SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Welcome to Back to Luxembourg, a podcast by American Luxembourgers about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its people. From the Moselle to the Mississippi. I'm Matthew Foster.

SPEAKER_04: 0:13

And I'm Rebecca Seymour. And on this episode, we have a report from Luxembourg and the enthronement of Grand Duke Guillaume V.

SPEAKER_00: 0:23

Then we'll trade notes on souvenirs. What do we always bring back to Minnesota when we've been to Luxembourg? And what new items did we haul back this time? So come along with us as we go Tsek of Letzabush. Back to Luxembourg. So Rebecca. So we're releasing this on October 28, not October 15, like I said we would.

SPEAKER_04: 0:45

Yeah, that's okay. Travel life. It's busy.

SPEAKER_00: 0:48

Yeah, travel, travel life. Yeah. So because after going to Luxembourg, that I went to Strasbourg and then Paris. And I'm not sure if my partner Mark got us sick or if I got us sick, but we yeah, we spent. But I did find out that it really does like reduce lung capacity really does help Mark relax. Like he just when he's just slightly suffocated.

SPEAKER_05: 1:11

Okay. Well, that's good to know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:13

Helps just kind of wind down a little bit.

SPEAKER_05: 1:16

Now you know for the future.

SPEAKER_00: 1:18

It's just like, oh, okay. When we were in Luxembourg, so it was on Sunday. So it was Sunday the fourth. No, fifth. Yep. Yeah. So on Sunday the fifth, we got together with your cousin Jenny. Yep. At my hotel room in Luxembourg City, and we just kind of talked about our experience. So we can play that now for people. Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 1:39

Enjoy. We are here at Luxembourg City. Amazing. Your cousin Jenny. So say hi, Jenny. Say hi, Jenny. Hello, everyone. I'm Jenny. Who's also a Luxembourger. Yes. Exactly. From Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_03: 1:54

Yes, I'm a cheesehead. She's a cheesehead. Go Petco.

SPEAKER_04: 1:57

You're in the area that where the OG Luxemburgers all ended up.

SPEAKER_03: 2:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 2:02

Central Wisconsin, Central, Western or Eastern Wisconsin. Yeah, no, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 2:08

Uh but the three of us were here along with several other people from Minnesota. So your sister, my sister, her family, and the Minneapolis crew. We all met up and so we went to the ceremonial stuff on Friday. The thing that I really loved about the stuff on Friday is that we all ended up getting really good seats in all of the different spots around town.

SPEAKER_04: 2:29

And it's true. And seemingly like just by luck. You know what I mean? There wasn't a coordination or plan or whatever. It was like, okay, and then you ended up at Placeon Duke.

SPEAKER_01: 2:38

Yeah, right. Just right in front of City Hall, where everybody ended up after the Bell Meet. I ended up in the front row. Right.

SPEAKER_04: 2:45

I did. And it was a total combination of luck, misunderstanding, right place, right time. There were all these barricades, right? So you have the palace and the roads around it, but the barricades up. My sister texted that Jenny and her were on the other side in front of the palace, waiting after the abdication ceremony. Then they come out, kind of greet the public, then there's the balcony. But I couldn't get there. And I ended up walking around like seven blocks. And then I'm at a barricade and I can see the other side where they are. And then I somehow say to the police officer in my not good French, like, there is my sister and my family, and I'm trying to get there. I don't know what to do. And he's like, Okay, I'll help. And opens up the barricade. Someone on the other side opens up the barricade and it's the RTL news people. And I somehow got shuffled up to the very front of like the news tent. So now you're the new weather girl. I am, right? I was like, what is happening? Oh my God. But the best part for me was I was standing next to like 10 15-year-old fangirls that were having the best time of their life. So I'm right at the very front, 10, 15 feet away from the Duke, from Guillaume, from Stephanie, from all of them. Yeah. Right there. And the fangirls next to me are like screaming. They're like, oh yeah, yum. And like crying. And the news is right there. And they're like laughing at it. And then like trying to interview. They asked me. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I don't speak Luxembourgish. And they're like, oh, I like no that it because they thought I was with them. Right. And so then they're interviewing them. And then it just even got better because then when they got up to the balcony for you know the whole family on the balcony, they opened up the barricade, people rushing in. Young fangirls and everything rushing in. Yeah. But I had no choice because I was right in the front, surrounded by them. So they opened that up. They rushed. I'm not gonna, I'm I'm gonna rush up to the front. So then I somehow end up in the front under the balcony. My favorite I showed our Luxembourgish family over and over is little Charlot covering his ears. Because it was so loud.

