Luxembourg & European Court of Justice

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted here--since Luxembourg, I've also gone to the Hague and my crazy recent spring break adventures. I'm going to try to make a separate post for each location, so bare with me if they're a bit brief or slow in appearing. Oh, and my older brother visited, so there is LOTS to tell.

In other news, this month is when things get busy--papers, etc. So again, if this isn't updated regularly (1 post in March!? Sorry!) forgive me.

And finally, I'd like to let you know that ads are going to be appearing on this blog. In the next few days, they're going to switch to "content relevant," which means google scans my text and gives ads related to that--based on what I write about, I bet it will be about air fare, travel destinations, etc. I do get a kick-back from these ads per click, so if you have any interest in the ads they post--which may be useful to anyone who is abroad now, or is looking to be--go crazy.

Okay, so, to business:

Shamefully, Luxembourg was March 11-12, which is actually in the middle of the week. I am a big fan of the fact that our program gets us excused from classes to galavant around Europe. We didn't leave until about 4 pm, which means we got to Luxembourg in time to head to our hostel and then go out for dinner. Keep in mind in all these descriptions that we travel in a pack of at least 20, up to 60, 20-something Americans, in a double-decker bus. We took up the entire hostel, and in fact, they needed to get us more buses.

For those who are not up on their obscure European geography, Luxembourg is a tiny country (a Grand Duchy, meaning its ruled by a Grand Duke) next to Belgium--in fact, it's territory was originally part of the same land as Belgium. It has the highest per capita income in the world, which means Luxembourg City was chock full of Louis Vitton and Coach stores--in short, enough to make any poor college student sigh a little with jealousy.

I absolutely loved our time in Luxembourg. Our hostel was outside the capital city, in a tiny little village that fulfilled every stereotype I had of the European countryside. Dinner that night was at an Italian sort of restaurant--I had the pork, because I never get that here--and featured our program's signature bottomless wine bottle. The bottomless wine bottle is important to understanding why these trips are so much fun--we all drink good wine, for free, with no objections from our chaperones.

Think about any overnight trip your high school ever had, and their concerns about the bad things that could happen. Then imagine them all coming true--this was pretty much our hostel. Between the wine, and a few other bottles of (allowed!) alcohol in the hostel, and a number of students going to a bar, getting soaked in the pouring rain,and finding the bar closed, things were crazy. A few guys had no pants--their only pair had gotten soaked in the store and were left to dry in the dining room. There was an all girl's arm wrestling tournament. There was debauchery as far as the eye could see; I sat on the spiral staircase between floors with a few others, nursing the last of some Bacardi, and oversaw the whole thing like a strange sort of lifeguard. Drunk people are hilarious when you're not one of them.

The next day, though, was a bit more serious--it started with a visit to the European Court of Justice. I've learned recently that the EU has the Court of Justice for taking its own members to task--if a country isn't complying with a ruling, the European Parliament or even an individual from that country can sue the country--class actions cases will soon be available too. The trial is overseen by up to a dozen judges and is very formal, and very different from the American legal system. The case we saw was against France for not complying with restrictions on genetically modified food. France is a frequent flyer in the court, often needing to be tried and fined before they'll give in. The Czech Republic was also there, as they had a vested interest in the case.

The trial was available in several languages via headphones, with live translation, so if you got bored by the legalese, a quick foray to the Greek language channel could wake you up. The trial was dry, some of it was lost in translation, and we missed the briefing before hand, so it was hard to follow, but we had a good session with a British employee there afterwards explaining how the court works. The ECJ is one of my favorite components of the EU, as it makes countries accountable not only to the Union but also to their citizens.

After this, there was a walking tour of Luxembourg City, which is up there with Prague and Paris in my favorite cities. It was so beautiful, such a great blend of modern and historic. There's not too much to do there, but it seems like the perfect place to visit for a weekend and just relax.

Then we visited a castle in the Namur province of Belgium. By now, I've seen a fair few castles--this one was unique in that some nobility still live there today. The Namur area is also really beautiful, so it was time well spent. Dinner followed at a traditional restaurant there--we had apertifs, individual appetizers, shared appetizers, bread, wine, the main course, dessert and coffee--in short, a veritable feast! The food was amazing, and so was the company at my table.

I really enjoyed Luxembourg City, and our visit to the ECJ is just one more example of a cool experience I never would have had on my own. And it was already paid for! Good times.