Excuse my poor writing..bit tired and trying to catch up with what I've been doing...running out of time!
On Sunday we went to Vianden Castle - the furthest north I have been in Luxembourg so far. It was an amazing view as we turned the corner and the castle stood proud on the top of a hill - I'm sure there are too many photos but it was an awesome sight! Actually at this point I should also say that a lot of the photos from this weekend were taken by Owain (thank you!) he has been helping me learn to use the settings properly!
The castle has been used in a lot of videos including 'shadow of a vampire' and Dracula. I can't remember all the others but there is a room inside with photos of all the famous visitors and film shoots.
We escaped most of the rain while inside the castle but I was glad I had my waterproof and hiking boots in between - I looked a state but I was warm and dry!
There is a lot of history to explore in the castle and it was a beautiful place although heavily restored - in some places not very sympathetically. After the castle we had a little look around the town (in the car because of the rain) and then headed home.
That evening I had booked us into a posh French restaurant called Toit Pour Toi (translated as Roof for you). Anna had been and recommended it. Actually that's a lie - I didn't book it, my colleague Malanie made the reservation for me because I was a bit worried about not being able to communicate in French over the phone! We got a bit lost on the way and arrived about 10 mins late so first task was apologising in French. I'm quite impressed with myself that although I know I didn't say it all correctly, I successfully communicated in French for the duration of the meal with all waiters/waitresses :)
Toit pour Toi didn't disappoint, it was a beautiful renovated farmhouse with high ceilings, wooden beams, amazing and unusual lights, stone walls and really romantic. The staff were very friendly and forgiving of my poor pronunciation and language efforts and the food was great.
Our first challenge was working out what we were given for appetizers. There were some small tasty things and then these little cups with some sort of aniseed tasting thing with froth on top. We didn't know whether we were supposed to drink it or eat with a spoon and we were afraid of doing it wrong! We tried to see what other people were doing but no one had it at the same time. I ate half with my spoon and we gave up and left the rest! We later saw people spooning it so we at least did right by not drinking it...
Owain choose the wine, a red but it came chilled which we hadn't expected. Quite light though and was very nice. I had to explain that I was with my car when they tried to keep topping up my glass!
Having trouble choosing, we shared starters of goats cheese ravioli (Raviole de chevre) and prawn tempura with prawns and Chinese style vegetables (Tempura de Scampis). Next Owain had a fillet of Beef with pureed potatoes (Filet de Boeuf) and I had Medaillon Lotte from the fish section. I had no idea what it was but thought I'd give it a try, I found out later it was monk fish on a pea risotto. It was lovely but by then I was struggling to finish the last few mouthfuls. I would have loved dessert but there was no way I could manage anymore. Owain had some cheese with the last of the wine and I finished with a nice coffee.
We tried to subtly take some photos of the gorgeous lights but had to mess around with settings on the camara to get it in focus and so wasn't very subtle at all in the end! When we left it was raining but we had a little look at the gardens and pond all lit up. Owain went down the steps next to the restaurant and took a couple of photos with the flash. I think we scared the waiters because as we got into the car a few of them came out and went to where he had taken the photos as if they were worried about what it had been...ooopps.
We went home full and very happy :)
It was a fantastic weekend, just a shame it had to end. It was hard saying goodbye to Owain the next morning....
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