Here are some tips to stay connected with the outside world while staying home.
Buy online and local
As local businesses face tough times during the lockdown, you can support them by buying online on letzshop.lu. Letzshop.lu is an e-commerce platform launched in September 2018 by “Luxembourg for Shopping”, an economic interest grouping sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, the Chamber of Commerce, the Luxembourg Trade Confederation and 17 municipalities. This one-stop site gives you the opportunity to try local goods: from books to beverages including software, electronic devices, furniture, toys and games, clothing and accessories, tools and construction materials. In total, some 275 shops are selling over 300,000 items, plenty of them being Made in Luxembourg labelled. The site offers regular sales and promotions, not to mention a lot of information on the businesses and the people behind them.
Last week, Letzhop.lu set up a site to enable vulnerable people (aged 65 or over, suffering from respiratory diseases, etc.) having essential products delivered to them.
Many restaurants and food and grocery businesses are offering takeaway and delivery services. You can find a selection of them listed by Delano here. To allow food professionals to continue to keep their kitchen open, Foostix, a Luxembourg-based online meal ordering service available in four languages (including English), decided not to charge any commission on orders for new restaurants joining the platform and to offer additional discounts and loyalty points to all their customers during the lockdown period.
(Re)Discover the joy of cooking
Why not cook for and with your kids during the extended coronavirus school closures? It is a rare moment to teach your children to cook. If you don’t know how to make cooking fun with your children, you can download cooking apps for kids against a few euros. Take advantage of the lockdown period to try new recipes. A lot of free cooking apps are available online. Another option is using the services of online meal-kit providers such as HelloFresh. This international company, based in Berlin (Germany), operates in Luxembourg. The principle is simple: you choose your recipe box (Vegetarian, Classic, Rapid or Family) and you receive the recipes and the pre-measured ingredients safety to your door. To encourage you to become a customer, HelloFresh has halved its fees during the lockdown period.
Keep fit and spirits up while staying at home
If you are a sports addict (or try to be), you can train at home. There are a lot of YouTube videos showing fitness exercises without equipment. In addition, most of the fitness clubs in Luxembourg share - sometimes in English - on their Facebook page motivation quotes, interesting blog articles and exercises to do at home. Some of them have an application which offers to their subscribers a lot of training programs and exercises to follow outside the gym. Some sports coaches give webcam classes. You can find some of them on superprof.lu, an online platform that connects certified private tutors and learners for face-to-face or online lessons. Superprof.lu might also be helpful for your children if they have problems with some school subjects. By taking online lessons, they spend their time efficiently and will undoubtedly improve their performance when returning to school.
Take virtual tours through various art destinations
A safe alternative to attending exhibitions physically is the virtual museum exploration. Google Arts & Culture, a Google project launched nearly a decade ago, has partnered with more than 500 global art museums and galleries to give the public access to some of the world’s most preeminent art collections. You can virtually walk through the world-famous art destinations such as the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington and the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City. The technology developed is the same used for the impressive Street View feature in Google Maps. Not every location features a virtual tour, but all provide high-resolution images with details excerpts surrounding a plethora of pieces.
At the country level, the best immersive and interactive experience is the 3D tour of the National Museum of History and Arts (MNHA).
Enjoy your self-isolation and stay safe!
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