A Summer of Working and Living in Germany: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

So after Trier, on Saturday June 20 I hopped on a train to Luxembourg City. I think I could easily have turned this weekend into a week-long trip if I had the time, but I did get to see a lot in my short time there :)

As you probably know, Luxembourg is a smallish country in between France, Belgium, and Germany. And, as to be expected, their culture is kind of a mix. Both French and German are official languages of the country (along with Luxembourgish, which seems like an offshoot of a dialogue spoken in Western Germany mixed with French, but I am not a linguist, so don't take my word for it). French seemed to be the predominant language though in restaurants and shops and stuff. And the city looked liked a mix between Paris and a German city. It was clean like a German city, so that was nice. French food seemed more common, but I did see some German food too. Anyway, those are my impressions of the place after staying there for only one night, so take it with a grain of salt. Pretty much anything I say.....

Central Station

Luxembourg City has even more UNESCO sites than Trier. Partly that's because it's a bigger city, but mostly it's because of its strategic location that has made it a desirable military stronghold over the centuries. So a lot of Roman ruins and medieval ruins and stuff like that. and other cool stuff that aren't UNESCO sites. Just all around a pretty cool city.

I had some trouble finding a really good map. The hotel gave me one that didn't mark any touristy places, but did have bus stops and stuff like that marked on it. At the train/bus station, I asked if they had a map of the bus network, and they gave me a map with all the touristy sites on it and told me to go to the tourist information office - where I found a map of the bus network. So using all three maps, I was able to find my way around.

But anyway, I recommend getting a bus pass, it was totally worth it. It was only 4 euro for a day pass. And my hotel was really close to the train station, which was super convenient when arriving and leaving, but not very close to the city center or the other places I wanted to see. but there were plenty of buses that went to where I wanted to go, so I didn't have to walk around as much as I did in Trier - plus it is a lot bigger than Trier, so no way was I going to walk everywhere.

My hotel - the Mercure Grand Alpha

The view from my hotel room - of the train station, which is pretty cool-looking for a train station

I started off by finding the city center, which, like many European cities it seems, has a large pedestrian area with lots of shops and restaurants and stuff. And when I got to the Place d'Armes I saw that there was a big flea market thing going on. There was also a band on the bandstand playing instrumental versions of Frankie Valley songs, which made me pretty happy.

bandstand in the Place d'Armes

Then further on down the way, there was a stage set up and more live music was playing.

Then at Place Clairefontaine, there was some sort of Urban Youth Festival going on.

These pianos were all over the place.

The Palace of the Grand Dukes.

I walked around a church and came across this view. the picture just doesn't do it justice.

the Bock Promontory (remains of a fortress) on the left, part of the Wenceslas Wall (another ruin) to the right (going across the river)

the Bock Casemates (the ruins of the inner tunnels and stuff) were closed when I was there unfortunately, so all you get is this picture from on of the "windows" of the promontory.

View from above

A Viaduct that now holds a train track

the "Three Towers"

So far most of my pictures have been of old things. I feel at this point I should probably mention that Luxembourg City is also a very modern city, and several parts of it look very modern. Or are a mixture of old and new. To emphasize that point, here is the Philharmonic Center.

Adn I am pretty sure that shiny building is the European Parliament, but I figured they probably wouldn't let me in anyway, so my tired feet told me not to bother going closer.