SPEAKER_01: 5:03

Right. That was basically the moment that made the international.

SPEAKER_04: 5:07

I saw that in every I have so many great pictures and videos of that of just him like, it was too loud, and like the parents laughing. And it felt very like like a very human moment. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03: 5:21

And I want to say, speaking of all the crowds, I want to give a shout out to the Luxembourg Police Department. Absolutely. The police here were outstanding. They were so helpful, they were so friendly, and they're all seem to be incredibly good looking.

SPEAKER_00: 5:37

Yes, yes, I haven't been.

SPEAKER_01: 5:40

I just I just been scared because I have noticed that multiple in this town before, where it was just sort of like, why are the cops so hot?

SPEAKER_03: 5:48

They're so hot.

SPEAKER_01: 5:49

Every single one of them. I don't think that they recruit the police. I think they hold auditions. Yeah, I mean, seriously, right? But I mean, wait pharmaceutical grain hot.

SPEAKER_04: 6:02

Yes. Yeah. Yes. Like I said, when I asked that police officer, like, and I'm trying, like, I am like intimidated because it's weird to be like, you have that moment of just like, I don't know what I'm doing. But also, like, this is a very attractive person that I'm trying to ask for help. And it's like, yeah, that is an extra level of intimidation. Not because you're carrying necessarily, but I will say I did have a little bit of because where I was in the very front, it was super interesting because right before Guillaume and Stephanie came out for the walk, there was suddenly like five or six men in suits walking right by and doing the slow walk and look at everyone's face. Oh, sure. And then whatever. And I'm like, oh, security. Right? There's so much activity. Like, this is the busiest I've ever seen Luxembourg City, like not even close.

SPEAKER_01: 6:57

Right, because we were in like enormous crowds, you know, you at the the palace and me at Platz Kond. And then the party last night on Saturday.

SPEAKER_04: 7:07

And that Jenny and I couldn't even get in. No, because we were kind of taking our time to get there, and we got, I don't know what time we got there.

SPEAKER_03: 7:14

We got there at nine. Nine. We couldn't even get in.

SPEAKER_01: 7:16

And we couldn't get in. This morning I had breakfast with a Luxembourger friend, and yeah, and she she said that on the news that they were reporting that it I believe that it was likely the single largest gathering in the history of the country. Wow. Wow. There was a Rolling Stones concert that might have been bigger. That is amazing. But that this was the single largest.

SPEAKER_04: 7:39

I think too, that speaking of big event in the news, we had actually our Luxembourgish cousin messaged us saying, I think you're on the news.

SPEAKER_03: 7:49

And we were, he took a screenshot from our team.

SPEAKER_04: 7:53

They were watching the news and everything and saw the crowd. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:58

No, because Elaine got a text message from her husband back in uh Belgium. So he was, as he was working, he was watching the festivities just out of curiosity, I think. Yeah. And and uh he sent like a screenshot of the Reuters live feed, and he said, I think I see a metchew. And she ran off. I love it. So I was on the Reuters live feed. Because I was right in front. So like as you know, they that they would they they were walking past, you know, like Xavier Bartel, the former prime minister, the deputy prime minister, yeah, and and Luc Frieden, the Prime Minister, the King of the Netherlands, the king of the Belgians, and yeah, just you know, the whole Grand Ducal family like they brought by. I like I didn't have a great angle for photos in Helene, yeah. But it was, but like with Helene, I you know, like as uh King Philippe of Belgium goes by and she just turned to me, she was like, I've never been this close to my kid.

SPEAKER_04: 8:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 8:57

She she was like, Apparently I have to come to Luxembourg.

