The weekend was great in lots of ways.........we had visitors.........AND they brought a selection of the contents of Sainsburys with them :-))) so we are all stocked up on varieties of crisps (can you believe here they only sell ready salted, cheese and onion or paprika!!!!!!)........if you only like salt n vinegar....tough!! Plenty of other goodies for us to eat our way through for the next few weeks :-)
So Stacey and Sarah arrived just after 11pm from Brighton (for any of you planning to travel from England I think the journey via eurotunnel was trouble free and takes 4 hours from calais to us here in lux!)......Stacey was loving the green landscapes and forests comnig from the sea.......and I can't wait to visit them in Brighton and get my fill of sea, beach and fish and chips!!!! Talking of which.......the school here has an international lunch day next week where everyone has to take in a traditional food from their home country.....and Conor is desperate for me to take in Fish and Chips...........if anyone has any bright ideas on 1. how to make authentic fish and chips at home without a chip pan.....and 2. how to deliver it to school in some form of edible/warm state then let me know......he's going to be very disappointed when he sees his crustless (brownie points for that at least!) cucumber and egg n cress triangle sandwiches a la Ritz!!!!!
Anyway we had a lovely weekend and did the tour of Lux city by day and local bars by night......shame I hadn't done my guided tour of the city the week before otherwsie I could have impressed all with my very detailed knowledge of the history of the city! That was Monday morning's activity with a group of friends here........very interesting but with my mush brain not sure how much i can remember even now! Topped it off with coffee and cake (part and parcel of any meeting/social!!)
So i have now taken part in my first cooking class........a very pleasant experience......not sure how much cooking I did but a great social culminating to wine and nibbles and a delicous lunch with pud too :-) a very luxurious event for me given I left Ruby at home with Noora (part-time au pair!)
Better sign off for now......need to go and choose my next bag of crisps!!
Bonne journee
m x
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
internet shopping in Lux.......life is picking up :-)
OMG....I've found something way beyond it's years (for Luxembourg that is!!! obviously more than a decade behind UK!).....anyway ordered my shopping online and although they don't deliver here .......I drove to the supermarket pick-up point.....gave my order number and hey presto......within 3 minutes i was paid up and shopping had all been loaded into boot of the car......wonders will never cease! we have food :-))) amazing what you can rustle up for a meal to delay as long as remotely possible the hassle of a trip to the supermarket!!
Anyway - hope you're all good........been like summer here the past few days so made the most of it and met friends for coffee and sat outside.......sometimes it's a hard life!
For all you roundwood mum's.......if you ever doubted the level of schooling....don't!!! Kids seem way above anyone else in their year.......after a couple of meetings with teachers and the principal (ooohh yes....our names are known!).....they have suggested Conor moves up a year group so as of today......he's moved to year 5! Bless him - he's had lots of changes in the past few weeks and tests etc and taken it all in his stride!
It's almost more of a bubble than Harpenden......very bizarre kind of place with loads of social groups already established that you just join up.......guess with the vast number of foreigners want to stick together!!!! We went apple picking at the weekend which was good fun....and every event organised here seems to automatically have some kind of beer/drinks tent and sausage stall!!!!
I'm doing some kind of cooking class next week which my neighbour organises where there's a group of 8 of us and we all have a job to do and when all the food is ready we sit down eat the lunch and drink wine......so building up plenty of ideas for social events for when i'm back!!
Doing a guided walk of the city too with a group of friends so when those of you wanting to visit come and stay I'll be able to recite all sorts of historical facts to you!
shaun and i had a few nights out so we have been exploring the local haunts........a really great group of pubs/clubs/restaurants almost around the corner.........some open until 6am (a bit past our bedtime!!) and dj's at weekends! at the opposite end of the scale....we also have a group of locals who have taken to getting their garden table and deckchairs out by 10am and sit drinking some kind of spirit (have never dared walk close enough to be able to read the label!!) for most of the day!
Anyway.....better go and unpack my shopping in peace and quiet :-)
Anyway - hope you're all good........been like summer here the past few days so made the most of it and met friends for coffee and sat outside.......sometimes it's a hard life!
