Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Day 31:

About a minute out the door this morning, we were in an open grassy field that we thought was the most magnificent thing we would see all day. 30 second's walk after some mild frolicking, we were in a deep forest. The forest floor was still damp from the rain last night, ivy had grown up the trunks of the trees, there was such a deep green to everything around, and birds were singing everywhere. It was majestic. Then a few steps up the path and we were in Luxembourg suburbia. As we passed through, there were wide expanses of fields, far beyond what our first little field was like. We followed a switchback road through what felt otherworldly, like rain forests in jurrasic park (for nerdy reasons we don't need to get into), then up switchbacks to the top of a mountain.

Atop this mountainous hill sat Fort Thüngen. Like many in Luxembourg, there is a sad story for this fort. It was built in the early 1700s as an awesome fortress to protect the Redoute du Parc, atop a large hill. Unfortunately, in the latter part of the 19th century, it was forced to be demolished to basically prove that Luxembourg truly intended to remain neutral. Fast forward to WWI, the desire to remain neutral meant very little to the Germans, and without any defenses, they were railroaded (literally and figuratively) very quickly. Fortunately for us, the fort has been restored to its former glory, but unfortunately for us, now awkwardly has a museum of modern art integrated into it.

Hungry and desiring some of these promised French pastries, we fumbled our way into the city center. A couple bonjours and mercis later, we had pastries, sandwiches, and cookies. One of which was a pain de chocolat et vanille that must translate to unicorn tears. We ended up sitting in front of a turn of the century building that turned out to be the relatively uninteresting Cercle Municipal for about an hour, enjoying a saxophonist play Phantom of the Opera.

After relaxing, we somehow avoided seeing a couple of the more noteable buildings in the city center and moved on to see the Cathédrale Notre-Dame. No, not the one containing a hunchback, but it was still quite nice. It was an interesting mix of styles, probably pointing to the fact that it took three and a quarter centuries to finish the building... we have definitely been spoiled by churches so far, but this one was special.

Across the street stood the Monument du Souvenir, or the "Golden Lady". She has a history of her own, from after the first World War to present day. The Monument of Remembrance was originally built to honor the over 1% of the total population who volunteered in the French army to fight German occupation. Then WWII came around and the Germans came in again (despite pledged neutrality) and tore down the monument. It took half of the 20th century to build it back up, but it is a beautiful reminder of the brutality of war.

Unfortunately for us, the Aldolphe Bridge was completely under construction, so we could not see any of it. That's a tough thing to miss considering it is seen as a national symbol for Luxembourg, but that's fine. Especially because we were able to see the Passerelle, just to the east. Slightly older, so we can convince ourselves its the better one.

After a short, but tiring day, we headed to the central station to reserve our next train. As a foreward to this part of the story, we avoided going to France on this particular vacation because of, well, the French. But that didn't stop those dirty little frogs from messing up something... French trains are on strike. A common phrase around these parts. So double the connections and add a few hours... thanks for confirming our initial thoughts to not visit.

Sandwiches, local brews, and a backed up drain later, its bedtime.Read more