Being jobless and lonely in a new country, is at the same time, both an exciting and a scary prospect.
Never before had I the luxury of time that I have now nor did I ever have to deal with such copious amounts of solitude.
Now that they have both come together, I have been trying to make the most of them.
Let me walk you through a day in my life.
I get up just in time to see off my husband at the door. I then make myself a cup of tea and check my email and then facebook and then my email once again, you know, just in case something turned up.
My mornings are usually reserved for reading. I have read books on various genres during the past few months - philosophy, mystery, drama, psychology, poetry and even German stories for children. I am also a member of a book club (meetup.com) that meets once a month to discuss a book. Last month it was 'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink. Do check it out, it has a little erotism mingled with some psychology set in the backdrop of the Holocaust.
After reading, I need to go out. With the sun so bright and the weather so right, staying indoors seems a bore. So no matter how lazy I feel, I slip on my jeans and a top, boots or sneakers and head out.
Some days I go to the city-centre and just amble along the streets, watching the street musicians. Sometimes I take a walk in the park and after a while sit on a bench and continue reading my book. This is a fascinating place to meet new people. Some days, I visit the Notre Dame church, which is so dark and silent that it awes me each time I go there. I simply sit in the church and marvel at the 500 year old architecture - the Gothic designs, the rib vaulted ceiling. I imagine ladies and gentlemen from centuries ago who would have sat on these very benches, wearing long Austen-styled dresses and hats and coats, having parked their carriages outside. The clatter of hooves, the swishing of silk! How different a place it would have been then. Then on some days I go window-shopping (which often ends up into real shopping).
Today I went to buy a bicycle. A bicycle is a great investment while in Europe (or so I convinced the husband).
I ended up going to the Cactus Hobbi shop in Bereldange. The challenge was that the bicycle seller guy spoke only pure French. My sorry state in French was not enough to continue a encouraging conversation between us. But since he was so eager to sell the bicycle and since I was so eager to buy one, we finally resorted to hand-gesturing. So when my hands asked him if he could home-deliver it, he probably misread it as 'Can the bicycle fly?' and gave me a strange look. I tried again, this time I thankfully remembered the French word for home - 'maison'. He said it would cost 25 Euros extra. I had no other option, there was no way I could ride it back to my flat, as I didn't know the way back except to the nearest bus-stop.
So I am now at home, waiting eagerly for my bicycle while eating a kebab burger and punching away the keys on my laptop. In the evening, I will be heading off to the 'Chocolate Shop'. It has the most amazing chocolate drinks. They serve you hot milk with a 'chocolate spoon'. A 'chocolate spoon' is basically a big chunk of pure chocolate at the end of a wooden spoon, which you dip in the milk and swirl. Lick it, slurp it, gulp it - have it any way you please. Don't miss it if you are in Luxembourg. It is bang at the city-centre, opposite the Duke's palace, so that while sipping on the wonderful chocolate you can watch the cute uniformed guard patrolling the majestic palace.
Here is a lovely shot of the chocolate spoon dipped in hot frothy milk.
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