Luxembourg City: A City Upon A Hill

I have a new life plan. It goes like this: win the lottery, move to Luxembourg City, live happily ever after.

Yesterday, Brian and I said "auf weidersehen" to Germany and "bonjour" to Luxembourg. While I was napping towards the end of the train ride, Brian made a friend in the on-board restaurant, who turned out to be the nicest person we've met on the trip so far. As we were trying to figure out the way to our next hotel, we ran into him again and met his sweet girlfriend, a native Luxembourgian.

Insert: Henry and Elise.

Nos nouveaux amis (our new friends).














We asked them for directions, and before long, the four of us were on our way to a pub in the city. Elise showed us around and took us to "le Grund" (the ground), where we stumbled upon a Celtic music festival. Elise is from France, and insisted that we have a few bottles of cider (though we weren't protesting in the slightest), which was absolutely delicious. When the festival ended, we headed to their favorite local bar and enjoyed more cider and great conversation before heading in for the night.
 To Elise and Henry: It was a blast and I hope to speak to y'all soon!

Part of le Grund, a valley about 500 feet below the rest of Luxembourg City.













After a good night's rest, Brian and I were up again and ready to see Luxembourg City in the daylight. (Well, me more so than Brian because he wanted to sleep in and I insisted that we get up early.) We began the day wandering around and soaking in the beautiful views. Luxembourg City is built on the edges of hills and cliffs and provides such amazing landscapes. Eventually, we found the entrance to the Bock Casemates (pronounced kaz-mat), which are tunnels dug into cliffs by the Spanish in 1644. It was awesome but somewhat scary at parts with its small corridors and ridiculously thin spiral staircases that descended into darkness.

The view from the top of the Bock Casemates. The cliff I'm sitting next to is realllllllllly high.

Another view of le Grund from inside the Casemates.

One of the more well-light and less scary corridors.













We stayed there for a while (because we literally got lost inside) and were ready for lunch by the time we finally made it out. We walked through Place de Guillaume II and Place d'Armes (the two districts of the city center), and decided on Café Francaise. We practiced our French with the waitress and surprisingly did alright.

 Place d'Armes.

Just one of the many beautiful old streets in Luxembourg City.













After lunch, Brian and I walked around, shopped, and enjoyed more of the incredible views of the city. We're back at the hotel now and preparing for our night out on the town!

I will live here eventually.














If there weren't cars, I would feel like I was in a fairy tale.

Caroline