I awoke with my alarm at 8:15 from a recurring dream in which I still occasionally drive cab on weekend nights for extra money. As with my other recurring dream in which the final is approaching for a class I haven’t attended or studied for and if I don’t pass I won’t graduate from college, I am always glad it was just a dream. Minds are weird.

I got dressed and headed back to Glow, feeling much better than when I was there two days ago. I ate avocado toast and assembled and uploaded my first Instagram post of the trip. I created a Facebook album when I left and have yet to put anything there. Sigh for my self-imposed pressure to share.

Back at the listing, I cleaned up, got dressed, and packed up. That left train business.

I found a site while researching at home that I realized is the only one I’ll need for train travel; it is so thorough that not much advance planning is necessary. The site’s author worked in the train industry for years and now runs the site full-time, giving away all his knowledge and experience for free.

I learned there that to buy a ticket from Luxembourg to Bruges, or Brugge as it’s written locally, would be €43.80 straight through while a ticket from Luxembourg to Arlon, the first stop in Belgium, is €10.80 and Arlon to Brugge is €21.00. The same trip with two tickets cost €12.00 less than one ticket because the cost per mile of the international Belgian tariff is higher than the domestic one. Brilliant. I wanted to donate the amount I saved to the Man in Seat 61, but his About page directs donations to UNICEF, so I did that. Awesome.

I waited until just before going to the train station to buy tickets because I didn’t trust myself to pick a time in advance and manage to get myself there. Or maybe I just really don’t want to *have* to be somewhere at any particular time on this trip. I did not recharge on my Recharge; this is the anti-Recharge trip.

I figured last night when I looked up the schedule that the 11:52 is the one I’d be on. Sure enough, it was 11:00 as my bags were ready to go, save for my laptop with which I was buying my last-minute train tickets. This is checkout time, but Kasia had said not to worry about it too much. I used the Seat 61 link to access B-Europe, the Belgium railway, and bought the two separate tickets, loading their digital versions into the companion app.

I activated one last Luxembourg city bus pass and made my way to the front door. Kasia was at work and Jerome was working from home. He came out of his office to see me out, which was nice. He admitted that he enjoys Airbnb but he is along for the ride while Kasia is the true host, the vibe I’d gotten during my stay. I wanted to say goodbye to Zigi, and Jerome brought him out from the office for me. And so it was I ended up taking a photo of them and hugging Jerome goodbye, as I wish I’d done with Kasia. Ah, well.

I arrived at the station with 15 minutes to search the board for my platform and make my way to the train. A conductor pushed a button to open the doors and board and I followed him; this was good as I would have stood outside wondering why I couldn’t board yet and when the doors were going to open.

It was only a half hour to Arlon. I was glad to have booked with a 13-minute connection window as we were 5 minutes late. I rushed a bit down the length of the platform. There was no elevator so I carried my bag down in to the terminal. I found the board displaying my new platform and hurried up the stairs with my 37-pound roller bag, which is never a good idea. I can rush without a bag, and I can carry a 37-pound bag at a leisurely pace, but rushing with a heavy object is inviting disaster for my back.

A train was waiting there, but there was no overhead sign on the platform nor on the train itself indicating which it was. I asked a conductor who confirmed this was the right train.

It was 2h40min to my next train change in Brussels. I’m not shy when I need to stretch; I got on the floor and did some emergency press-ups as I was feeling just a little tweaked. That seemed to help, and I took a seat, alternately taking in the scenery and doing some journal writing. I took the opportunity between stops to stand for a while rather than sit for the whole journey.

We arrived on time at 15:17 at Bruxelles-Nord station, where I had 23 minutes to transfer to the train to Brugge. The elevator from the platform down to the terminal was out of order.. sigh. I carefully carried my bag down and found a large departures board where I was early enough that my train was not displaying yet as the next 20 minutes are shown.

In a few minutes, the 15:40 departures began rolling onto the screen. There were three before the later ones appeared, and none were going to Brugge.

In a mild panic, I searched for an information desk and found none. Walking back to the board, I noticed that each platform’s entry had a sign with the next departure and all its stops.

The three 15:40 departures were from platforms 5, 8, and 10. I did not see Brugge in the stops listed at platforms 5 and 10. Platform 8’s next train departed at 12:31, so I needed to wait for the sign to roll over to display the 12:40. There was Brugge! (On the way to final destination Blankenberge, which displayed on the main board.)

Now it was 12:33, leaving me 7 minutes to get food and no time to use the bathroom. I ran to the food hall and grabbed a wrapped caprese from a case and made it onto the train. It was 1h10min to Brugge and the train was crowded enough that I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my bags to use the loo. I used my seatbound moment to upload another Instagram post.

There was a line to exit the train at Brugge. Rather than herd down to the terminal, I checked my phone for the next departing buses that would get me from the station to my Airbnb listing.

With the platform cleared, I rode the escalator down and followed signs to the bathrooms. I offered a €5 bill to pay the €0,50 fee, receiving change I would need for the bus as I didn’t yet know which app to download to purchase digital bus tickets (one of those details I would previously have planned and which I was now winging on the fly).

The crowded chaos continued in the bus zones. Brugge Station “perron 1” (platform) was the stop for many buses, and I hoped the people there weren’t all going the same way I was. While waiting, I asked someone standing next to me if (he speaks English and) he knows which app I should download to buy tickets. He showed me on his phone.. score. Data wasn’t good enough to download it, so I’d be using my coins to start with but planned to buy passes on the app for future trips.

I could take either the 4 or 14 to my Airbnb listing; when the 14 arrived, so many people got on that just as I reached the door, the driver shut it and took off. Fingers crossed for the 4, then. I boarded that one early amongst the waiting crowd and checked with the driver that I was to pay €1,80, which I’d seen somewhere. I had a €1 and two €0,50 coins ready, but he said it was €3,00. As I reached into my pocket for more change, one of the teen boys boarding behind me made a noise that was the equivalent of an eyeroll, and I shot some sideeye right back in their general direction.