SPEAKER_04: 9:00

But I honestly thought about that, how accessible it was, how close relatively you were like it really felt like, especially for me, because you know, that was my time being so close was Friday. Yeah, it felt like, oh my God, I can't believe I'm right here. It's something we don't want to experience anymore. Someone is yelling your name or whatever, and like he was responding. Like Guillaume is responding to the fangirls. Yes. Or like once they got on the balcony, you know, then we all rushed up, and one of the girls yelled, Maria Careza, and like was waving. And Maria Teresa looked down and went, hola, like right at her. And I was like, Oh my god, that's incredible. But that's just like something you would never experience.

SPEAKER_01: 9:42

Right, right. And the the one of the things that I also really loved about Friday, uh, not just seeing like King Willem from uh King Philippe, their crowns at some point will be turned over to their eldest daughters. Yeah, and that both of them were were in town and they were stunning. Yeah, they were gorgeous, incredible. Like not every royal family from Europe was represented, like the Danish royal family right there, Norwegian, Swedish, etc. Yeah, Danish. And that that was rather intentional. It was meant to show Benelux unity, yeah, and that the torch has been passed now with Yome, and as people in Benelux, we are united and that we are moving forward together as as one kind of team. Because the the histories of the countries are so interlinked. And even though that you know, Luxembourg has a lot in common culturally with Germany, it's its future, its economy, its politics, everything has been much more oriented toward France and Belgium and that's the world.

SPEAKER_04: 10:46

Yes, but not just in Orlando that way, right? I mean, the ro the family itself, right? I mean, Stephanie's Belgian, the Grand Ducal family originally like kind of it's a connection to the the Dutch royal family. Yes, it is a very complicated history.

SPEAKER_01: 11:01

We will tackle that another. Yes, we will. The Netherlands and Luxembourg were for a very long time, were in what is called personal union, which meant that they shared a monarch, but did not share a government. Yes. And however, Luxembourg was ruled as basically just a faraway province of the Netherlands. Sure. Anyway, yeah, there was a lot of drama. It's a really interesting story, but now's not the time.

SPEAKER_04: 11:25

Now's not the time, but just to say it's very podcast for a different time. Yes, very interesting. The connection, right, between those three countries. Yeah, no, it's so interlinked.

SPEAKER_01: 11:34

Anyway, so that was yeah, so Friday was really incredible. So got to see all things people just with their rich people's skin. Yes, yes, rich people's clothes.

SPEAKER_04: 11:43

And I cannot get over, I think I said we talked about this, where I'm like those women and their heels all over the cobblestones. All over the cobblestones all day, all night. I thought about that with the gala. So obviously, we could not go to the gala, but we're watching the, you know, and Amelia Macron was there, you know, it's the whole thing, the walking in, but same cobblestones, they're wearing those same heels. And I'm like, oh my god, that's gotta be 18 hours for three days in a row. Absolutely. I don't know how you're doing it. No, I mean calves of steel, right?

SPEAKER_01: 12:19

You know, and like do you train for that? And the and the curtsies at the princesses, yes, like this this lunge. Yes. Holy crap! Like your calves, your ass must just be like euro coins.

SPEAKER_03: 12:37

Right, absolutely. Like good work. I mean, it isn't thinking about do train six months before, like little by little building the strength.

SPEAKER_01: 12:43

I mean, must. I mean, it's a talk about one of the weirdest jobs in the world. Like, what is your job? Well, to look good, yeah. Right to look engaged. Yes. Looked like everybody was having a really good time. And it looked like Guillaume was genuinely having a good time.

SPEAKER_03: 12:58

We did look like he was having and I will say that the overall vibe of the whole day, everyone I encountered, the crowds, the how the royals were acting, everyone was completely joyful and celebratory. Absolutely. It was such an amazing atmosphere to be in and experience the country that way because it just felt completely unified, completely celebratory, completely joyful. Everyone was happy.

SPEAKER_04: 13:24

And I will say too, I was very surprised because so the next day, Saturday, when I took a web taxi out of the city to meet my Luxemburgers family for for lunch. And the driver, I'm like talking to him about the experience, and he was like, I couldn't go because of, you know, I had to work, but I'm bringing my daughters to the concert tonight. He was all excited about it, and then I'm showing him pictures, and because I was so close, I have these really amazing pictures. And he was like, Oh my god, this is incredible. Just this, but like happy, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01: 13:54

This that it just yeah, no, because I think that it took everybody by surprise and like how proud they all were.

