Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Maybe some of you have heard of the small country of Luxembourg, but I bet some of you have not! I had heard of it, but I wasn't very sure where it was, and I also thought that it was just a city in a country, but not a country of its own. OOPS! Originally, I wouldn't have put Luxembourg on my Euro Trip, but the places that I chose to travel to were based on a few different things: desire, location, and the ease/time traveling between. There were many other countries that I would have rather traveled to, but the ones that I am adventuring to were more convenient. Luxembourg was between Amsterdam and Venice and unless I wanted to spend a whole day on a train, I had to stop somewhere, so Luxembourg it was! And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Luxembourg has the second highest salary per capital in the world. I figured out that you'd need a higher income to afford anything in this city. I asked some friends that I met at a local cafe if anything was cheap and they said, "gasoline and alcohol." Unfortunately food and coffee weren't on that list. As the financial capital of Europe, this city seemed to be the place to work if you were in finance, accounting, or business alone. Financial buildings towered over me as I walked the streets. Speaking of the streets, they weren't very busy the entire time I was there. I think this is because Luxembourg isn't typically the first stop on a tourist's list and it was winter. I haven't felt the safest in the other countries that I have visited, but Luxembourg didn't make me worry at all! Fortunately, English was very commonly spoken here. With the borders of the country touching multiple countries, France, Germany, and Belgium, citizens usually speak at least three languages, if not more. French is the predominant language, but the country also recognizes German, along with the native language, Luxembourgish. English is taught in school. 

Here is a brief history of the city that I acquired from duckster.com (2017): "Luxembourg was founded when the Count of Ardennes named Siegfried acquired Luxembourg Castle in 963. Around the castle a small town developed which grew into a small country. In the 1300s Luxembourg became a power in Europe. Three members of the House of Luxembourg were crowned as Holy Roman Emperors. In 1437, the House of Luxembourg ended because there was no male heir to take the thrown. Over the next 400 years various European nations would control the small country. On June 9, 1815 Luxembourg was given the status of Grand Duchy by the Congress of Vienna. The country was initially a neutral country, but after being occupied by Germany in both World Wars it joined NATO and then became one of the six original charter members of the European Union in 1951."

Pretty cool,huh?

So while walking around, these old castles and fortress walls would just pop up! Also, the main part of the town that the fortress surrounded was down in a deep valley, so from the main and new part of the town, you could look down and see where the old, protected city was. There were staircases that you could walk down to go down into the valley too. The area below was made into a park with trails, benches, and even an awesome skateboarding park! This park was so cool, I wish I could skateboard. Ha! If you continued down in the valley, you would reach the residential area. The homes were small, aligned on the curvy roads, and colorful. Most of them were in pastel shades and little streams were tracing in and out of roads. This residential area was called, The Grund. A cool feature of the town was the see-through, glass elevator that led from the upper/new city down into The Grund. For those of you who follow me on Snapchat, you would've seen a video of this...I thought it was pretty awesome. Historically, Luxembourg had its own little story to tell, but they held their own. Much of the historical city was destroyed by the Nazis during the war, but the history still lives on. 

I walked the whole city in a matter of half a day, while talking my time, so that tells you how small this place is! I found a local cafe that I fell in love with. This was the BEST coffee I've had in Europe at a cafe and I've been quite a few places, especially when I studied in Greece! Greece wins for cold coffee so far. The cafe was called, Downtown, and it seemed to be the hip place to be. I'm probably not hip for saying "hip", but I'm okay with that. I met a group of people here that made my stay so enjoyable. We talked about bigger ideas than the average small-talk. Traveling alone can get a bit lonely sometimes, because it is hard to find someone who speaks decent enough English to carry on a good conversation, and that also has enough time to spend speaking with you without disrupting their plans. This group I met was wonderful though. This young woman and young man met while studying in France, and she now lived in Luxembourg, and he and his partner came to visit her from England! The woman's boyfriend came a bit later to join us. We talked economics, politics, love and loss, religion, and we even got into astrology and self-actualization. The interesting thing was that we didn't all always agree with each other, but seeing the different views and the calmness of disagreeing was nice to see. Nissirine, the woman and I are now facebook friends, so we can at least always catch up a bit and stay in contact. They were all so kind and interesting. Moments like that are what make traveling worth it. 

As for cuisine, they said that it would be difficult to find a traditional Luxembourg meal, so I honestly just looked for places that I could afford. My meals were still about $14 if converted from the euro to the dollar. I ate pasta and stopped at a food mart for other meals or fresh snacks. I got a Caesar salad for supper one night, for $6, and the dressing was mayonnaise, not caesar! I was so hungry that I ate it anyways. Overall, Luxembourg was small, safe, and I really had a good time. My host through Airbnb was amazing, for she had EVERYTHING I could possibly need in my room and although I didn't see her, except when checking in, she was very nice. I have decided that I only like a bit of interaction with my hosts anyways. The reason is that this way there isn't any obligation to spend time with each other and such. It makes it more like a hotel. On the other hand, a bit of interaction can be rewarding, because it's nice to learn about their country and about them. My advice: Go to Luxembourg... for a day :) 

I will be posting about Zurich, Switzerland next, so be on the lookout!

God Bless, Adios (just kidding!), Goodbye,

Stay Adventurous,

Laura