A carnival, what I would later learn is Mayfair, was just getting started a short way from the station; the cobblestone streets were narrow and crawling with people and I could hardly believe the bus was navigating its route around a carousel. Thankfully, it was short ride as Brugge is not very big.

I got off at Jan van Eyckplein and walked about 5 minutes to Le Flaneur, my Airbnb home for the next 5 nights and an actual bed & breakfast. I was greeted by Erika and a 3-year-old chocolate brown pug named Flanelle, whom I loved immediately (and she has obviously never met a stranger).

Erika showed me to the kitchen and opened a map to give me the lay of the land. Her partner Dietrich took my heavy bag upstairs to my room and then joined us, chiming in with some recommendations around town. They showed me up to and around my room and eventually left me to get settled, joking that they talk a lot. I was, in fact, glad I had not just arrived on a plane as I wouldn’t have taken in a single thing they said.

I dropped my bags and took in the splendor of my high-ceilinged quarters: the chandelier that Dietrich had salvaged from someone’s trash, a large bathtub with handheld shower, and the toilet inside its own mini-room within the room.

I was about to head out for dinner when Dietrich gave me a mini-tour of their incredible house, which he is constantly working on, including some of the other unoccupied rooms that he just recently remodeled. He is a collector, and the house is filled with memorabilia, some vintage, some just bizarre. It’s crazy cool.

My first stop was Cambrinus, the bar with 400 beers; alas, it was full.

When I was still in Luxembourg, Dietrich or Erika had messaged me via Airbnb to find out my arrival time and to give me a heads-up that dinner reservations would be a good idea. I just couldn’t manage that at the time, not knowing when I would be eating, or how far anything was, or what the options would be. I just figured I would find something when the time came. As I checked in, they said they’d given me that warning because they thought I was traveling as a couple; they thought solo should be fine. However, it is a Friday night and during Mayfair.

My second attempt was De Plaats, a vegetarian restaurant around the corner from Cambrinus that my hosts had recommended. Also full. Well, shit.

Third time’s a charm: in between Cambrinus and De Plaats is La Cantina, a cozy Italian joint. I ordered the house red and penne arrabiata and reviewed my stay with Kasia while I ate. The bill was only €14,00 and when I tried to pay with my card, the server said they have a €25,00 minimum or else they pass on the €4,00 processing fee to the customer. I save cash for when I have to use it, so I did that, asking her if this is common around town, which she confirmed, so I stopped at an ATM for more cash on the way home.

It was 21:00 as I set about some laptop business.

I used the De Lijn app to buy 10 bus passes for €15,00; better than €3,00 per bus ride if I use them all, and if I don’t it’s still worth the convenience of activating a digital pass instead of paying cash each trip.

I did some research on a day trip to Ghent tomorrow, including whether I could pull off arriving there by 13:00 for a walking tour Airbnb Experience. I went for it, figuring I would just make it work, time- and transportation-wise.

I did some journaling and somehow it was almost 1:00 as I finally got in the tub to wash my hair. I’d kinda been putting it off, not really sure how to use the handheld without spraying the entire room with water (no curtain) or position myself comfortably while I got clean. It was awkward but I managed it and went to sleep at 1:30.

Some observations:

Old and new

I expected all of Luxembourg to feel very old but most of what I saw is quite modern and even Ville Haute (Old Town) had loads of construction cranes, scaffolding, vehicles, and workers.

Language

Residents speak French, German, and Luxembourgish, which combines the two. The default, when someone doesn’t know which language you speak, is French. The vast majority of people I interacted with spoke fluent English, with only a couple shop owners saying they know just a little. As I approached strangers with questions, I would start with, “S’il vous plait.. English?” The funny thing was I began pronouncing “English” with a French, or generically European, accent 😂

Food

It wasn’t until I was about to have my first meal in Luxembourg that I looked up their typical cuisine. It sounded quite heavy, with meats and creamy sauces. That’s OK, I didn’t come to this region for the food 🙂

Expense

For one of the most expensive countries in the world, I somehow got off very easy. I was there 3 nights, 2 full days, and spent only $111.34 USD on food, drink, and ground transportation.

I was mostly slept out by 6:30 but rolled over and pretended to sleep some more until my alarm around 8:00. I again felt less than refreshed, but at least I was less less-than-refreshed than yesterday 😜

I grabbed my laptop, got back in bed, and got busy. I went through personal emails, logged money, deleted photos, logged a few but not nearly all of last night’s geocaching trackables, coordinated via messaging with my Airbnb host in Bruges, did a bit of journaling, and looked up contact info for Caves St. Martin, the one winery along the Moselle River that most tourists seem to visit, probably because so many of the others require an appointment for tastings and this one doesn’t. Also, they apparently have a pretty good tour.

Today is Europe Day, a national holiday, and many businesses are closed. I wanted to make sure Caves St. Martin is open, but they didn’t answer when I called, which I realized is because they close between 12:00 and 13:30.

Yes, I was still at the listing after noon. Despite giving myself permission to travel slowly on this trip, I am still feeling anxious, as I did last year, especially in Japan, about the time I spend documenting my trip. I find it so, so valuable to have all my journal entries from those five weeks, but ideally it wouldn’t come at the cost of spending time out in the wild. I attempted to reassure myself repeatedly that: 1) I have pretty much seen what Luxembourg has to offer.. whatever I see/do today is a bonus, and 2) it’s still raining cats and dogs and just generally sucks to be outside right now.. so what if my day starts in the afternoon.

I got dressed and headed out at 13:00. I wanted to get on a bus to the river right away but I’d only had coffee and my leftover biryani and needed more food if I was going to taste wine. I walked down to Bouneweger Stuff, a cafe/bar I’d seen recommended on one site or another, and found that they were open but the kitchen is closed. I tried to ask if this was for Europe Day but the server only spoke French. A Vietnamese place across the street was also closed.