SPEAKER_04: 14:03

I mean, I really get that feeling, yes, and um and human, yes, very human, very human, and and like I mentioned about the you know, the the older boy Charles. I mean, he's probably what four or five covering his ears. But it was that was funny to me where Guillaume's laughing, yes, like and then trying like there's I have a video of them like trying to take his hands down, be like, you know, we're trying to take a picture, don't, and he's like, no, and then they're just like whatever, fuck it, you know, and they're laughing, but it's a very human moment, right?

SPEAKER_03: 14:32

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 14:33

Because looking at them is just like that, they don't look particularly aristocratic or like they look like just like a happy young family. Yes. And the time on Friday where I really kind of got like goosebumps, where it was when the mayor of Luxembourg City, whose name I forget, but she was giving her speech, and like and she ended it where she said, you know, like vite grandgu, you know, long with the grand du vive grand duches, and long with the grand duchess, vive de borsche, long live Luxembourg, and vive Oivolda, and long live the era, yeah. And it was just like, yeah, I get behind that. Absolutely. And just in and then at the concert on Saturday about how like the whole thing was very multilingual, and that my god, it was I think it was Philip Crawford, who is so he's a Luxembourger, but he's very, very famous. Like there's these YouTube videos of him filing this, he's a TV reporter, and there's these YouTube videos of him filing the same story in six different languages, uh just over and over again. And he speaks English, German, Luxembourgish, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Oh wow. And which makes him a great choice to MC an event and Luxembourg. Yes, absolutely. And when he said things in Portuguese, because there's a huge Portuguese speaking community here, and there are more Portuguese Luxembourgers than there are American Luxembourgers. The fact like I heard like there were tears coming up against me to speaking in Portuguese. Yeah. And that, and even uh Guillaume, when you know, like when he's when he spoke that he addressed the crowd in Luxembourgish and then in French and then in English, English, yeah. But it was very, very much about like you know, and and to the people who live here, yes, who are not Luxembourgers, but who are part of our community. Yes. Thank you for coming to the summer.

SPEAKER_04: 16:26

And you know, and I will say because we couldn't get into the the concert because it was just so hacked. So when we got there, I couldn't get in. So then we're on the perimeter. And that it was like he was just finishing the speech, uh, I think in French. Yes. When we're we're watching it. And then I didn't expect that he would give the speak in English, the speech in English, right? I'm like, well, it'd probably be Luxembourgish French, German, whatever. And then he's speaking in German, and I was just or in English, sorry, and I'm like, this is incredible. Like, I have not seen someone speak this way where they're just like, I love that this, you know, we're all here together. It's this unity, we're all different, like doesn't matter. Right. You're here, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 17:08

Because he he had said that uh in the he well, he said it in French, but about like tonight we're going to celebrate Luxembourg through music, and we're going to celebrate the with music that expresses Luxembourg's identity that is open and creative and diverse.

SPEAKER_04: 17:26

Which makes a lot of sense because like we were talking about how the music went from opera to death metal to pop, like they're just all over. But it totally did. And I was like, well, this works because it's all part of this.

SPEAKER_01: 17:40

Right. And it was so seamless, like from a technical standpoint. I mean, as a somebody who's spent a lot of time in theater, and my you know, my partners in theater and stuff like that, where it's just like I could not believe how tight that show was. Right. So, like the cops, you know, like so frankly, so good at their jobs, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Same with the technicians in Luxembourg. Holy cow, if you want to do a complicated show under cruddy weather conditions, but I was gonna say the must have that.

SPEAKER_04: 18:08

I mean, the weather was like less than ideal. And I think the wind, obviously, we're in Luxembourg, it rains a lot, but the wind and all of that was not expected.

