the full day of lux

lux flags fly proudly.
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This morning started off earlier than my body wanted to. I had a restless sleep and awoke at 0830 this morning. Breakfast is included in the hostel price so I wanted to take advantage of it. Internet was free too but only if you had your own laptop for WiFi connection.

Today’s weather was on and off. When I first started out at around 0900 it was very hazy and damp from the morning dew. I immediately made my way to the Bock Casemates. Let’s Go described them as underground tunnels used for military fortification. Apparently many people have occupied these lands and the Luxembourg fortress/city grew with each occupation. “Casemates” comes from casamata which means killing house in Spanish. These tunnels were used to kill encroaching enemies.

the entrance to the youth hostel. It was very modern...apparently built recently.
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It was closed when I got there so I moved on looking for more places like the art museum and such. There were great views along the recommended Wenzel walk. The views looked down into the Alzette valley and the Petrusse valley. The city reminded me of Lucca because of the tall fortress walls surrounding the city center.

Everything as closed and I was really disappointed. But I soon realized they were closed because it was too early in the morning. I rarely ever have that problem! So I went back to the Bock casemates and hung out on the Rue Sigefroi near the “Hollow Tooth”, an old defense tower now in ruins and overgrown with plants.

this was atop another tower near the hollow tooth
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1000 rolled around so I headed into the tunnels. It was 1.80 euros to enter, very reasonable. The tunnels reminded me of the bunkers at Makapu’u cliffs or the water tunnels in Waihole where Dad and I once went. They were very damp and stuffy. There were man outlooks on either side of the tunnels and all provided great views of the Alzette (the Alzette river curved around this part of Luxembourg so it could be seen from either side of the tunnels).

At the Bock casemates I ran into Ing (spelling?), a Korean girl touring around. We explored together and had limited conversation since she knew little English and the only Korean words I know are foods!

The wenzel walk went through most of the town's important tourist attractions. It was very hilly and exhausting but the surroundings were peaceful and relaxing.
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The floor was wet and very slippery, I slipped a couple of times on the very narrow winding stairwells. It was neat to be inside. The casemates were to be demolished when Luxembourg became neutral but some of them are integrated into the city so 17 of the 23 original kilometers still exist.

Afterwards, I wanted to see the European Center. I started walking but it started to rain. These drops were huge! The biggest drops I have ever seen by far! It was hot so I welcomed the shower. I stayed under a train bridge for a while until I didn’t care about getting wet. I eventually realized that I went the wrong way and turned back. By then, the rain had stopped.

here's an outlook from the Bock Casemates
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I decided to make my way to the Petrusse Casemates, a different set of tunnels. When I got there a sign said that the next tour was at 1200 and it was 1115. I paid a quick visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral which was very pretty. It had an impressive stained-glass picture behind the main stage. Then I walked up the Rue Chinay which was busy with restaurants, cafes, stores, etc. I found the Place d’Armes where a band was playing good music from classical musicals to marching-band type songs. I watched them until 1200 came.

the casemates
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The entrance to the Petrusse casemates was 2 euros and it was guided. The girl impressively gave narrations in English and German. She could have done French too if anybody in our group needed it. I got the feeling that many people here are tri-lingual (French, German, and Letzebuergesch). It was a brief and good tour. I liked it better than the Bock casemates because I learned more about the casemates in general.

After the casemates, I went to grab a sandwich and ate in the busy streets of the city center. It was a normal salami sandwich from Schumacher as recommended by Let’s Go…not so hot.

notre dame cathedrale
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I made my way to the National Museum of History and Art. It was free for students so that was cool. The reception guy spoke four languages! These guys are amazing. The museum was eventless but I did like some of their art pieces. I can’t remember the artist, but it was a painting made by dots of color. I ran into Ing again and we agreed to meet for dinner since we were staying at the same hostel together.

Then I walked back and decided to try the European center again. Right nearby the history/art museum was a chocolaterie so I had to try a dark chocolate pouvrie. It was amazing and just melted in my mouth. She explained to me that it was all chocolate and no additives, damn it was good.

these canons would shoot out from the casemates
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I walked north on the Avenue de la Porte. then I went right on the Boulevard R. Schuman Pont G-D Charlotte. I crossed the huge landmark bridge and saw the buildings housing the EU Courts of Justice and the EU Bank. They weren’t particularly special but it was neat to see the 27 flags flying.

I crossed the street to find the Museum of Modern Art. It was a neat building but I’m not into that art so I skipped it. I walked to the Place de l’Europe and saw the Philharmonie building. Cool looking! The place was empty since it was a weekend.

band that played in place d'Armes
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I headed back to the city center and crossed the Ponte Adolphe, a bridge built entirely of stone but later reinforced with steel. I dipped down into the Petrusse Valley and walked on the Petrusse river, so relaxing. I draped myself on a bench and rested my legs. I carried my backpack everywhere today since it was the most valuable thing I brought to Luxembourg…I didn’t want to leave it out in the open at the hostel. I only packed two sets of clothes so it was light, but my body still complained. I picked up again and turned left where the Petrusse stream intersected the Alzette river. Then, I heard Irish music!

chocolaterie where I had my pouvrie
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Apparently a Celtic Festival was going on! I stopped to listen to music, watch dancing, an down a pint of Guinness! Then I moved more through the festival and bought a sausage hot dog from a street vendor, very tasty!

Then the downpour came, oh no! It poured hard and even some hail came down! I was stuck at the hot dog stand for 30 minutes under its tent. Finally I headed back to the youth hostel by following the Alzette.

Ing and I left to eat at Place d’Armes where another band (different) was playing. We ate fajitas at Chi Chi’s Mexican restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised that it was really good! Then we walked back to the Celtic Festival, she wanted to see it and I wanted another Guinness. Now they were playing really lively music and it was very crowded. The rain didn’t stop anybody from admiring the spirit of the Irish. We hung out a long time just enjoying the ambiance. She had a Pentax digital SLR and I was fooling around with it. My camera took better night shots than hers! I was happy to see that.

It got cold so we headed back and thus ends my day. My legs are really tired from walking everywhere. I learned to use my camera’s night shot ability and took great night shots. My problem was that since it’s a night shot, the shutter speed is very slow to collect as much light as possible. Since the shutter speed is slow I had to keep my camera steady…steadier than simply holding it. When I placed it on something and took a picture it came out great! Check out the pictures here!

Tomorrow I’m heading back to Nancy. I will check out the lower city tomorrow before heading back at 1800.

Country count this year = 10: UK, Ireland, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Luxembourg. The only other country I hope to visit is Switzerland…on a side note, it seems like a lot people have enjoyed their visits to Croatia. I guess it’ll have to wait for another trip.