Luxembourg

We took the overnight train from Milano to Luxembourg transferring at Koln the following morning. Within 10 minutes, the number 9 bus carried us from the train station to within a few hundred meters of the hostel. It was raining as we boarded the bus which made our choice to bus here rather than walk a good decision. The first thing we noticed after crossing the border into Luxembourg was that the signs at the train stations were written in both German and French. The street junctions (such as La Liberte and Heinrich Hine) provide an interesting reflection of a German-French dichotomy. A local newspaper, "Point24", read in one direction is published in German, but flipped over it is published in French. The German section has 6 pages, and the French section has 18. When trying to speak German, Michele and I are both struggling to remember to say Danke and Jah, but our tongues invariably spit out Grazie and si as has been our custom for the past month. I have to admit that my capability to distinguish French accents is not strong, but, to my admittedly untuned ears, the predominant accent here sounds tres pointu. The driving skills we witnessed on the bus ride to the hostel reminded me of the Bastians in the manner they plug intersections in both directions without any apparent concern for those they are blocking. Interestingly, though, we didn't hear any horns honking. The landscape surrounding Luxembourg city is vey hilly and very well endowed with a rich combination of both deciduous and conniferous trees. On the way into town, our train elevated on the hillside, passed an old, but active, brick factory completely surrounded, literally buried deep within a green bowl of the forest. The city is built up and down the hillside and is lusciously green everywhere. The streets are clean, the benches look as if they have all been freshly varnished, and everything is so neat and tidy. Bicycling appears to be a popular activity. City bikes are available and bike paths are plentiful...in some places there are double lanes for bikes. The city is presently engaged in a huge rennovation program. Stones are being re-laid on the cobbled streets, concrete structures are being covered with polished stone facades, and yet, we hear no noise and see no mess, and pedestrian walkways are not disturbed. The Luxembourg people are not flamboyant and maintain a calm quiet demeanour in the comings and goings. A well disciplined town with a rich history dating back to the the 10th century. The war monument makes special mention of Belgium in appreciation for all the help that the Belgian people provided to Luxembourg during the war.

Aida

Thanks to the help of Tom Foubert of Fednav Antwerp and the very generous assistance of Fratelli Cosulich, Michele and I were able to attend the sold out show of Aida at the Teatro a la Scala in Milano and thus fulfill one of Michele's life long dreams. and what a show it was! We haven't too many pictures of the event becuase photos are not permitted inside the theater, but because everyone else was doing it, we also took a few pics surreptiously. This show beats anything else we have ever seen and we very much enjoyed the experience which we'll cherish for a very long time. The orchestra and singers were excellent, but my favourite part was the set design by the famous Franco Zeffirelli. We lost count at around 7, but the 4 act opera had at least seven distinct sets each just as elaborate and ornate as the previous one. For the final scene, there were two sets in use simultaneoulsy. The entire main stage set was elevated about 10 feet to reveal the burial chamber set below where Aida and Radames sang their last song while Amneris prayed in the temple with her full entourage immediately above. Because our seats were on the platea, customs required that a dark suit be worn. Rental agencies do not appear to exist anywhere, or at least the people with whom we spoke had no understanding of what clothing rental meant. Clothes are such an important aspect of Italian expression, that the concept of rental is probably abhorent to them...so, in the ned, I bought a suit, shirt, tie, shoes and belt for the occasion. As if I didn't have enough to carry, I now have a garment bag strapped to the outside of my packsack. It was a great night at the opera. On the way back to the hotel, just after midnight, we stopped into a little panetteria we had discovered on our first day in Milano and we enjoyed a great sandwich and a glass of beer before retiring for the evening. Thanks Tom for an unforgettable evening!

Mueums of Archaeolgy and Science

We visited a few museums in Milano all fascinating and all very well laid out.