Here it is, the last stop of the first part of my European travels. So it's not Paris, but it is the Notre Dame, and it's beautiful. I really liked Luxembourg, a neat, modern city with some really great history and scenery. Yet again, another country, another feel to the city. Luxembourg gave me the impression of a big business city that takes a relaxed approach. Not a lot of honking, buses who let you cross the street in front of them, all with a beautiful ravine cut right through the center of town with beautiful parks and a river at the bottom. Nice and peaceful, but still with plenty to do. It was a nice break from the bustle of Eastern Europe that I enjoyed so much. Still, it was mid-December and so cold, but definitely a place I will return to, especially as it's only a three hour train ride away. I enjoyed wandering the streets here, where the buildings have the typical European closeness, but still have a style that's unique to Luxembourg. I really liked this blue house below. 
The advantage to traveling Europe in December, is that you get Christmas markets, (oder Weihnachtsmarkt), and Luxembourg had a pretty cool one. It was fun to see the little rides that are clearly ripping off some Disney song or theme, all the people standing around drinking Glühwein, wandering amongst the stalls charging way too much for their respective crafts, and discovering the local take on fried potatoes. So I had previously been to the Mainzer Weihnachtsmarkt, and there had Kartoffelpuffers. Here in Luxembourg, they did a similar thing, but instead of frying potatoes with the consistency of hash-browns, they have this machine squeezing out potato paste in the shape of a small churro. And instead of eating it with apple sauce, here they serve it with melted chocolate. Oh, so good. I grabbed some on my way back to the train station and was glad the chocolate didn't harden until I was almost done. It started pretty warm, but it was really cold.
So there it is, two months of traveling Europe, with finding an apartment in the middle. It kind of hit me yesterday as I was filling out my customs claim form. One question they ask is what countries you visited and then provide two lines for your answer. It wasn't enough room. After listing Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Rep., Switzerland, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Luxembourg, I hoped I wasn't leaving any out. (I didn't include Slovenia or Croatia because I never got off the train.) It's been a crazy past two months, more if you include the US road trip, but it's been awesome. I've had the most amazing experiences, some that I never imagined would come my way. I've filled three pages in my passport with visa stamps, attended church in three very different german dialects and in Czech, used half a dozen different currencies, made some really spectacular friends, and started making real progress in my German language skills. Traveling alone, I had a lot of time to ponder and reflect on things, and not having any real responsibilities, had the time to sit and be inspired by the wonder of God's creation in a world so similar and yet dissimilar to the one I've know thus far in my life.
I'd just say that I've learned a lot about myself and other things, but then I hear Amber's voice in my head asking, "What did you learn?" not allowing me to get away with just throwing out a cliche. So here goes, I learned that:
- I can order food without speaking a common language.
- the most useful words in a language are the numbers.
- kids are kids no matter what language they speak or where they live.
- visiting four museums in a day is about two museums too many.
- most Czech castles are closed Nov-Mar.
- not everyone agrees on what to do with used toilet paper.
- sunsets across the Venetian Lagoon are spectacular.
- I'm terrible at describing the feeling of sitting in the Theater of Dionysus.
- sometimes you can trust strangers.
- sometimes you can't.
- most people try to do what they believe to be right.
- night trains are a great way to travel.
- I wouldn't have wanted to be a Medieval miner.
- the exchange rate in train stations is never the best you'll find in the city.
- it doesn't hurt to ask if you're getting on the right train.
- Czech buses are often better than Czech trains.
- Switzerland is expensive, but beautiful.
- there's more than one way of doing things.
- I love Eastern Europe.
- I'm not a big city person.
- I love old stuff.
- the Holocaust was the greatest travesty of recent history.
- we didn't learn the lesson.
- I love my family.
- they love me.
- there's more to life than what can be found on the Internet.
- God doesn't care what language you speak, He just likes hearing from you.
So thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I have many more travels ahead of me as I live in Europe these next few years. So check in every so often, see if I've been somewhere new or gone back to get one more look at something I've already seen.
