.
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| Casemates in Luxembourg City--with Andrew wearing my jacket. |
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| Standing on top of the Casemates in Luxembourg City--hoping our kids don't fall off the wall while we're taking pictures from the other side. It's a loooong way down. |
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| Inside the Casemates |
After the ruins we went into the town to the boulangerie to buy some pain au chocolate one more time before leaving. I have come to appreciate pastry shops in a whole new way during the past couple of weeks.
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| The remains of the chateau in Larochette, Luxembourg |
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| Chateau in Larochette, Luxembourg |
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| Chateau in Larochette, Luxembourg |
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