Luxembourg

A most picturesque of countries

By Michael Wilson

July 29^th, 2015

Luxembourg city

I arrived in Luxembourg early on Friday morning not really knowing what to expect from a city, which was pretty much unknown to me a few weeks prior.

I started as any tourist should, with a trip on the hop-on-hop-off bus tour ;-) I learned all about their love of rose gardens, their prior reliance on the iron industry and the current influx of banks and big business.

This tiny bus is free and allows people to get about the city to the shopping streets

This external investment from businesses has created a city with a split personality. At street level, there’s modern architecture and it feels like any other city you might visit in Europe. However, head down to the old town and you’ll have been transported to a beautiful medieval town, which resembles something from a fantasy film.

This split personality is best represented by the art museum Mudam, which is a modern piece of architecture surrounded by the old Fort Thüngen.

The newer architecture has made it’s mark on the city though. There’s an abundance of really amazing buildings to the North East of the city, none more impressive than the Philharmonie Luxembourg, which hosts world class musical performances throughout the year.

Luxembourg is also (very proudly) the current capital of Europe, which means they host the majority of EU government meetings. It also means the flags of each country in the EU can be seen quite often as you wander around.

I enjoyed my first afternoon in Luxembourg but having not visited the old town yet, I’ll admit I was a little underwhelmed. There was nothing wrong with the city, but I hadn’t yet seen anything that made it unique.

That all changed when I went for an after dinner stroll. The sun had just set and I happened to make my way into the old town. I stood with a huge grin on my face for a while as I couldn’t quite believe how beautiful my surroundings were. I was kinda expecting everyone to be on horseback and wenches to be throwing buckets of muck out of their windows.

Vianden

On my second day I decided to travel 55km north to a town called Vianden. I had heard there was an amazing castle on a hill so off I went.

First off, the public transport in Luxembourg is immense! I got a whole days travel on all trains and busses for €4. To top things off, my train home was a double decker, which I’d not been on before.

Anywho, I set of north on the train and gawped out of the window at the stunning scenery. The whole place is basically rolling hills and greens. Next up was a bus to my destination and after an hour I had arrived. I walked down some tiny old looking roads until they opened up and revealed the most picturesque place I have ever seen. I’ll even admit I got a little teary with excitement at just how lovely the place made me feel.

I wanted to get closer to the castle and what better way to get up the hill than by ski lift?! I’ve not been on a ski lift before and it was one of the best things I did on my trip. The views as I was being lifted over people’s houses up into the hills were great.

I went to Vianden for the castle but I’d say the setting surrounding it is actually far more spectacular. It was now time to head back to Luxembourg city and carry on my adventure.

I arrived back as the sun was setting, so I quickly ran around trying to take as many photos as I could before the final rays of light vanished behind the landscape.

Time for some jazz!

I headed back down the Grund (the old town) and was surprised to see the place was packed with people. The night before the place had been pretty much empty. There was an international Jazz festival on with over 50 acts performing throughout the night across 13 different stages.

I even managed to catch what might be the only jazz metal band in existence. 2 saxophonists and a metal band basically, it was certainly interesting!

Luxembourg is a duchy, which I thought was something you passed on the left hand side. Apparently what it means is that the countries head of state is a duke, the palace of said duke can be seen below (the building which looks like a disney palace).

While I’m on that, Luxembourg love a turret (and by proxy a spiral staircase). Every other stone building sports a turret, which adds a certain childlike character to them.

My final stop was a visit to Casemates du Bock, a world heritage site of tunnels created in the 1600’s when the city was under siege from the Spanish. They can get pretty claustrophobic as you get lower and the tunnels get narrower, however, exploring is worth it as you get access to some of the best views in the city.

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Luxembourg really grew on me. 70% of it’s residents are foreigners, which is a fact they’re very proud of. The whole city feels like it’s taken the best from France, Germany and Belgium (the countries surrounding it) while also being influenced by Italy and Portugal (where a lot of migrants come from). Everyone was super friendly and would start by apologising for not speaking great english before speaking perfect english.