This left Snack Lara, which felt like a Turkish version of Subway. I ordered the veggie kebab sandwich, which came in a pita, and attempted to buy a city bus day pass while I ate. The app wouldn’t even attempt to connect to PayPal over the shop’s wifi. When I disconnected and used data, the PayPal login page would spin and spin and ask me to verify my identity, which I did with a code, and then I would reach a page saying, “Things don’t appear to be working at the moment. Please try again later.” This happened 3 or 4 times, and I gave up when I remembered I had €4 in coins I’d received as change yesterday.

I called Caves St. Martin again and confirmed that they are open. The last tour in English begins at 15:00, which is right about when the transit app estimated my arrival to be. The staff said I could still do a tasting if I missed the tour.

I walked to the Dernier Sol bus stop and then across the street to the other Dernier Sol bus stop going the opposite direction, and then back again and then back over again.. I couldn’t make up my mind or figure out from the transit app or Google Maps which stop I needed. Thankfully, I landed on the correct one and got on the bus that goes all the way to Remich by the river.

Given my late start, the initial idea I had to use the local bus that runs north/south to visit multiple wineries was terribly ambitious, but as it turns out, most were closed for Europe Day anyway. So all my eggs were in the Caves St. Martin basket.

The sun peeked out from the clouds as the bus arrived at the river. I was using two different transit apps, one that offers trip planning in Europe generally and one specific to Luxembourg, from which the first pulls the same data. So I’m not sure how it is that I got bad info from the general one that I was using more often when I probably should have defaulted to the local one. It was not possible to walk from the stop to the winery on the streets indicated by the general app. I was to have gotten off at the third-to-last stop but instead rode the line to the end. This left me backtracking on a 16-minute walk instead of a 7-minute walk just as it was starting to rain again 🤷‍♀️

The bus also ran a bit behind schedule, so I arrived at Caves St. Martin at 15:25, long past the start of the English-speaking tour. A large outdoor patio looked like an inviting place to enjoy wine overlooking the Moselle on a much nicer day. I entered what I thought was the tasting room but was instead their restaurant.

I walked around back and found the tasting room occupied only by a single employee. She said the next and last tour at 16:00 is in French, which would not do me any good. Their website offers a variety of tastings, and I asked for the one for €20 that includes 1 Crémant, 3 wines, and amuse-bouches. Alas, that does require a reservation and wasn’t available.

Luxembourg’s signature production is Crémant, sparkling wine made with the fermentation method of champagne outside of Champagne, primarily in France and Luxembourg.

For my tasting, I chose 2 Crémant, brut and brut rosé, and 1 wine, white Pinot noir. Maybe the best wine I’ve ever tasted, or at least my favorite, was a white Pinot noir from Erath a few years ago.

I sipped my tastes while rain came down steadily outside. The brut, a blend of Pinot blanc, Riesling, and Auxerrois, was light and floral. I generally love a dry rosé, but the brut rosé was way too dry for my taste. The white Pinot noir didn’t make much of an impression on me either way, but I found it interesting that only Crémant may be blended in Luxembourg, while wines must be 100% one grape.

The staff member offered me two more that she believes are interesting to taste after the ones I had: Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer. They were both off-dry and fruity/floral complex. She’s from Burgundy, so these wines are her jam. I was glad she shared them with me.. I loved them.

Alas, no bottle purchase while traveling. I approached the cashier counter to pay for the tasting and she said it was free. I guess the pricing I’d seen on the site are for the tour/tasting combos. I was a bit bummed that my late start resulted in missing the tour. Bit by the FOMO bug.

There wasn’t much signal in the tasting room as I tried to search the bus planner for a ride home. Behind the restaurant and before the tasting room is the visitor center where the tours start. I used the bathroom and the blazing fast wifi there. I could catch a bus back in a half hour or so, which left some time to mosey along the Moselle.

The sun peeked out again at just the right time for me to enjoy an idyllic view of vineyards across the water in Germany and a swan taking a bath in the middle of the river, until she spotted me and came over to the bank to say hello. She paddled along the bank in my direction and so we ambled together for a moment.

I rode the bus the 45 or so minutes back into town, past the stop where my listing was because I wanted to head back to Ville Haute to hunt a cache I had passed by while on my walking tour yesterday and of which I was reminded at last night’s meetup. I had saved it in the app back at home because it has hundreds of “Favorite” points on the site, and I’d completely forgotten to look while I was there.

The bus transfer point was the train station, which was good reconnaissance for my departure tomorrow. I checked out the ticket office and the signboard while I was searching for a restroom. I followed the signs for WC but wasn’t seeing them. Oh, I see now.. through these double doors are stairs going down and a wall with the universal symbols for men’s and women’s restrooms in GIANT neon blue and pink. At the bottom of the stairs, I saw turnstiles. Ugh, I have no more coins and I hesitated in front of the machine as I didn’t really want to break a €10 to pay €0,70. I was about to when a gentleman who’d followed me down the stairs to chat with his friend, the attendant, saw me hesitating and put change in the machine for me. Thank you, kind sir 🙏

As I ascended the stairs back to the entrance, I heard the unmistakable sound of heavy-ass rain on the station’s roof. Sure enough, it was barrels and buckets of water coming down. I stalled in the entryway as there were a couple buses I could take from there to Old Town so it didn’t much matter when I got on. It was already about 18:30, though, and I had a mission before I even tried to figure out where to eat dinner.

The rain let up a bit and I rode a bus to the Casements du Bock and walked into the hilly, narrow, medieval-ish streets, back to the Passage de Palais I had seen yesterday, right near the turreted window with the national motto on it. Unfortunately, the cache’s description was quite minimalist and I am really not very good at geocaching, despite my 550+ finds. I spent 45 minutes there and came up with no geolove. Goddammit.

I walked down the hill back to the Palais Grand-Ducal because there is a virtual cache there, meaning there is no physical container to find, rather the cacher usually has a question or two to answer about the site and/or provide photo evidence of having been there. I took a selfie in front of the two guard shacks as directed and called it good on my Luxembourg caching.

