Luxembourg

Monday February 15th
Upon arriving in Luxembourg City I had no problems getting to my hostel from the train station, I just jumped on the #9 bus and was there in a flash. I checked in, but wasn't allowed in the room yet so I put my stuff in a luggage locker and headed out to explore the town. The hostel is actually located in a pretty ideal location at the bottom of a hill from the city center. So the first place I hit up was the "Bock Casements" which are caves/tunnels through the mountains (Luxembourg City is built on a bunch of mountains close together, so I was constantly climbing up and down mountains and crossing huge bridges). Unfortunately the Bock Casements are closed at this time of year so I snapped some pictures and continued on my way visiting a church and taking a few interesting side streets here and there before I made my way along "Rue de Corniche" which basically circles the side of a hill so you can get some amazing scenic photos (especially of the Bock Casements). Next stop of the day was the Cathedral, which was unimpressive so I made my way to the two main squares "Place de Guilliame II" (which is where the dull Hotel de Ville and tourist office is located) and "Place d'Armes". Both were rather unremarkable, but maybe that was because its winter and all the trees are just sticks and there's dirty snow everywhere. I saw some postcards of the spring/summer when the squares are covered in greenery and flowers and it looked amazing just like something out of a fairytale...maybe I'll have to visit again sometime when its better weather... I grabbed some lunch before continuing my tour of the town. I passed by the "Casino" and "Place de Metz" on my way to the "Place des Martyrs" (which turned out to just be a park) and "AM Tunnel". AM Tunnel was awesome. It's located 4 stories underground and is a tunnel that is lined with contemporary art. I'm not usually a big art person, but there was some pretty neat stuff down there and it had an exhibit of "Edward Steichen" who was one of the first ever 'portraitist' (he took people's portraits). He's now been added to my list of artist that I really like...the man was a visionary. After the AM Tunnel I braved the cold and the snow again in order to trek across town (I saw the Changing of the Guard outside the Palace along the way), down a mountain and then back up another mountain (using a narrow steep trail up the mountainside covered in snow...right about now was when I regretted not bring more appropriate footwear) in order to see the "MUDAM" (a modern art museum that was designed by the same guy who thought of the pyramids outside the Louvre in Paris), the "Parc Drai Eechelen", the "Philharmonie" (a concert hall) and various buildings of curious architecture located in that area including the European Union Justice Courts. By the time I'd finished looking around and slid my way back down the mountainside my pants were soaked to the knee with cold, ice water and I'd lost all feeling in my toes long before that, so I headed to the hostel (which was conveniently located at the bottom of the mountain) to throw in the towel for the day and change out of my wet clothes before a caught a chill.

Tuesday February 16th
Today was such a gorgeous day full of sunshine and warmth. I started the day bright and early, enjoyed a complementary breakfast from the hostel and then caught a bus to the train station. Before leaving the hostel I had bought a 'billet Reseau' (an all-day unlimited bus/train ticket for all transportation in the country of Luxembourg) for only 4 euros (what a deal!!!). I'd decided the night before where I wanted to go. There are several castles/chateaux located around the little country of Luxembourg and I'd decided to visit "Chateau de Clervaux" in the town of Clervaux and "Chateau de Vianden" in Vianden. First stop of the day was the town of Clervaux. The train ride to the town was gorgeous with bright white snow covering the rolling hills and surrounding mountains, like something out of a fairytale. Upon reaching Clervaux I realized I had no plan and no map (usually there is a tourist information center near or in the train station but not here), so I randomly began wandering in one direction, decided it probably the wrong direction so I turned around and started in the opposite direction. Fortunately I quickly stumbled upon a sign with a map of the little town (which was actually about a fifteen minute walk from where the train station is located), memorized the map and started heading toward the town. My plan was to hit up the tourist office first to figure out what there was to see and do in the town (my guide book hadn't told me much, only that there was a castle and an abbey), but like usual I saw something that caught my eye so I strayed off course to check it out. It was just a church, but I took a look around inside anyways. Upon exiting I discovered a narrow little footpath/stairs covered in snow leading up the mountainside and into a forest and a sign that pointed 'Abbey' so I obeyed the sign and began ascending the snow covered, steep path through the forest and up the side of a mountain until I came to the Abbey hidden deep in the woods halfway up the mountain. What an exhausting, slippery hike!!! But the Abbey was worth it. At first I thought that no one could enter, but as I finished circling the enormous, completely walled structure I found an entrance gate at the very back. You couldn't wander around freely, but you were able to visit the church. I'd timed my visit unknowingly, just perfect. I'd read in my guide book that they hold a gregorian mass (that means they chant the service instead of just say it) everyday at 10:45am which was the exact hour that I arrived, so I sat down and listened for a bit before deciding that I needed to continue my journey in order to see everything today. So I made my descent down the mountain. I'd spotted the Chateau on the way down and headed in that direction next. The tourist information center was hooked onto the Chateau but it was closed for the winter, so it didn't really matter that I hadn't gone there first. Unfortunately everything else was closed for winter too, so I took some photos and headed back to the train station to catch the next train. My train arrived at 11:53am and I took it to Ettelbruck, where I then had to change to the bus in order to reach Vianden.

The Chateau de Vianden was by far the coolest place I visited during my trip and the best castle I've ever visited, so it was well worth the journey. When the bus dropped me off on the outskirts of the town the castle was immediately visible sitting on a mountain overlooking the little village. It was a long hike uphill to the castle. I stopped by two churches along the way and walked around the old ramparts to the city while slowly trekking my way up the hill to the castle. Upon arriving at the castle I only hesitated for a second on whether or not to shell out the money and enter (I didn't take all those trains, country buses and hike a huge mountain not to enter) so I bought a ticket and headed in. The castle has a very medieval 'King Arthur's court' ambiance to it. I kept drifting off to story tales of knights and ladies and medieval times as a wandered the old halls. You could almost picture what it was actually like (banquets in the dining hall, sword fights, wars, moonlight lovers' trysts on the terrace walkway). After I finished visiting the castle (and left my daydreams for reality) I made my way back down the mountain to the bus stop to head back to Luxembourg City. I'd debated visiting some other towns just to look around since it wasn't to late, but I was once again soaking wet from trekking through snow all day and tired from hiking up and down mountains in order to visit castles and hidden abbeys, so I decided it was best to head back to base camp. When I arrived back in Luxembourg City I wandered the streets a bit before heading back to the hostel and packing my bag to be ready to leave first thing in the morning to Switzerland.