SPEAKER_01: 18:17

So and they did a terrific job. So kudos to the city of Luxembourg, kudos to everyone on the committee that must have like organized this because it was it was a hell of a party. It really was. Yeah, that was the other thing too, is that I did talk to at the all English Anister bookstore. So there was a uh a brand new book, Luxembourg's History. It is a comic book. Okay, uh, but it was published in Luxembourgish, French, and English. I got three copies of the English because there are no good histories. Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 18:50

Oh, that's fantastic. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01: 18:52

Yeah, and so I got I got three copies of it. And I was talking to her about this woman at Amster Books, and I was like, Oh thank god that there's this, and she was like, Yes, but she was like, I've been saying to my bosses every single day for five years. Like, you know, like people come in every day looking for a history in English and there's just not one. And she said, I'd really glad that they published this. And she said, but why are you buying so many copies? And I said, Well, you know, because in Minnesota and I, you know, was kind of explaining it, and and and then I said, and there's like eight of us here, yeah, like who came over and she was like specifically for this, and I was like, Yeah, and she like and she was actually really touched by that. That's amazing. And she was like, No, that's and she was like, That's that's terrific. Yeah, your laws are kind enough to make us part of the country, right? So when something is happening in the country of this level of importance, it felt really important for us to be here for it to celebrate with our Luxembourgish compatriots.

SPEAKER_04: 19:54

Yes, and it also feels like a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Like I very much appreciate that there's the abdication tradition, and it's not just like they're the monarch until they're until they're dad's old and dead or whatever, you know. But realistically, like it's probably good. I mean, so Guillaume's oldest Charles five. So realistically, it's gonna be a long time.

SPEAKER_01: 20:16

Yeah, I mean, uh yeah, I mean, there's a damn good chance that I won't be here. I I do not take care of myself. I know the feeling.

SPEAKER_05: 20:29

I'm like, well, like how long have we no?

SPEAKER_04: 20:32

It's just like if this was on my bucket list, yeah, now's the time. Now is the time. Yep. And that was a hundred percent like the decision to be here. It's like, well, when am I ever gonna have this again?

SPEAKER_01: 20:42

I do not regret a second, and I do not regret a penny spent on coming here. It was terrific.

SPEAKER_04: 20:48

Yeah, I agree. No, really, and really warmed my heart, you know, and made me feel like connected in a way I didn't realize that I was missing.

SPEAKER_03: 20:57

I felt the same thing. I felt very connected to Luxembourg in a way that I haven't felt before. This is my fifth time here. Yeah, I have family who lives here, yeah, but this was another level. Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_01: 21:09

No, I agree to that. Yeah, I was very proud to be a Luxembourg.

SPEAKER_00: 21:19

Okay, so Rebecca, now we're back in the present. And let's talk about souvenirs. So perfect. Uh, because like we didn't really trade notes too much on what we were buying when we were there, even though I know that both of us did a little bit of shopping, not not a huge amount, but not as much as I normally would.

SPEAKER_04: 21:39

I would say just had a lot more activities and things, but yes, always have to make time to at least get something.

SPEAKER_00: 21:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 21:46

What are your favorite? What are your go-to's? Like you're like, I have to get this when I'm in Luxembourg.

SPEAKER_00: 21:50

Well, so and that's the thing is that the things that I normally buy, I didn't actually buy this time because it's like it's often cremant and mustard and kind of consumables like that. Like those are always fun to kind of bring back.

SPEAKER_04: 22:02

And those are also usually my go-tos.

SPEAKER_00: 22:04

Yeah, yeah. And I didn't bring any of that back this time, which which is actually a little disappointing in retrospect. Like it would be kind of nice to have a bottle of cremont instead of like the sparkling wine from Kirkland.

SPEAKER_04: 22:18

I have I have one bottle of cremont that I brought home this time. So normally I'll try to get a bottle or two to bring home. That was my intention. They had the the branded, like the Trone Weisel branding on Cremont. And I saw it around, but I couldn't find it anywhere I looked. And I asked someone about it, and they're like, they probably all are sold out, you know, because it was very busy there. I did pick one up in duty free at the airport. So and I have not decided when I'm going to drink it. It's like sitting on my kitchen table, like for later. I don't know when.

SPEAKER_00: 22:54

For sometime later, yeah, later. I don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 22:57

Celebrate something? I don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 22:59

So well, yeah. No, that's that's good. Yeah, it's because I did get some tonvisel specific merchandise. So I got a few buttons, nice, like little one-inch buttons that are kind of cool. And I got a Tonvisel coloring book. I love that. I love that. Full things. Just kind of it was just completely odd. Like I just saw it in the bookstore and I'm like, well, I guess I'm getting one of these. I have no idea why, but I'm getting one of these. But I think my favorite thing was actually something I didn't buy. That it was so when I was standing in like by City Hall, so like as we discussed in the last segment when I was at City Hall, one of the event organizers came up and he was giving out flags, like both the uh tri-color flag, the red, white, and blue flag, and then also flags with Guillaume's monogram. So it's like the two G's that are interlocked. Yeah. And so they those weren't for sale anywhere. And I love to get some. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 23:57

So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 23:58

And I yeah, and I think that your brother-in-law was like, well, I want tiny flags too.