It was 19:45 as I emerged onto Place d’Armes to find the stands at the Europe Day fair being packed up. I had thought I’d like to have some street food for dinner, but my timing is just off today 🤷‍♀️

I Googled some nearby joints with food that was reasonably priced and sounded good, but a couple places I landed on were closed for the holiday. I came upon an open sandwich place with a veggie burger that sounded good, Charles Sandwiches: mushrooms, goat cheese, onion, lettuce, mustard, and ranch. Little did I know that the goat cheese would not be crumbled but rather two thick, round slices 😳. Nope.. I pulled one off before slicing the burger in half and tackling the rest.

Arriving home at 21:45, I had a brief chat with Kasia and Jerome about checking out tomorrow. As I said goodnight and walked to my room, I realized I wouldn’t see Kasia again and wished I’d taken her photo and/or hugged her goodbye. I really enjoyed meeting her and being on the receiving end of her warm hospitality.

I got ready for bed and brought my laptop with me, logging money and journaling and researching train travel for tomorrow. So much for jet lag .. I went to sleep at 00:45!

I had set my alarm for 8:30, allowing for 11 hours of sleep. As it was, I awoke at almost 7:00 with a raging headache. It had started before bed, and at the time, I thought it was from exhaustion and dehydration. I now recognized it as the very specific caffeine withdrawal headache. Mon/6 and Tue/7 had been one long day for me, and I never got coffee on the “second” day. I had considered it when I finally reached my gate at FRA, but I was deliriously tired and the cafe menu and crowd had overwhelmed me.

I tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep, getting up around 7:30 and rolling up the blackout blinds to find that it was raining.

Despite my 9 hours of sleep, I did not feel refreshed and I was starting to feel nauseated as well. The headache and nausea simultaneously meant I needed to get dressed and go out to manage my needs and made it very difficult to do so, as did the thought of walking through rain.

I powered through and researched nearby cafes, finding Glow. Hello, godsend. It was a 3-minute walk away, with a cozy vibe and a menu with offerings like avocado toast and acaí bowls. I was really not feeling well and not much sounded good, but I knew I needed something.

I ordered a coffee with milk, forgetting that Europe doesn’t make brewed coffee, only espresso drinks. I thoroughly enjoyed my steamed espresso, ignoring the milk on the side, and ordered the soy-coconut yogurt with fruit and housemade granola. I thought I was going to end up back in bed, but the coffee and food settled the headache and nausea and left me merely tired, which I could deal with.

Back at the listing, I chatted with Kasia’s partner, Jerome, whom I’d only met briefly last night. He said I was rather unlucky with the weather as this time of year is usually 7 or 8 degrees warmer and clear. The weather notwithstanding, he suggested I visit the Luxembourg City Tourist Office and do their UNESCO walking tour. Perfect! I searched online and found a KML file that could be loaded into Google Earth and a PDF file of the route that I downloaded and added to the Files app on my phone.

I checked email, logged money transactions, and began this post .. my usual laptop business. The rainy weather and my general state of being helped me relax into taking my time and not feel like I needed to go go go explore (though that feeling didn’t go away entirely).

I got dressed and went out around noon, purchasing a €4 day pass for the city bus and walking just a few minutes away to the stop that would bring me to Ville Haute (old town). As I boarded, I held my digital pass to the reader but nothing seemed to happen and the woman before me had just gotten on and sat down, so I did the same. I observed many passengers get on and off seemingly without paying.

It was a short walk from the bus stop where I disembarked to the beginning of the walking tour. I looked for somewhere to grab a quick bite along the way, finding a spot called appropriately Lunch Break. I sat at the counter with my tomato and mozzarella panini, and the gentleman next to me asked if I was from the U.S. What gave me away? I had asked whether I need to sign the credit card receipt; the machine said I did but the shop employee didn’t need me to. My lunch companion said it’s hit or miss.

He’s from the U.S. and has been living in Luxembourg since February for work. I asked him about paying for the bus, and he said many people have monthly passes that are validated once and then don’t need to be shown/tapped. Also, he’s never seen a ticket checker and he guesses that many people simply don’t pay.

After eating, I walked back out into the rain and around the block to begin my walking tour at Place de la Constitution, a landscaped city square with a view of the Adolphe Bridge and Musée de la Banque. A few steps away was the Monument du Souvenir, a “golden lady” commemorating Luxembourgers (this is a real term) who fought with the French military during World War I.

Old stone stairs led me down to Petrusse Park for a brief stroll through a bit of nature. On the way out, I encountered an elaborate skate park. Luxembourg City is a fascinating mix of the very old and very modern.

Old town is divided into upper and lower, with an elevator and escalator providing access between them and the valley being the Grund district where 1,000 years of history are preserved. I walked through Grund a bit, losing the tour route as both the Google Earth and PDF maps were difficult to follow, especially with data service being somewhat slow-loading. I had first encountered outdoor escalators in Barcelona and would have liked to take the one here, it being somewhat of a novelty (at least for this American), but only found the elevator.

The next stop would be my favorite of the day, Le Chemin de la Corniche, a viewpoint described as “the most beautiful balcony of Europe” by a Luxembourg writer. It overlooks the valley, with picturesque views of Grund, the Alzette River, and beautiful old architecture. It was raining hard while I was there, a bit of a bummer given how gorgeous this view must be in clear weather (and how wet I was), but it was still lovely.

Despite being one of the main attractions of old town, I skipped the Casemates du Bock, a series of fortified tunnels built in the 17th and 18th centuries and used as bomb shelters during WWII. I was ready for an indoor break from the rain.

The tour continued to a section of upper old town with hilly, narrow, winding streets that feel like a trip back to the Middle Ages. I snapped a photo of the turreted window that reads “Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sin!”, the national motto which translates as “We will stay what we are” and expresses Luxembourgers’ desire to maintain their sovereignty; at various points, Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany have all claimed territorial domain over this small country.

Across from the Palais Grand-Ducal, the palace residence of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the Chocolate House, where you select the type of milk you like (or alcohol.. too early in the day for me, besides not feeling up to par yet) and your flavor of “hotchocospoon”, a wooden spoon with a block of chocolate on the end that you stir and melt into the milk. Genius. I considered matcha, lavender, and rose, but opted for a local flavor. I googled “Schwarzwälder” — Black Forest cake, or cherry-chocolate — and “speculoos” — a spiced shortcrust biscuit made around the holidays and originating in Belgium/Netherlands. I chose speculoos and enjoyed the warm spices in oat milk.