For all you roundwood mum's.......if you ever doubted the level of schooling....don't!!! Kids seem way above anyone else in their year.......after a couple of meetings with teachers and the principal (ooohh yes....our names are known!).....they have suggested Conor moves up a year group so as of today......he's moved to year 5! Bless him - he's had lots of changes in the past few weeks and tests etc and taken it all in his stride!
It's almost more of a bubble than Harpenden......very bizarre kind of place with loads of social groups already established that you just join up.......guess with the vast number of foreigners want to stick together!!!! We went apple picking at the weekend which was good fun....and every event organised here seems to automatically have some kind of beer/drinks tent and sausage stall!!!!
I'm doing some kind of cooking class next week which my neighbour organises where there's a group of 8 of us and we all have a job to do and when all the food is ready we sit down eat the lunch and drink wine......so building up plenty of ideas for social events for when i'm back!!
Doing a guided walk of the city too with a group of friends so when those of you wanting to visit come and stay I'll be able to recite all sorts of historical facts to you!
shaun and i had a few nights out so we have been exploring the local haunts........a really great group of pubs/clubs/restaurants almost around the corner.........some open until 6am (a bit past our bedtime!!) and dj's at weekends! at the opposite end of the scale....we also have a group of locals who have taken to getting their garden table and deckchairs out by 10am and sit drinking some kind of spirit (have never dared walk close enough to be able to read the label!!) for most of the day!
Anyway.....better go and unpack my shopping in peace and quiet :-)
in the beginning........................
Bonsoir mes amis (that's the extent of my french so far!!!!!)
Well we've been here more than a month now (6 weeks to be exact!).......god it feels like longer that I've been away from my nice cosy life in the Harpenden bubble!!!!
I guess to sum it up I'd say it's OK! No major dramas that have put us completely off and want us to leave right now......although also nothing yet that we've thought OMG this place is the best and I never want to leave!!!! Hard to know where to start to give you all a quick update......
we arrived in good spirits (which quickly disappeared once the removal men were half a day late which only gave us an afternoon before shaun was back at work!!!!!!!)........and don't think we sat down for the first 6 days by which point I was almost at the point of exhaustion! I put off unpacking the zillions of kitchen boxes as long as possible but after a week we were crying out for some kind of home cooked food so enough was enough!!! The house is all unpacked but dining is a little tricky as we are still waiting for our dining table to be delivered (but have chairs) and have bought a kitchen table (but chairs awaiting delivery!!). Just heard today all the stuff is ready to collect.......rather than paying £75 for each delivery......you can pay 15euro and borrow their van and you book an hour slot to load van, get stuff home and unloaded, and back to store.....oh Shaun gots a great Friday night in store!!
As some of you will have heard me moaning on.......everything is extortionately expensive but I have now passed looking at supermarket prices and jsut throw it in the trolley! I now have a packed cellar of food/drink so my dreaded visits to the supermarket have been minimised! Found a supermarket that deliverys which looks pretty good........bit worrying that the night before you can still book a delivery slot for the following morning which makes me think it's even more pricey!!!! will give it a go at some point! Thankfully Shaun already had plenty of trips back to London so fills his bag with stuff we can't get here! The roof box will come into it's own over Christmas....never mind bringing any presents for kids ....we need to maximise space to stuff it full with all the shopping I will be doing whilst in the UK!!!!
Location of where we live great for town, shaun's work and is fairly scenic (see photo no 170 which is where shaun works and 10 min walk along river path takes us to our house!) but crap for school and all the stuff that goes with kids activities! Never seen so many sets of traffic lights on each street!!!! obviously always all at red! ho hum.......bikes will be coming out as soon as ruby is old enough for her seat.....must be about now!!!! we have the necessary patisserie and chemist around the corner (!!!) and a few places to eat and drink a few minutes walk away too!
