Exploring Luxembourg City

After a relatively early morning flight, I arrived today in an unbelievably rainy Luxembourg! Fortunately, I'd packed my trusty backup umbrella. Unfortunately, all the clothes I brought with me were shorts and T-shirts!

After taking the bus from the airport (all public transport here is free) and hunkering down in my hotel (yes, not a hostel - I'm moving up in the world!), I ventured out to explore the city once the weather had cleared up a little.

Luxembourg City is quite a unique capital on two counts - it is incredibly green and unusually vertical. The city is divided between broadly two layers - a fortified old town on the top of a hill and a number of picturesque suburbs beneath it. There are also several impressive bridges connecting the old town to the surrounding hills, crossing over the buildings in the valley beneath. Walking around, the city is very clean and has a nice ambience to it - many of the pedestrian thoroughfares are equipped with speakers playing pop music (Texas Hold 'Em by Beyoncé seems to be a particular favourite) and there are numerous nice-looking pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating lining the streets.

My biggest struggle so far has been the language (though naturally everyone here speaks English). All the place names look German, the main language I see on signs and overhear is French, but the official language is Luxembourgish. I've tried to speak French a couple of times today but the person I've been speaking to couldn't speak it. Unfortunately I suppose I'll resort to English here in the capital but I look forward to seeing which languages are spoken in other towns around this tiny country.Read more