SPEAKER_04: 24:03

He was. He was very jealous. They were very cool though. I like I love that. That's a great souvenir because it's like it just it marks the specific occasion. Yeah. You know what I mean? But it's also Luxembourg and it also doesn't take up a huge amount of space. So you know, it's a perfect.

SPEAKER_00: 24:20

Yeah, they were paper, so they did get a little creased in the luggage because that's just how it works.

SPEAKER_04: 24:26

I was pleasantly surprised because I bought some chocolates that were commemorative of the Trone Visel, right? And that was another where I was like, I'm not gonna open these until like a special occasion, but that didn't happen.

SPEAKER_05: 24:40

I opened them like a few days after I got home. It's Wednesday.

SPEAKER_04: 24:44

Wednesday's a special occasion.

SPEAKER_05: 24:45

Exactly. It was like it was a stressful day.

SPEAKER_04: 24:47

A piece of chocolate sounds amazing, right? But there they have on the top of the chocolates the monogram. The outside of the box is like decorated, right? Does have the monogram on it, says it's specifically commemorative of the trone beastle, but I didn't expect that the chocolate themselves would have that.

SPEAKER_00: 25:04

Yeah, I uh I was kind of expecting there to be more stuff, but I think that like what you had run into is that there was more merchandise, but that we had simply arrived a little too late to buy it.

SPEAKER_04: 25:15

Yeah. So the person I talked to had said that like so I was looking for there. There were these like hydroflask water bottles. Yeah, yeah, that had the the symbol on it and everything. And I asked someone at one of the stores about it, and she was like, Yeah, I think those all sold out like Monday before we even got there.

SPEAKER_00: 25:33

So another thing that I usually get, and I didn't get this time, and I actually and I'm kind of kicking myself about it, is honestkup. So like the honey liqueur. Yeah, like it's basically impossible to find or even an analog, really. I've never really run across anything. Because I really wanted to make like Christmas cocktails with honeychtrapp.

SPEAKER_04: 25:53

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 25:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 25:55

I I don't think I've ever told you this story. So I one time, are you familiar with the Cure Royale, which is creme de cassis and cremat, right?

SPEAKER_00: 26:03

We are very good friends.

SPEAKER_04: 26:04

Yes. Delicious drink. And my first time, well, not technically my first time, but my first time spending time in Luxembourg. And I met my Luxembourgish cousins and we're out to eat, and I'm talking, like, I think maybe I'd ordered that to drink. And we were talking about they're like, no, there we make creme de cassis here, right? And it's out of, is it Buford Castle? I don't know. It's out of there's one that's like out of a castle that's made it. They make it, it's like branded like a castle.

SPEAKER_00: 26:31

You know, one second.

SPEAKER_04: 26:33

Do you have it? Because I I went on a mission to find it.

SPEAKER_00: 26:40

I is that yes.

SPEAKER_04: 26:42

I have a big bottle of this that I bought, and this is exactly it. So I'm not does it say what castle? It is, it's Beefworth Castle.

SPEAKER_00: 26:52

Okay. So yeah, that's just been sitting on my shelf.

SPEAKER_04: 26:55

That's so funny. I went on a mission to find this, and I went to so many different stores, and everyone was like, No, we don't have that. Like, or you have to go to this place for it or whatever. And then I ended up finding it, I'm pretty sure, at I think it was at a cactus market out by Viandon.

SPEAKER_00: 27:16

Okay. Yeah. Cause you can get some pretty good stuff. Like because I always try to buy like the cremant and the mustard and everything like that. Basically, grocery stores are basically souvenir shops in my world. I agree.

SPEAKER_04: 27:29

I always and I almost always get chocolate.

SPEAKER_00: 27:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 27:33

And the cremat. And then I can do that at the grocery store, and there's still like there's great chocolate. You know what I mean? Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00: 27:39

Yeah. So the casero, so that's the the the cassis liqueur. I have not opened that. And so maybe we'll have to. I would say it's good.

