Luxembourg - An Unexpected Delight

On the drive back from Belgium, we made an extemporaneous stop in Luxembourg.  I know what you're all wondering - why Luxembourg - but Carpe Diem right?  Luxembourg City is the capital and main attraction of the kingdom and was our natural stop.  A gorge intersects the city with buildings and escapements built up the sides and trees and a trickling brook running through the middle.  The result below was beautiful

 
We wound up traversing the gorge and stumbled upon an old-fashioned mini-golf course.  Though there were no windmills or fire-breathing dragons to overcome, it was the hardest mini-golf course ever.  I inadvertently launched my ball over a hedge on hole 4 into the great abyss and Asvin was convinced the course was rigged against him.  A three way tie amongst Kevin, Asvin, & I ensued - sorry Donovoan!

Luxembourg certainly exceeded everybody's expectations and was a nice break in the Belgium trip.

Boisterous Brussels

As promised, here's the highlights of the impromptu weekend trip to Brussels:

Within my first 48 hours in Basel, the other MITers and I decided to go on a last-minute weekend trip to Brussels.  An excellent idea since none of us speak French or German, no GPS's were available to rent, and only Asvin peripherally remembered how to drive stick (sorry Dad, I know you tried) from a friend ten years ago in college.  It took a few trips around the parking lot, perplexed faces & downright begging at the French rest stop / gas station called I kid you not "Flunch", and a healthy dose of luck but we eventually arrived in Brussels Friday evening.  Our first Belgium beers, waffles, and chocolate fountain sampling were consumed not long there after.

Saturday was a day of sightseeing and aimless wandering.  I loved the Grand Place - the central city square of Brussels.  It was adorned with flower shops, sidewalk cafes, a wedding processional, artists, one man bands, and living statues.  I could have been perfectly content sipping coffee at one of the cafes people watching for hours.  The picture below shows Kevin and I in the square.

No trip to Brussels is complete with seeing the Manneken Pis the inexplicably famous water fountain / statue pictured below.

Although viewing the Manneken Pis was rather anti-climatic, on the way to find his squatting sister we happened upon an American vagabond to hang out with that evening, the Delirium Taphouse with over 2000 beers on tap, and a youth travelers center with ideas of things to do in Brussels on post-it notes.  We grabbed a note to "lay on the floor of the Palace of Justice, contemplate life, then stare up at the ceiling".  Finding and attempting to enter the Palace of Justice was an entertaining ordeal that gave us the opportunity to see even more of the city.

The awesome day of sightseeing and meandering was capped off by an exhilarating evening of cheering on the US team to an unexpected tie against a higher-ranked English team.  I enjoyed Brussels and recommend the city to you guys.

European Goals

Top 10 goals for my time in Switzerland

1) Acquiesce to becoming European – Try as I may, I struggle to wait patiently on the corner with everybody else until the walk sign flashes on even though there is nary a car as far as the eye can see.  In Boston you’d freeze to the sidewalk during that time.

2) Unearth a favorite Belgium beer, Swiss chocolate, French pastry, German schnitzel, fondue recipe, local watering hole, etc.  The pictures below show the guys and I attempting to find the perfect Belgium waffle in Brussels over the weekend.  More on Brussels to follow in a later post.

3)  Increase my German proficiency from a 10 month year old to about as well as your average 2 year old.  My department finds my attempts hilarious and has taken to teaching me a new word every day.

4)  Make European friends.  Yesterday at work I practically chased down some girl in the hall for a new lunchmate. 

5) Go Rhineschwimmen – an annual festival in Basel where everybody dives into the Rhine and floats down

6)  Ski the Swiss Alps without injury  – 2 teeth and 20 stitches is enough for one lifetime

7)  Oktoberfest - We're already practicing

8)  Exploit last minute Easyjet and train ticket deals to explore hidden jewels off the beaten path.

9) Embark on a grand Swiss adventure complete with backpacking through the Alps, riding gondolas, befriending goat herders, sampling freshly made cheese, sleeping in huts on beds of straw, & staying up to all hours of the night around a campfire with locals.  Clarke – I’m saving this for you; get pumped! 

And last but certainly not least

10) Discover something brilliant, help the company, write a thesis, and get several eminent MIT professors to sign off on it enabling me to graduate in June 2011.

Basel at last

Wilkomen to my new life as a European dweller!

After a few months of visa and housing woes, I moved to Basel, Switzerland in the beginning of June to work for Novartis Biologics.  Along the way, I repeatedly received help, often unsolicited, from moving boxes (Nimisha if portfolio management doesn’t pan out, I see a bright future for you as a mover) to multiple airport drop-offs (thanks Avi!) further deepening my appreciation for how wonderful my friends and family are.

Basel is beautiful and an extremely international city.  Of the six co-workers in my immediate department, they number French, German, Swiss, Guatemalan, and South Africa.   The picture below shows the Rhine winding through the city.

I`m settling into both Basel and my new job and am already fully appreciating Swiss lifestyle.  The sun not setting until 10PM coupled with a max allowable work week of 40 hours leaves you ample time in the evenings for a relaxed dinner, long walk, and a beer or three.  The Swiss version of happy hour is beers or wine by the Rhine while watching the sun set over the mountains – it’s a rough life!  My second favorite Swiss custom to date is having a ‘proper’ lunch.  Around noon, every employee goes to the canteen for a sit-down meal more similar to an American dinner with a meat, vegetables, & starch.  Afterwards, most people retire to the cafe floor of the canteen for coffee or tea and a desert.  When I asked if people ever brought lunch or grabbed a sandwich to eat at their desk while working, my co-workers nicely laughed about those crazy Americans. 

People seem to be pretty friendly and accommodating of my abysmal command of the German language.  I live in company provided housing which is awesome.  The first day here I went shopping for a few necessities and ended up chatting with some guy who helped me pick out a hair dryer and carry groceries.  The hilarious part occurred when we went for coffee afterwards as he spoke Italian, French, & a smidge of German and I speak English, Spanish, & a smidge of German.  We made it through with a Spanish/Italian combo and lots of charades and gestures.  It should have been a scene from a romantic comedy ;)

Until next time

Emily