Click here to view some pictures in Luxembourg
April 17th, Sunday. Another solo day for me. After quite much hesitation between destinations such as Antwerp, Ghent, Luxembourg, and even Paris, I decided to go to Luxembourg. It was my original choice due to my curiosity about it's unique terrain and it's the third smallest country in Europe. However, the night before I found it takes a 3-hour train ride to get there. Hoping that I might be able to sleep or read on the train, I decided to do it anyway.
Took an 8:30 am train from Midi station, slept most of my way there. At the information desk in Luxembourg train station, I saw a single Asian girl who was asking for tourist info too, with limited English. She was from Korea. I suggested we team up and she agreed. It turned out to be a good idea even though she did not speak much English. We had fun, she did more research about where to go and what to see, and I had most pictures taken that day for myself :-)
Do you know what is "beauty fatigue"? It's a phrase originated from a Chinese comedy movie, meaning after a while one gets used to the beauty he/she sees and stops appreciating it (In the movie, it particularly refers to when a man eventually gets tired of his woman, no matter how good looking she is).
From the beginning of my trip till that day, I had been amazed by the wonderful things that I saw everyday for a whole week already. It's different everywhere, but the places that I visited do share many common features especially when it comes to architecture. I was afraid that I might have "beauty fatigue" problem soon. Well, a visit to Luxembourg broke that trend! It's unique 3-D terrain, with gigantic valley and long, long bridges, is completely refreshing and engaging.
Luxembourg is diminutive - 57km wide and 82km long - and is sandwiched between Belgium, Germany, and France. In 963, a count called Sigefroi (or Siegfried, Count of Ardennes) built a castle on a promontory in the forested heart of Western Europe. So were laid the foundations of present-day capital of Luxembourg. The strategically placed and fortified city was much sought after. Besieged, devastated, and rebuilt 20 times in 400 years, Sigefroi's original castle grew to become Europe's second-strongest fortress and earned the nickname "Gibraltar of the North".
Walking from the central railway station to the city center, we first encountered the famous Adolph Bridge, the unofficial national symbol, with a total length of 153 meters, clearance below 42 meters. The bridge is not over a water body, but a huge valley. Looking around on the bridge, one will see beautiful houses embedded in thick greens in the valley, and various unique architecture on highland. Walking down to the valley into a park, one can even smell the beautiful spring. The Korean girl, M, offered to share her lunch with me. So we sat on a bench under trees, at the bottom of the bridge. It's quiet and peaceful. Small flowers were blooming prosperously. Various birds were chirping. It felt like an outer world. From chatting, I learned that M was at her mid twenties, working as a medical technician in Soul. She was in her 6 months vacation, which was awarded after working for 4 years - what a privilege. She took this opportunity to participate some voluntary activities in Belgium to help kids. She did the same thing before in Japan. She said Euro was too expensive for her.
We then walked around the city center to see Notre Dame Church, Place Guillaume II (William Square) where Hotel de ville (Town Hall) is located, and Place d'Armes, an open space where people gather, sitting in front of a cafe and listening to live music. We took a seat in Le Francais, and ordered some crepe and apricot juice. Beautiful sunshine. Relaxing surroundings. M was happy too and found everything special. She said she never had crepe before. And it's her first time to make friends when she travels on her own.
Our next destination was the very foundation of Luxembourg, called Rocher du Bock (Bock Promontory). My understanding is that is the on-the-ground part of (the remain of) the fortress. It overlooks extremely beautiful terrains. Near side, it's C.C.R.N. Centre de Rencontre Culturel Abbaye de Neumunster, a square of light yellow houses with a tall and tippy attic as normally seen in a church. A river quietly flowing around it. Further, there is huge viaduct spanning the entire country over valleys and connecting highlands. Another side, it's multiple-altitude construction of buildings along the natural hill, which embraces the valley. A stunning scenery that I had never seen before.
Casemates du Bock, neighboring Rocher du Bock, was a very well preserved and large scale underground tunnel, which, I am pretty sure, was for military purpose. It was fun to get lost in the underground maze, where one may find look-outs here and there, and a few canons on display.
It took us quite a while to play around there. M had to run for an earlier train back to Belgium, so we bid each other farewell there.
Walking to the east, I reached a really wonderful part of the city with historical museums and nice streets with small cafes. It's called Grund. The multi-altitude structure was even more exaggerated in that area. One can walk up and down, along and on the thick old-brick wall or viaduct. I was amazed. This extra dimension in the terrain no doubt adds a lot of charm and fun.
There are many other points of interest that I will be happy to visit should I have more time. And I did not get a chance to see they history museum. Also, it was a weekend right before the Easter, the city of Luxembourg was quite empty, just as in Brussels, where a taxi driver told us that only 1 million people remained in the city out of 5 million population. He said most people have a vacation house in the suburb.
Sitting on the train back to Brussels, I was quite happy with the decision that I made. It's an excursion worth venturing.
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