A breathtaking country with friends-Luxembourg

Cute dog on the train
see all photos »

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Jen’s 4th grade class has been paired up with students in the Pre-K classes as buddies who help the younger students out during different activities. One of Jen’s students is a German and he is very proud of Germany. When this German boy met his buddy the first time there was a little awkwardness and not much discussion going on between the two boys. Jen helped the conversation along by having the boys use some easy to answer questions like where are you from. The very small and tiny Pre-K boy looked up at Jen with big round blue eyes and replied in soft but high squeaky voice in broken English, “I’m from Luxembourg.” Jen was quite taken back by this cute little one who was able to get out a few other tongue twister responses. After this little exchange, the German boy matter of fact manner looked at Jen and looked at the Pre-K boy and in a heavy German accent but with a tone of superiority, “Luxembourg, That is such tiny country.” So much for social skills. Anyway this little cutie helped inspire a trip to Luxembourg.

Nick, Kara, and Jen on the bridge
see all photos »

We met Nick and Kara and Corey and Karin in one of the most picturesque romance cities in Europe. The geography is quite amazing as the old city and city walls were built on a mesa that has deep and steep valleys separating the old city from the newer areas. Walking across the bridges gives you breathless views of historic buildings and beautiful landscape.

Luxembourg actually is a tiny country and you can see most if not all of Luxembourg City in a day. We walked the castle wall and stopped at the “Balcony of Europe” to take in the surroundings. We walked through tunnels in the castle walls that were used to protect over 30,000 people from bombing raids in WWII. And of course we saw a few churches. I think there is a rule for every major city in Europe to have a church that is called Notre Dame. I think I will check into that and see if it is true. As we walked and people watched, we were able to see a few rare sites. Standing outside the royal palace some people was making a clothing chain. They were asking people to take off some clothes and use it to make a barrier. We watched as people took off their coats, shirts and pants. We did not know why this was being done or if we were in the good side of the bad side of the barrier. Either way the chain was completed with some minor celebration. At this occurred the Grand Duchy came out and we saw him and his wife as hthey drove away. Luxembourg is a constitutional monarch and so it was neat to see the leading man or royalty.

The view
see all photos »

After a long walk around the new city looking for something to eat, we found a place before we headed to the bottom of the valley to experience the Luxembourgian nightlife. Being heavily French influenced, it was not a surprise to enter a bar and see it packed with French speakers cheering on France in their close win over the All Blacks of New Zealand in Rugby. With the rugby world cup going on in Paris, it has been a festive atmosphere in Europe as of late. We sat outside on a deck next to a winding river with the reflection of flickering lights forcing a tranquil sparkling lights display. The next thing we knew we were upstairs dancing to some of the greatest songs of the disco era. How did we go from romantic to disco dancing? Well duh it was disco and Corey cannot be stopped once the rhythm takes hold of him. It was a sight.

see all photos »

The next morning we ate at the hotel. The Hotel Carlton was a reasonably priced hotel that was not flashy but has the most spectacular service. The concierge took great care of each guest and did everything we asked and more as we enjoyed comfort of the hotel. The breakfast was the traditional European breakfast of bread, mainly croissants, with cheese, slices of meat, café, tea, orange juice, several jams and chocolate spread (like Nutella). The crazy part was they we also had access to Sugar Smacks. It was quite a nice hotel and I give it my highest rating.

see all photos »

One Sunday we took a little day trip and traveled to the historic royal castle. Nick and Kara led the way by obtaining the tickets and directions. It was a great opportunity for them to practice their French and for the rest of us to sit around and be lazy. According to Kara, people like Victor Hugo spent time living there with past kings. The castle was like many European castles, it was huge. Again at the top of a long steep hill, a great test of strength was needed to climb this hill after the events of the preceding night. However, it was well worth the effort. Again we were witness to some great sights of scenery. However, the best part might have been as we were standing in a room behind the chains that separate the tourists from the heirlooms and hundreds of year old tapestries. A door at the far end of the room opened up and some British tourists walked in. They apparently got a little lost and forced their way in through this door. They started walking around the artifacts and opening ancient trunks, and taking pictures of their children hiding behind the tapestries. As they left the door open, more and more people kept coming through the door. There was an odd look on people from both sides of the chain barrier. They looked at us like what are you doing over there as our side looked at them and were like, you are on the wrong side, you can’t about the tapestry your child just smeared chocolate on or the table that your son is jumping up and down on because the description is on our side. I don’t know how got sorted out but I hope it was not too damaging to the palace.

see all photos »

After a nice lunch at a French café we headed back to Luxembourg City for Nick and Kara’s send off. The rest of us were staying till Monday morning. Jen and I were going to Paris and Corey and Karin were heading back to the island known as England. Sunday night we went out for dinner and went to a cozy little Indian Restaurant called Taj Mahal. Great prices, again great service, and the food well, Corey and I were sweating bullets as we tried to finish off the hot curry. It was so tasty we could not stop eating but it was hot. I now believe that dragons developed their fire breathing abilities by eating large amounts of spicy curry. The meal was great but there was much concern by Karin and Jen how the meal would affect us gastronomically. Sixteen hours later, so far so good, at least for me anyway.