Kids really settled well into life here and are jsut getting on with it (although both still regularly talk about their friends back home!! Both have had playdates from school and next door neighbours and kids up the road are a life-saver as all kids play together (Americans) and lift share to/back from school everyday and a mine of information which has saved me a load of time on the internet etc etc....... now finding it somewhat tricky as they race off to play as soon as we get home and homework to factor in (everyday Mon-Thurs!!!).....ended up doing it at 7pm tonight so feeling a bit out of control where the old bedtime routine goes!!!!! School seems complete chaos at drop off / pick up so newcomers can just blend in no problems! School even got a place where mums can have coffee after dropping kids. A treat not making packed lunches anymore :-)
Now starting to think about doing some stuff for me and getting into some sort of routine.......even if it is just getting legs waxed, hair done etc etc. Met a few people now so been for a couple of coffees and got first ladies lunch on Friday, dinner party saturday night and mums night out next week! 2 danish lads on our road want to do babysitting which is fab as only need to walk them 3 doors down to get them home........taxis apparently are about £10 every 10m!!! With all being ill end last week and also having my mum here last week for her birthday not had much chance yet to do too much but in no rush...... enough things organised by various clubs that you could be out 24/7 if you wanted.....not sure it's all my cup of tea so will play it by ear! Had some american womens club welcome meeting this morning which was dreadful........soooo American and soooo not me!!.......but met another amazon worker's wife from Seattle and another from UK (although she German!) and think both will be good company for lunching so worth going!!! Went to a gym yesterday for the first time with a friend I've met at school (she's German but lived in Singapore for the past 4 years!) ......bloody hard work after 2 months off......went back to hers to recover afterwards and for coffee and cake!! She's already talking about us going on a girls trip to Paris!!! Bloody hell give me a chance! Plenty of well-seasoned international jet-setters around who seem to move from country to country.......makes me feel quite boring to have "just moved from England and am British!!!!!" but no desire to go anywhere else after this apart from home!!!!!! well that's what I'm saying for now!!!
Ruby rubster is attracting the crowds and making getting to know people and chatting so much easier for me! She's growing at a rate of knots (see pics!), was sitting up almost as soon as we got here and now is constantly up on her hands and knees trying to escape her play ring!! Think a trip to Ikea required to stock up on stairgates......yes Ikea (in Belgium!) only about 20 mins away and already been there twice (and incorporated lunch at the same time...........how sad going to Ikea for lunch but actually pretty good!!)
Looking forward to doinog some exploring (and finding somewhere to shop that isn't designer at one end or C&A at the other and nothing in between......apparently France and Germany the places to shop!) and already very sick of being in the car!!!!!! My neighbour just got an au-pair and been contacted about another and asking me if I'm interested........hmmmm........VERY tempting to do all the school runs and to-ing and fro-ing with the kids!!
Miss you all...........planning to be back in England 18 dec for 2 weeks so let me know what you all doing........me and kids should be in Harpenden 18/19 dec and with shaun 22/23 dec for definite so try and get a pub night organised for those of you around!
Well we've been here more than a month now (6 weeks to be exact!).......god it feels like longer that I've been away from my nice cosy life in the Harpenden bubble!!!!
I guess to sum it up I'd say it's OK! No major dramas that have put us completely off and want us to leave right now......although also nothing yet that we've thought OMG this place is the best and I never want to leave!!!! Hard to know where to start to give you all a quick update......
we arrived in good spirits (which quickly disappeared once the removal men were half a day late which only gave us an afternoon before shaun was back at work!!!!!!!)........and don't think we sat down for the first 6 days by which point I was almost at the point of exhaustion! I put off unpacking the zillions of kitchen boxes as long as possible but after a week we were crying out for some kind of home cooked food so enough was enough!!! The house is all unpacked but dining is a little tricky as we are still waiting for our dining table to be delivered (but have chairs) and have bought a kitchen table (but chairs awaiting delivery!!). Just heard today all the stuff is ready to collect.......rather than paying £75 for each delivery......you can pay 15euro and borrow their van and you book an hour slot to load van, get stuff home and unloaded, and back to store.....oh Shaun gots a great Friday night in store!!
