Adventuring with Anna

My sister, Anna, is studying abroad in Spain at the moment. But she came to visit me in Belgium and Luxembourg during the last week of Easter vacation. On Tuesday the 19th, she got on the Eurostar in London with her snazzy L.L. Bean backpack, passed through the Chunnel, and three hours later I met her in Bruxelles-Midi. Here she is with the Brussels cityscape. We're right near the Palais de Justice, which is just to the left, out of the picture.

And here I am...in theory I'm crushing the Atomium, but really I'm only crushing the air between the Atomium and the Grand-Place.

An Egg for Easter!
The Grand-Place. I'm pretty sure I take the same picture every time I go to Brussels, but I can't help it. It's so beautiful, especially in the sun, and every time I take the picture it has a different sense, depending on who I'm with.

Voilà, our first legal drink together. Unfortunately, that can't happen again for a while, considering the age will be 21 for me again when I go back.

We headed back to Arlon on the train, using my go-pass. It was a double-decker train, so we sat on top, of course.
On Wednesday, my host mom didn't have to work, so the three of us went to eat lunch in France. I tried boudin noir (blood sausage) for the first time...and it was delicious!


Then, we briefly visited these Roman ruins, and headed to the Abbey of Orval.

This is the entrance to the Abbey. The monks make very delicious beer and cheese. Orval is a brown trappist beer that's pretty well known in Belgium. Actually, after every Allure Libre (the 5k I run on Sunday morning), many of the runners drink one after they finish.

There's a museum that explains the process of beer-making...here's Anna and I standing on part of it:

La Fontaine de Mathilde.

The restored ruins of the old abbey:



Hops!
On Thursday, Anna and I took the bus into Luxembourg. We visited the Grand Duke's Palace...

...looked out into the valley...
...and crossed a street via bridge.

Afterwards, we went to training at Athletic Club Dampicourt, as my family does most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Anna was happy to throw hammer again.


The next two days were just...chill. We took a lovely walk from Beckerich to Oberpallen on a path that passes the Belgium-Luxembourg border, made cookies, and slept late.

Man, am I lucky.