SPEAKER_04: 27:49

It's very sweet. I mean, I know creme de cassis is sweet.

SPEAKER_00: 27:52

Yeah, the Honig Strap was also like that was like, it really needs something else. Yep. It's a little, it's a little too, it's a little too candied. Yep.

SPEAKER_04: 28:02

I think if you mix this with like, I mean, crema usually is drier, not, you know, it's not a sweet. But if you tried to mix it with anything verging on sweet, it might be too sweet.

SPEAKER_00: 28:12

Yeah, agreed. And I bet this would also be good with whiskey. Okay, now we're just okay. Um, so that was, yeah. So that was that. Oh, but speaking of food, I was also, I did get a gift. Have to take a look at it from Luxembourgish friend. And so it's honey from Schloss Bierge. So from the Grand Ducal Estate. Oh, cool. And so it's it's kind of royal, royal honey.

SPEAKER_04: 28:42

And that is some of the chocolates that I bought have this honey in it.

SPEAKER_00: 28:46

Oh. Well, look at that. Yeah. Yeah. So so I thought I was very excited about this. Yeah. So it's from Konsdorf. And then more food. But after our little journey comparing the Luxembourgish and Dakota kind of Kugen styles, I did I did get this. It's Quetzakout. So it is Quetz jam. Oh. So that very specific plum that is kind of hard to find in the United States. Yes. But that Luxemburgers eat all the time. So I have some jam of that now. So I can make us a I can make us a proper Luxembourgish plum dessert.

SPEAKER_04: 29:26

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 29:27

Sometime. Yeah. So I did bring those back. And then and then I and I got that at the Luxembourg Shop, which is like the theme store like near the palace.

SPEAKER_04: 29:38

Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00: 29:40

Yeah. So which is a really great store that has a lot of like good artisan products. Because like one of the things that is so frustrating about buying souvenirs in Luxembourg is that most of them are awful. Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 29:52

Yes. Yes. There are little like the kiosk, they call them, you know, little store, whatever, that just It's littered with souvenirs and like their cookie cutter, like literally just mass produced and then slap on a different name or picture.

SPEAKER_00: 30:09

And yeah, because I've even seen like designs and stuff on the t-shirts or magnets or whatever, and then seeing them again on like Adobe Stock illustrations. Like yeah, anybody can just buy it for four bucks or whatever it is and just reproduce it as much as you want to.

SPEAKER_04: 30:25

I will say I bought, and we'll see, because my sister has it, I have to get it from her, but it seems like decent quality. I bought a scarf at one of those kiosks.

SPEAKER_00: 30:33

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04: 30:33

And it's like kind of black, white, red, and it has the red lion on it and says Luxembourg.

SPEAKER_00: 30:39

Okay, that sounds promising.

SPEAKER_04: 30:41

Okay, this seems cool.

SPEAKER_00: 30:42

Yeah, yeah. Well, because I noticed like if you go to the Luxembourg shop, so I would definitely recommend like if you're in Luxembourg City and looking for really cool gift, like that is definitely the place to go. And so, in addition to like a couple of other items, like some buttons and things like that, but my favorite thing that I got this time was a uh the official, you know, like the Luxembourg X, where they have well, I'll put a scan of this up on the website so people can follow along with it. So if you haven't seen it, that Luxembourg has this like very specific logo that is like an X that is in the national colors, so it's you know blue and blue and red. And so if you have that that big like Luxembourg sign that a lot of people get their photo in front of the Philharmonie, that's the X that I'm talking about. So, but what they do is that they have all these different variants on it, and so one of them is a heart with a rainbow on it, and it says Leftos Left, which is Luxembourgish for love is love. I love that. And so, but this one's on a condom. And so, and I just thought that that was just too hysterical not to buy.

SPEAKER_05: 31:47

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 31:48

And again, sort of regretting that I didn't buy more of them for real. But yeah, yeah, so that was my yeah, yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_04: 31:55

It's just like some random but amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 31:57

Well, no, and I just like I love any country where it was just sort of like, yeah, it's just you know, yeah, we're promoting tourism. Yeah, what kind of tourism?