The final stops of the tour were Place Clairefontaine, home to a sculpture of Grand Duchess Charlotte, who reigned from 1919 to 1964 and symbolizes resistance to Nazi occupation, and a Cathédrale Notre-Dame (“a”, not “the”).

Nearby was the tourist information center and I made a visit to inquire about visiting wineries along the Moselle River tomorrow. I had found during research at home that there are no organized tours but a city bus goes out there and another runs north to south along the river, and I wondered whether there might be a brochure or flyer summarizing the pertinent details or if the staff could give me some tips I hadn’t found. One of them printed out bus schedules for me and gave me some maps. I didn’t much want to carry papers around when I could find these things online (and I wondered about the long-term viability of tourist information centers), but it was a helpful gesture and they may come in handy.

It was 17:30 and I had plans at 19:00. I figured I would be too tired to eat later and so I opted for an early dinner. The American gentleman in the lunch cafe earlier had recommended Mamacita, a Mexican restaurant. Said they have the best burrito he’s had in a long time. I found that it was a 5-minute walk away.

I couldn’t quite tell if they were open yet and it seemed they might require reservations. The staff first spoke to me in French and then to each other in Spanish, presumably about whether and where to seat me.

This led me to do the thing I always do in Spanish-speaking countries, which is to say a few words in my excellent accent, because I began studying it when I was 10, which makes me sound like I’m fluent, and then I don’t have any idea what the person to whom I’m speaking says in reply because it’s so fast and I only practice when I travel, and I feel like an idiot for having to ask to switch to English. I couldn’t believe I’d recreated this dynamic in Luxembourg.

In English, I was offered to be seated now or come back at 19:30, in two hours. I asked to be seated now and was shown to a small corner table in the back. I ordered a petite sirah from Baja Calfornia, Mexico (who knew) and looked over the food menu. Burritos were €18 to €20. Must be a really good burrito, but I wasn’t going to find out. I got the nachos (€12,50).

As I ate, a wave of jet lag washed over me. I’d hit the proverbial wall. I hoped for a surge of energy to last at least until 20:00.

A couple days before I left home, I’d looked up geocaches in Luxembourg City. I don’t geocache much at home these days, but I always do when I travel, both to acquire new countries on my caching map and especially because it’s a great way to explore a new city as cache hides are often in places of interest and not necessarily the obvious ones.

I could not believe my good fortune when I found an Event cache happening on the second of my three nights in Luxembourg. “GeoCoinFest” events happen in the U.S. and Europe every year; cachers get together to trade stories and geocoins, both trackable (they move from cache to cache) and commemorative. This year’s Europe events are taking place in 8 cities during the first two weeks of May, and I just happened to be able to attend one!

It was originally going to be held at Place d’Armes, an outdoor square. I checked the app to make sure I knew exactly where I was going and to see if there were any updates. Indeed, the meetup was moved to a nearby bar due to the weather, which suited me fine.

I walked about 5 minutes to a bar called Banana’s, arriving at exactly 19:00 and finding a large group already gathered in the back room. I had posted a “Will Attend” comment and so several cachers greeted me with, “Ah, you’re the American!” I got a half-pint at the bar (Bofferding, made in Luxembourg) and took a seat. I purchased a silver geocoin commemorating the event for €8 and was given some wooden coins (“woodies”) as well. The rest of the hour I spent chatting with many friendly folks and “discovering” trackables, also known as travel bugs.

Each small item has a tag with a code that is tracked on the Geocaching site as geocachers optionally retrieve it from one cache and drop it at another, or it can be discovered, which is to log it without moving it. The two organizers were wearing hoodies with trackable codes on the sleeves; I’ve seen travel bug stickers on cars, but wearable trackables is a first for me. Fun!

Most attendees finished nerding out around 20:00. I stayed a little longer as a local described to me in detail the multi-cache he developed but hasn’t submitted for publishing yet because he’s still fine-tuning the 16 waypoints. As with any hobby, there are degrees of interest and investment, and I’m on the more casual end of the spectrum than this guy.

It was after 21:00 by the time I got home on the bus. I chatted with my hosts about my day for a bit and got ready for bed. I’d intended to do some blog writing but was knackered and slept at 22:15.

….I didn’t sleep.

I started to watch A Quiet Place and quickly realized an airplane is not the environment in which to watch a movie whose entire premise revolves around sound and lack thereof. I watched the beginning of Green Book because I was late when I saw it in the theater. And then I went ahead and re-watched 2/3 of A Star Is Born. I saw it in the theater on February 1 with no expectations, loved it, and have been listening to the soundtrack fairly regularly ever since, despite thinking of myself as way too cool to be into country-fried rock, ballad duets, and pop 🤷‍♀️

We landed in Frankfurt more or less on time, around 01:15 body clock time and 10:15 locally. I noticed as I got my bearings that my back did not hurt at. all. YASSS

And so I embarked upon the mindfuck that is FRA.

With 2.75 hours until my last connection to LUX, I was looking forward to using my Priority Pass membership at whichever lounge it qualifies me to access. The Luxx Lounge, the app informed me, was located between concourses B and C. I followed signs that way, but they seemed to lead to the exit. I asked a security guard (everyone here speaks English, which I had already taken for granted before arriving 😬), who confirmed that in order to access the lounge, I would have to exit security.

I didn’t want to kill that much time just sitting at the gate or paying for food and drink that would be free in the lounge, so I went for it. I exited and continued following the signs to B and C, but I ended up at the ticket counters. I asked a documents checker where I was going, and she said to access the lounge requires going all the way outside, through border control, and then it’s another 5-minute walk. WTF.

Now it was almost 11:00, and I didn’t know how long it was going to take to get back through security, so I bailed on the lounge, retraced my steps, and got in the long-ass security line. Sigh.

