My Trip to Luxembourg

I had such high hopes for staying on top of blogging this time around…yet here we are, over a month since my last post. What can I say? I’m busy and also lazy. Anyways, guess I’ll get started....

Ever heard of Luxembourg? I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t. It’s a tiny little country situated between Belgium, France, and Germany. Its land mass is about the same size as Rhode Island and the population is similar to Tucson. The country was never on my bucket list, but I suggest that you add it to yours now! It was a three-day weekend (Sept 2-4) that I didn’t want to waste, I found cheap train tickets and a cheap hotel, so I figured, why not go to Luxembourg? With one train and a bus, it’s about a two and half hour journey to Luxembourg and the scenery is rolling green hills the whole way.

I got to Luxembourg City on Saturday around noon, checked into my hotel, and went to explore. I was struck by just how pretty the city is. The city center and old town are situated on this outcrop of rock that rises between two river valleys on either side. The valleys are filled with either beautiful parklands or cute colorful houses and a river runs through each. I had to cross a bridge going over the valley to get to the city center and do my exploring each day. You’ll see a ton of pictures if you head over to my Facebook.

On Saturday I wandered until I came to the first thing I wanted to visit: The Notre-Dame Cathedral. The church has the prettiest church bells I’ve ever heard. I just sat and listened to them several times. I also saw some WWII memorials, the National Museum of History and Art (MNHA), the Grand Ducal, and a statue of a past Grand Duchess: Charlotte. I spent several hours in the MNHA. For one, it was raining and I had neither rain jacket nor umbrella, so the shelter was convenient. And for two, the museum was huge! I was lucky that half of it was not in English or I would have been there all day.

I got up nice and early Sunday morning for optimal touristing time. The city was dead. You could tell they take their day of rest seriously. Everything was still closed and the only people I saw were also tourist. First stop: the bock casemates. That is a series of tunnels and passages built in a cliff and underneath what was the original fortress of Luxembourg City. What remains above ground is mostly ruins, but the casemates below are largely intact. From the openings in the casemates, you can look from the cliff sides to the surrounding areas of Luxembourg. After spending a couple of hours there I headed off to find another old fortification that had turned into a museum: Musée Dräi Eechelen. Google maps took me up some path through the forest to get to the museum. I was following a girl who had been at the casemates the same time as me, so I knew I wasn't just wandering into a completely random forest, but it still seemed rather strange. I found a different way back afterward. I stopped by Saint Michaels Church, the oldest church in Luxembourg City, on my way back into the city center, then I had tea and cake at an adorably cluttered little café. That afternoon I wandered around the parks in the valley by river Pétrusse and got a good view of Adolphe Bridge.

I was set to leave Monday afternoon, but I got to use the morning for one last visit to the city center. Some sort of outdoor festival/sale was going on. A good majority of the stores had set up tables or displays outside their stores with good sales. There were food vendors out selling waffles, crepes, nuts, and more. A few local craftsmen were around selling their work. It was a pretty lively event and I was glad I was there that day to see it.

I headed back Monday afternoon and begin preparing myself for the first day of school!

P.S. Maybe waiting so long to post is a good thing; I managed to be more concise this time!