I took a silly route to Luxembourg. I’d explain the details, but they’re pretty boring. Suffice it to say I backtracked a good number of kilometers, and will do so again when I go to Amsterdam tomorrow. The great thing about my unlimited rail pass, though, is I can knock around Europe on all the ill-planned, circuitous routes I want.
It’s now maybe the lowest of the low season. Last night in Bruges, I slept alone in a 12-bed room. Based on that experience, I winged it (Wang it?) today to Luxembourg — I didn’t reserve a hostel, in a city with only one. (I’ve been hesitant to wing anything ever since I almost missed my flight out of Poland and ended up on a terrible night bus journey from Krakow to Warsaw, topped off by a wild goose chase for apartment keys that involved my being called Bobby Lee.)
But apart from a lot of uphill climbing, it went smoothly this time. Luxembourg is all hills and valleys — well, given the city’s size, I should say all hill and valley. And winding streets. Which all makes for an incredibly charming place. My hostel is nestled at the edge of one of the valleys, and looking up out the window you can see double-decker trains passing by on the bridge.
The main city square, Place d’Armes, has been turned into a Christmas market, just like the many squares of places I’ve seen recently: Bruges, Brussels, Edinburgh. Maybe it was the saxophone players; this one was particularly lovely. Matched with the warm lighting and Santa hats, I felt for a moment like it was all very cleverly orchestrated to part people from their money.
But it’s hard to stay cynical in a place like that. It’s free music — sax filling the air — in a public square, not fake snow in an outdoor mall. The local winter liquor, glühwein, was hot, sweet, and delicious, and the gromperenkichelchen, potato cakes topped with apple sauce, made for one of the happiest, if not healthiest, meals I’ve had in a while.
0 Responses to “Luxembourg for a half-day”