I didn’t have to take my shoes off, but when I pulled my liquids out, an unmarked bottle gave the agent pause. I had repurposed a travel size saline solution bottle for cleaning solution, since ClearCare doesn’t come in travel size, and had thus removed the label. This happened at WLG last year too; as at that time, it probably helped that I was wearing my glasses.

From getting in the security line to getting through the scanners felt long but only took about 25 minutes. I emerged into duty-free shops and passed through them to get to my A gate.

Oh, what fresh hell is this. Border control! This is an area I would have had to pass through had I gone straight from the Z gate where I landed to my A gate for the connection. Very strange. I waited in line for not very long and was called up to show my passport to a lad with a German accent who I got the feeling was perpetually amused in his job. He smirked his way through a few questions about the purpose of my visit, not in a smug way, more like… “silly Americans”.

I exited the border control area and into… the finishing end of a security area leading into duty-free shops.

Alright, where’s the Cheshire Cat?!

srsly OMGWTFBBQ

This is like a Star Trek episode, I’m sure of it, I just can’t think of which one because I haven’t slept in 28 hours.

Fully expecting to end up back at the border control line, I instead found myself on the way to my gate. Whew.

I reluctantly sat at the gate — because every time I stand up, my tailbone screams at me — and charged my phone while waiting to “board”. I scanned my boarding pass and went down some stairs toward double doors that I thought would open to the gangway to the plane but instead an Airbus was parked just outside the doors. Like.. no curb, just doors -> Airbus. Which was good, because if there was curb to stand on, I would have looked around wondering whether to get on. I don’t like this airport.

The shuttle took us to a plane that felt like it was two miles away (uh, kilometers, I mean). I have probably never been on a quicker flight. Up and down in barely more than half an hour.

LUX went a lot smoother. There was no customs area to go through, and my checked bag was on the belt by the time I reached it. The 29 bus to my Airbnb listing stops just outside the terminal, and I waited less than 10 minutes for the next one. I had researched this and downloaded the ticket app while still at home. I used the airport WiFi to buy a €2 city bus ticket with PayPal, walked across to the stop, activated the two-hour pass, and showed it to the driver when he arrived. Easy peasy.

I used international data to WhatsApp my host to say I was on my way and map the 6-minute walk from the bus stop to the listing in the Bonnevoie neighborhood. I arrived at 15:00, and Kasia greeted me warmly. She offered me water, we chatted a bit, and she showed me to my room. I have a balcony with a city view and my own bathroom. Lurve.

I dropped my bags and, praise the sweet baby jeebus, got horizontal. Aaahhhhhh. And I stretched.

I browsed on my iPad and laptop, mostly looking for a place to eat dinner and trying not to fall asleep. Around 17:00, I was dangerously close to nodding off and not waking back up until 22:00, at which point I would have been hosed for both dinner and good sleep. I made it until 18:00 when nearby restaurants began opening.

I researched Luxembourg food and found a site describing it as “rustic German heartiness, French finesse and a little Iberian flavour thrown in for good measure. When you think of food in Luxembourg, large portions, lots of meat, fish, potatoes, beans, and dashes of cream and wine should come to mind.”

OK, Indian it is.

I walked 4 minutes to Biryani Corner and ordered two veggie samosas, which I devoured, and a vegetable biryani plate, which I barely made a dent in. I hadn’t eaten in about 8 hours, since the breakfast service before landing at FRA, but that was as far as my appetite went. I imagine the long travel has thrown off my body in all ways.

I brought my leftovers back to the listing and found Kasia eating dinner. She introduced me to Zigi, her cat of two years. He’s dirty snow white and has one of those smoosh faces and the hugest, bluest eyes. I held out my hand for him to catch my scent and he let me pet him, which surprised Kasia. I told her I’m a bit of a cat whisperer.

My bathroom’s shower/tub combo is a very deep bathtub, and I decided to soak my sore and worn-out neck muscles (plane sitting, bag carrying). I asked Kasia whether there is a fan or vent in the bathroom that I wasn’t seeing, and she said to just leave the door open. Umm. For privacy, I didn’t want to do that, but I also wanted to respect the house rules, so to speak. Thankfully, I clarified with her that she meant *after* I was done. We both had a good belly laugh over my misunderstanding.

It would have taken about an hour and way too much water to fill the tub, so I ran it to a shallow depth and laid down. I again nearly passed out.. I let myself drift in and out of consciousness for a bit before I stood up and showered.

I closed the automatic roll-down blinds that shut out all daylight. As I hit Publish on these first two posts, it is 21:30 and zzzzzzzz

When I received the email confirmations for my United flights, I forwarded them to TripIt to create my Benelux itinerary. I do the same with Airbnb accommodations and Experiences and any other reservations I make. It’s handy to have all my trip logistics in one place, and the app also provides notifications for flight delays and gate changes faster than I get them from the airlines.

So I was a bit dismayed when this smart travel app immediately threw up the warning “Connection at risk”. My outbound itinerary allowed only 45 minutes for changing planes at SFO, likely in different terminals. At the time I booked, I thought this was cutting it a bit close, but I reasoned that United wouldn’t offer a connection that wasn’t viable and it was the best fit date- and time-wise from the limited selection available in the award travel portal.

The more I thought about it, the less confident I felt, so after a couple weeks of mulling it over, I called United, basically to say, “Really?” Their answer was, in the end, “Yeah.” The agent thoroughly went through the motions of getting me something better, which I appreciated, but because I’d paid with points, I was locked into a points-available itinerary and, as was the case at the time I booked, there wasn’t anything better. Also, I couldn’t just book myself on an earlier PDX -> SFO flight because not showing up for the first of my booked flights would cancel the whole itinerary. Only if I actually missed my connection would I be rebooked.

My task and challenge, then, was to trust that all would work out. Worry is just planning for things to go wrong, yeah?

I did a pretty good job of this until my fear came to pass. Initially, TripIt advised this morning that my first flight would have an early landing in SFO. The 45-minute window increased to 56 minutes, which was enough to remove the red “at risk” graphic, and that had me feeling pretty good.

