Luxembourg City

In our effort to make the most of our travel time here in Germany before I resign myself to a delicate state of confinement, as well as limit our spending and use of Colby's leave days, we decided to take ourselves a little daytrip over to Luxembourg City on Saturday.  It was a fairly cloudy, grey day after two beautiful weeks of sunshine and warm weather, so that was a bit disappointing, but the rain held off and we were able to fully enjoy our time wandering through the city.

Luxembourg City is about an hour and a half away from us, so it was a fairly quick jaunt over in our new, zippy set of wheels.  We found a central parking garage, and stopped into a small cafe so that I could use the bathroom (an occurence which is becoming ever more frequent) and we could plan our day.  The city is very small, and we were pretty glad it was close enough for a daytrip.  It was definitely worth visiting, but there's not a whole lot to do there, and I don't think I would have ever visited if it weren't for the fact that it was just a short drive away.
We started our day at Luxembourg's Notre Dame Cathedral, which as is our typical experience, was largely under scaffolding.  Also, the interior stain glass windows around the altar were under repair and partially covered.  So, it was a bit disappointing, but it was still a lovely church, and we were very impressed with the fact that it was built over just seven years in the early 1600s. (Please forgive the black smudgies on our photos--our camera is in desperate need of a cleaning!)
After our stop at the Cathedral, we walked over to the Monument of Remembrance, or Gelle Fra (Golden Lady), a memorial to all of those who have died in Luxembourg's wars.  It was pulled down by the Nazi regime in 1940, which so angered the Luxembourgish people that it became their emblem of resistance during World War II.  After that stop and a view over the beautiful Petrusse Valley, we went into the Petrusse Casemates for a tour of the interior of the city walls.
These walls were originally built to protect the 10th century castle of Count Sigefroi who gave Luxembourg its name (meaning Little Castle), and over the years were used as underground tunnels to shelter troops and their equipment and provide a defensive battling point, shelter for the citizens of the city during WWII, and now sections are beneath the Bank of Luxembourg and are used as vaults.  There are 25 kilomenters of tunnels, and we got to wend our way up and down about a kilometer.  We also stopped just outside the casemates for a photo-op in front of Europe's largest stone bridge.
We spent some time walking through a beautiful farmers market, smelling the wonderful aroma of fresh flowers and vegetables.  We then made our way to Place d'Armes, a plaza surrounded by cafes and shops, and ended up outside the Palais Grand-Ducal (Palace of the Grand Dukes).  We spent an awful lot of time trying to figure out if they were actually open for tours, but in the end settled on photographs from the outside as I was running out of steam.

For the last part of our day, we drove through the quaint suburbs of Clausen, Grund and Pfaffenthal then began the drive back home.  It was a lovely little day trip, but I don't think I'd put it in my Top Ten list.  I told Colby I felt a little bit snobbish and spoiled being a little disappointed in Luxembourg, but he pointed out that we've been lucky enough to visit a lot of amazing places, and it's only natural for our perspective to change.  So, I feel a little less guilty for not falling madly in love with Luxembourg, and look forward to our next adventure!

This Friday, the fast shipment portion of our household goods will arrive and we'll be moving into the house, so probably no big adventures this weekend.  But we have a three day weekend coming up next week, so we're planning a trip down to Lucerne for our first visit to Switzerland!

Comments

[A Super Girl]

I spy a baby bump?!

[Solange]

How fun! At least now you can check it off you list!
Also, super cute bump!!! :)

[erin - heart in ireland]

looks like fun! and hey another country off the list right?

and i know i've realized how spoiled i am sometimes when i go well (whatever place) was just ok, it wasn't (other amazing place) but i guess that is what happens when you travel so much!

[Elle sees]

Bump alert!!!! Giggles of happiness over here.

[Nicole]

ahhhhh! This blog is killing me! :) Thanks for letting me travel vicariously with you to some of my favorite places!