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.

And there is the art museum in the distance.

 and the art museum...connected to some ruins?

 Oh man, another old fort! Fort Thungen (aka the Three Acorns)

There were a bunch of elephants too. Apparently they were auctioning off the statues to help save elephants :) 

Constitution Square

National Library

Notre Dame

This is Grund (the area previously seen from above)

Niemenster Abbey

Walking Wenceslas Wall

The elephant at my hotel

 Central Station

Trier, Germany

So this past weekend (June 19-21) I took a trip first to Trier, Germany, then over the border to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. I'll start with Trier first.

Trier is a city close to the Luxembourg border on the Mosel River. it claims to be the oldest city in Germany, but apparently so do several others. But either way there is a lot of cool stuff to see there, including six UNESCO World Heritage sites in one city. And I saw them all! In less than 24 hours. It is doable, but my feet were killing me afterward. The hour-long train ride to Luxembourg was a welcome reprieve.

Anyway, I got there around 7 or 8 Friday night. As luck would have it, there was a concert going on at one of the main sights, the Black Gate (the last remnants of the wall around the town when it was a Roman city). So after I checked in to my hotel and put my stuff down, I headed over there to check it out.

I couldn't see very well, but it was nice to have music going on while I walked around the pedestrian area. And it was a sort of ska-reggae-poprock mix. So that was fun. And the pedestrian area was pretty cool. It has a bunch of old buildings and fountains and cobblestone roads, but also a lot of modern stores like H&M and Forever 21 and stuff (except Germany wants to top the US by having Forever 18 instead of Forever 21).

So I saw most of the UNESCO sites that night because most of them are close to each other. Then the next day I walked along the river before seeing more sights. Here are the six UNESCO sites. 

Porta Nigra (the Black Gate) from the other side

Konstantin Basilica - formerly a throne room, now a church I think

Liebfrauenkirche - Church of our Dear Lady or soemthing like that

Dom St. Peter - literally right next to the previously mentioned church

Romerbrucke - I think I read it is the oldest Roman bridge that still has traffic crossing it

Barbara Thermen - one of two Roman baths ruins, currently undergoing restoration it looks like

Kaiser Thermen - the Imperial Roman Baths

Kaiser Thermen -street view

Roman Amphitheater

The view of a gladiator?

And there were other sites to see too, the river for one. The Karl Marx House is there. Plenty of other cool churches and buildings. Here are a few.

not sure what this is, but there were a couple on the river. German lighthouse?

I have a million pictures of churches, how about a picture of a cool-looking synagogue?

the Rathaus

the Karl Marx House

This next picture is actually just the entrance to the Amphitheater, but I like this picture with the ruins and the vines on the hill together. A good way to end this post.