I got through security at PDX nearly two hours before my 11:15 departure and had a leisurely breakfast at the Capers Café, courtesy of my Priority Pass membership. Boarding went smoothly, and then…. we sat. Some kind of traffic jam on the runway? We took off at 11:55. My connection was departing at 13:50. Fuckity fuck fuck.

I distracted myself with a Game of Thrones podcast (S08E04 aired last night) for most of the short flight. As we approached SFO and the flight attendants collected rubbish, I told one of them I was on a tight connection and kind of sort of asked for priority deplaning? I know this must happen all. the. time. and I felt weird about asking for special snowflake status, but I also wanted to advocate for myself as much as possible and the answer is always no until you ask. The attendant confirmed I was not special, replying, “There are 96 connections on this flight.” OK, but how many of them are to planes whose doors will be closing by the time I get off this thing?!

We landed at 13:19, and the attendants announced a request to remain seated if SFO is your final destination, which helped a bit with the crowded aisle upon exit. Still, it was just after 13:30 as I deplaned, and my connecting flight was two terminals over. Running was in order.

The black leather wraparound (read: bad-ass) bracelet I ordered from Etsy a couple months ago came unsnapped for the third time since I got dressed this morning. I pulled it off my wrist and kept running (OK, run-walking). Alas, I should have tucked it into my shoulder bag. I made the flight, sans bracelet. Goddammit, I really hate losing things (which I don’t do often). FOCUS! I made the flight… whew!

As I settled in for the 11-hour journey and perused the seatback movie selections, I realized this is my first flight since upgrading to Airpods. Oops… can’t connect to the videoscreen with Bluetooth. I’d also neglected to download the United app to my iPad. Ah, well.. I’d downloaded plenty of content to my iPad from Netflix and Prime. It wasn’t long before lunch service came around, and I found that both headphones and shiraz were complimentary ☺️

After I ate (lasagna, salad, roll), I plugged my headphones into the seatback screen and watched Peppermint. I loved Alias and had been looking forward to seeing some kick-ass Jennifer Garner; however, the Metacritic score was dismal and I didn’t bother. Good enough to kill time on a flight? Sure.

I turned the 95-minute movie into 2.5 hours with a couple long stand-and-stretch breaks. It was just in the last few days that I’ve felt fully recovered from my most recent bout of lumbar pain (L4 or L5 being the usual culprits) that started in February. Good timing, and all the walking I’m about to do will help even further.. I just need to get through the getting there. I would find over the duration of the flight that my back held up very well; what ended up hurting not insignificantly was my tailbone, like it was bruised from all the sitting.

Next up for viewing entertainment was Homecoming, the Beychella performance/documentary, on my iPad. Another 3 hours down.

That left 3 hours to maybe try to sleep….

I planned the shit out of my Recharge trip last year. I knew where I would be and when and how to get from every here to every there and what I would be doing at all the theres. This meant I got to see and do everything I wanted *and* I was exhausted *and* I was constantly stressed by the tension between living the trip and documenting and sharing the trip.

I learned that I don’t want to travel that way again and that I would like to build in rest days, during which time I could document and/or share my experiences between having them, perhaps while sitting in a cafe or pub. I might see less but I would also live like a local and absorb the culture.

My Benelux planning has thus been positively Zen by comparison. I booked my flights and accommodations and figured out how to get from the Luxembourg airport to my first listing. That’s it. I don’t have any specific plans when I arrive, just a vague idea of where to go explore. I have some loose ideas for Belgium and Netherlands, but I don’t know the logistics of getting around yet, beyond some cursory research into train travel.

This makes me a bit anxious but also feels right because I’m stretching out of my travel comfort zone and trying something new. I think these three countries will be good places to try this out as they are landmark-light and culture-heavy.

Fingers crossed I don’t end up with regrets about not seeing/doing this or that. FOMO is a bitch.

Since 2013, I have been traveling to a new country (or countries) for my birthday every year in May.

This year, for the fourth time in a row, I considered and dismissed the idea of visiting Machu Picchu. Still wanna do it. Don’t know when it will feel right.

A co-worker visited Amsterdam in January, and I had a light bulb moment. I have been to Ireland, England, and Spain. I have so much more of Europe to explore, and Amsterdam has always been appealing. While I used to think of it, in my 20s, as the place where one could legally get high in coffeeshops, I now think of canal boats, bike rides, and tulips (and legally getting high in coffeeshops).

I found during my sabbatical last year that I reallllly enjoyed having an extended amount of time off work to travel with. I can’t take six weeks off, but I did get approval for three weeks combined with Memorial Day weekend, for a total of 25 days. I’m taking off almost all of May!

I don’t need two to three weeks in just Amsterdam, leading me to consider the neighboring countries of Belgium and itty-bitty Luxembourg. I did some cursory research on flights but had a hard time committing to my destination(s) and dates. The last three Decembers, I have considered visiting Europe to experience the Christmas markets. Bruges was top of mind, and I likely wouldn’t go there again if I’d already been. Then again, I bow out every time I catch a look at airline prices for that kind of trip.

While I was deciding, and after receiving a tax refund, I decided to take the plunge and apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, a traveler’s dream with the price tag to prove it. I never, ever thought I would own a credit card with a $450 annual fee, but a friend got it and talked me through the benefits, and I realized that I travel enough that it would close to pay for itself and give me a level-up to a more lux style of travel to boot.

Once received, I closed my existing Chase card with which I’d earned 60,000 miles on United, enough for a round-trip to Europe. I would need to use those within 18 months, and since I was planning to go to Europe now, I thought I’d use them up to make sure they didn’t go to waste.

I discovered United’s Polaris cabin and became a bit obsessed with figuring out how to use my points to book it to AMS (I will now forever be looking to repeat my first lie-down seat experience). Unfortunately, despite a few hours of research that told me it should be possible, I just wasn’t able to find award travel in the United portal that would allow me to book a Polaris seat with 60,000 miles.

My stubbornness cost me some planning time, and at the end of March here, I was getting quite antsy about the fact that I’d so far only talked about going to Amsterdam and had not booked anything.