SPEAKER_05: 32:05

Exactly. What are you saying here? Okay, the fun, the fun tourism. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00: 32:11

And then the I guess the final thing that I got to, which we will not get into today, but because we will be talking about nonfiction books next week or next episode. But it's a book that was published on October 1, so just before the thing. And so that I have had several conversations with people who work at the Ernster bookstore, but the all-English bookstore in Luxembourg City. And how I'm like, do you have this copy? You know, like what do you have for history books in English of Luxembourg? And they're like, nothing. And the clerks and I always commiserate over this because they're because they're like every single day somebody comes in here looking for this book, and it just we don't have it. It's you know, all the good ones are out of print. But on October 1, this was published, and so it is called History of Luxembourg 963 to 2025, published by 360 cross media. And but it's a it's a comic book, actually. It's a like graphic, graphic novel of the entire history of Luxembourg, and it's super cool, sort of arranged by topic. So instead of that, you know, it has like a couple of pages of World War II and that's amazing, you know, European Union and the various grand dukes. So got three copies of those. Don't know why.

SPEAKER_04: 33:30

No, that's amazing. No, that's amazing because that's a good, especially if you were wanting to learn more, like you wanted a book about Luxembourgish history. A lot of books are historical books are very dry. Yeah. And this is like a good entry, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 33:46

Like, yeah, and honestly, it's like I haven't read, even though I mean it's not extremely long or anything like that, but that that it is very readable, it does not really talk down. So, like you kind of assume, oh, well, this would be for kids. And I don't think that it is. I mean, I think it would be suitable for kids too. Sure. But the other thing that I really liked about it is that in the introduction where they actually say our emphasis was getting on things historically accurate. Like we really wanted to tell this story accurately. Yeah. And then they had an like a little apology. They were like, Oh, but maybe all of the details on the clothes aren't quite right for the era. It's just like, okay, that's that's that's cute.

SPEAKER_04: 34:25

That's your big worry. Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 34:27

I know. It's just like, no, that button wouldn't have been there. Okay, this is what right. And so, but yeah, I haven't read the whole thing, but it's a really nicely done book. And so I'm glad that they published it. I'm glad that I got it. Yeah, me too. Yeah. So those were did you get anything else, or is that no we exhaust the list?

SPEAKER_04: 34:46

I think that's it. I'm trying to think, did I get anything else? No, I will say that I buy the and this is very time specific, is I've gone to the Christmas markets a few times.

SPEAKER_00: 34:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 34:57

And specifically, there's the the Christmas market at Place de Paris has like wine glasses with Luxembourg and then like the date etched on them.

SPEAKER_02: 35:10

Ooh.

SPEAKER_04: 35:11

And so I now have, I think I have a set of six like red wine glasses, and then I have four like frosted wine glasses.

SPEAKER_00: 35:17

Nice. So commemorative.

SPEAKER_04: 35:19

Yep. That's a good way to, you know, like it's like I'll use these and they're commemorative. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 35:24

So yeah. Back when I was married, that's what I did for the reception was everybody, everybody got a rock's glass.

SPEAKER_05: 35:30

Oh, nice. I like that.

SPEAKER_00: 35:31

With our initials and dates.

SPEAKER_05: 35:32

I like that.

SPEAKER_00: 35:33

And then we got divorced, and all my friends were like, can we still use the rocks glass? Because of course, yeah, duh.

SPEAKER_04: 35:40

Like, you better. That's what I would think anyway. I'd be like, Yeah. Right. Next time on Back to Luxembourg, we'll talk about the history of Luxembourg's flags. And you'll learn why Luxembourg has two flags, the tricolor and the red lion.

SPEAKER_00: 36:01

And we'll talk about our favorite nonfiction books about Luxembourg's history.

SPEAKER_04: 36:05

Look for that episode on Tuesday, November 11th, 2025. For more from Back to Luxembourg and to get in touch, visit our website at back2.lu.

SPEAKER_00: 36:17

And remember to subscribe through the podcast service of your choice. And if you like the episode, please write a review.

SPEAKER_04: 36:22

Thanks so much for listening. I'm Rebecca Seamers.

SPEAKER_00: 36:25

And I'm Matthew Foster. Until next time, Adiento, Fish Peta, and of course, E.