As some of you will have heard me moaning on.......everything is extortionately expensive but I have now passed looking at supermarket prices and jsut throw it in the trolley! I now have a packed cellar of food/drink so my dreaded visits to the supermarket have been minimised! Found a supermarket that deliverys which looks pretty good........bit worrying that the night before you can still book a delivery slot for the following morning which makes me think it's even more pricey!!!! will give it a go at some point! Thankfully Shaun already had plenty of trips back to London so fills his bag with stuff we can't get here! The roof box will come into it's own over Christmas....never mind bringing any presents for kids ....we need to maximise space to stuff it full with all the shopping I will be doing whilst in the UK!!!!
Location of where we live great for town, shaun's work and is fairly scenic (see photo no 170 which is where shaun works and 10 min walk along river path takes us to our house!) but crap for school and all the stuff that goes with kids activities! Never seen so many sets of traffic lights on each street!!!! obviously always all at red! ho hum.......bikes will be coming out as soon as ruby is old enough for her seat.....must be about now!!!! we have the necessary patisserie and chemist around the corner (!!!) and a few places to eat and drink a few minutes walk away too!
Kids really settled well into life here and are jsut getting on with it (although both still regularly talk about their friends back home!! Both have had playdates from school and next door neighbours and kids up the road are a life-saver as all kids play together (Americans) and lift share to/back from school everyday and a mine of information which has saved me a load of time on the internet etc etc....... now finding it somewhat tricky as they race off to play as soon as we get home and homework to factor in (everyday Mon-Thurs!!!).....ended up doing it at 7pm tonight so feeling a bit out of control where the old bedtime routine goes!!!!! School seems complete chaos at drop off / pick up so newcomers can just blend in no problems! School even got a place where mums can have coffee after dropping kids. A treat not making packed lunches anymore :-)
Now starting to think about doing some stuff for me and getting into some sort of routine.......even if it is just getting legs waxed, hair done etc etc. Met a few people now so been for a couple of coffees and got first ladies lunch on Friday, dinner party saturday night and mums night out next week! 2 danish lads on our road want to do babysitting which is fab as only need to walk them 3 doors down to get them home........taxis apparently are about £10 every 10m!!! With all being ill end last week and also having my mum here last week for her birthday not had much chance yet to do too much but in no rush...... enough things organised by various clubs that you could be out 24/7 if you wanted.....not sure it's all my cup of tea so will play it by ear! Had some american womens club welcome meeting this morning which was dreadful........soooo American and soooo not me!!.......but met another amazon worker's wife from Seattle and another from UK (although she German!) and think both will be good company for lunching so worth going!!! Went to a gym yesterday for the first time with a friend I've met at school (she's German but lived in Singapore for the past 4 years!) ......bloody hard work after 2 months off......went back to hers to recover afterwards and for coffee and cake!! She's already talking about us going on a girls trip to Paris!!! Bloody hell give me a chance! Plenty of well-seasoned international jet-setters around who seem to move from country to country.......makes me feel quite boring to have "just moved from England and am British!!!!!" but no desire to go anywhere else after this apart from home!!!!!! well that's what I'm saying for now!!!
Ruby rubster is attracting the crowds and making getting to know people and chatting so much easier for me! She's growing at a rate of knots (see pics!), was sitting up almost as soon as we got here and now is constantly up on her hands and knees trying to escape her play ring!! Think a trip to Ikea required to stock up on stairgates......yes Ikea (in Belgium!) only about 20 mins away and already been there twice (and incorporated lunch at the same time...........how sad going to Ikea for lunch but actually pretty good!!)
Looking forward to doinog some exploring (and finding somewhere to shop that isn't designer at one end or C&A at the other and nothing in between......apparently France and Germany the places to shop!) and already very sick of being in the car!!!!!! My neighbour just got an au-pair and been contacted about another and asking me if I'm interested........hmmmm........VERY tempting to do all the school runs and to-ing and fro-ing with the kids!!
Miss you all...........planning to be back in England 18 dec for 2 weeks so let me know what you all doing........me and kids should be in Harpenden 18/19 dec and with shaun 22/23 dec for definite so try and get a pub night organised for those of you around!
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