That changed today. I committed! Yesterday, I discovered that the countries of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg form a geographic, economic, and cultural entity known as… Benelux. I did not make this up. I thought, “OH MY GOD, I have to go to Benelux.” I am going to call my trip Benelux.

I “settled” for Economy Plus and booked myself from PDX > SFO > LUX and from AMS > SFO (still need to buy the last leg home), with plans to take the train in between.

Castles, canals, beer, chocolate, waffles, bikes, tulips… Benelux!

A few travel choices I made that I was very grateful for during my entire trip:

International data plan

In another lifetime when I was a cab driver — 1999, specifically — we were given phones on the Voicestream network that we could use to text dispatch and other drivers. (Texting was not really a thing yet, and I felt very cutting edge. I was proud of my ability to tap out messages with my thumb without looking, e.g. two taps on the 1 key for the letter ‘b’.)

Voicestream was bought by T-Mobile, which remained my carrier until I bought my first iPhone in 2008, when AT&T was the only available network for iPhones. I stayed with AT&T through my second iPhone in 2010, not paying enough attention to my plan and realizing shortly before I switched carriers again that I could have long ago been paying less for more and better services.

By 2014, upon purchasing my third iPhone, I was traveling and I went back to T-Mobile, drawn by their offering of international data, a default of every plan. What a life-saver! Not needing to buy a SIM card or rely on the hope of finding wifi hotspots in order to navigate my way around is an essential component of my travels.

Packing cubes

On Amazon Prime Day (which has its critics) in 2017, I bought some packing cubes made by eBags. I’d heard they can save space in one’s luggage, and oh boy did that turn out to be true. Total game-changer.

What they did for me on this trip was something else entirely, though. Most of my stays were 1 to 2 nights, not really enough time to unpack and get settled. Except with everything compartmentalized, it was very easy to unpack and repack!

I always knew where everything was because I’d categorized: one large cube holding leggings and outerwear, one large cube holding tops and outerwear, one medium cube holding undies and socks, and one medium cube holding my laptop, battery, and chargers.

These four cubes filled my 21″ roller suitcase to the brim (and then I packed shoes on top), and I can’t even imagine trying to manage all my stuff without them.

Portable battery

For Christmas 2015, I received a small portable battery for my iPhone. I didn’t use it much until I traveled to Barcelona in the summer of 2017, and I found that it really helped supplement the power consumed by photos and navigation.

Having become a devoted user of the video journal app 1 Second Everyday since then, I would be taking more videos on this trip than any previous one. The small battery had stopped holding a charge, so I had an opportunity to buy a bigger and better one for my big trip.

I chose this one from Anker and loved it. Compact, not too heavy, holds a charge for days, can power up my iPhone almost twice over. It was a life-saver on my long days of touring about.

In no particular order, some observations and notes about my experiences in Japan:

Rules / structure / order

There is a proper way to do anything logistically, and even if I didn’t always know what it was, I appreciated that it existed. The people conform to organizational protocols because it makes their lives easier.

I saw this from the moment I stepped off the plane and went to exchange my Japan Rail Pass voucher for the pass itself. There was a specific order to the proceedings — first the form, then the line — as well as a guide at the entry making sure everyone followed it.

The punctuality of Japanese trains is taken so seriously that apologies are issued when a train departs at the wrong time, whether 5 minutes late or 25 seconds early.

At odds with this is the individualistic American mentality. We don’t want to conform, and we don’t want to be told what to do. We want it our way.

That whole “grande, extra shot, half caf, soy latte, no foam” kind of coffee order doesn’t exist in Japan.

So, so many people

I regularly experienced that thing where you and an oncoming fellow pedestrian sidestep in the same direction until you almost run into each other.

If you need to cross through opposing lines of pedestrians, you cannot wait for a break in the flow or you will never pass. You must cut someone off.

There are literally lines to wait in lines.

I prefer my photos to be people-free, and I was often at cross purposes with another photo-taker.

Crime

There isn’t any. I mean.. there is very little. Theft and assault are just not concerns of either the locals or even visitors. As with both New Zealand and Bali, I did not need my usual street-smart vigilance to feel comfortable walking around alone, even at night. It was such a gift.

Escalators

This was interesting.

In Tokyo, escalator riders stand on the left and walk on the right. In Osaka, they stand on the right and walk on the left.

This may have something to do with rivalry between the Kansai (Osaka) and Kanto (Tokyo) regions of Japan, but no one knows for sure, at least according to my Google research, why this is.

Language

My last Airbnb host in New Zealand told me a story of her visit to Japan in which a restaurant refused to serve her and her friends because the staff didn’t speak English. I learned from Cindy, my former co-worker I met up with in Tokyo, that this is not xenophobia but rather pride. If they cannot meet a standard of excellence in their hospitality, the Japanese would prefer not to host you.

In my personal experience, the Japanese do not understand what you say in their language if you mispronounce a word. This is not inflexibility or judgment on their part; they literally do not hear the word you are saying. Fascinating!

I was surprised to find the most English speakers in Kyoto rather than in Tokyo.

Religion

I never quite got a handle on the mix of Shinto and Buddhism I encountered everywhere. These faiths seem to co-exist with their own symbolism and practices but also inform one another as well. I might have that completely wrong. Hiro in Nara was probably my best chance at understanding this, and we didn’t talk about it.

I was also confused by all the praying to Buddha I witnessed. My conception of the Buddha is not as a deity requiring worship. Again, what do I know.

Smoking

Wow. It’s still allowed everywhere.

Toilets

As mentioned in my Nara post, some are still of the squat variety. Heated seats are divine. The option to play musical notes to mask the sounds of taking care of one’s business is delightful. Spray options for clean-up were hard to get used to but also just make so much sense.

Bathrooms

So many have no soap or paper towels! I observed many women carrying around a cloth for drying their hands after rinsing at the sink. I think that’s great. And I’m OK with a hand rinse after peeing. After a poo, I want to wash with soap and my American ass found it odd that this was not an option in many public bathrooms.

Soft serve

The Japanese are a bit obsessed.