From Bouillon I drove an hour east into Luxembourg and the outskirts of Luxembourg City, where I parked the car in a large park and ride parkade and caught a bus into the city. Luxembourg's public transit system is shockingly good, and cheap: I bought a 2 euro ticket that was good anywhere in the country for two hours; for 4 euros you can get a day pass that is literally good on public transit countrywide!
Despite its excellent transit system (which included free WiFi!) I managed to get off the bus too early, so had to walk a few more blocks than I would have liked. Again, I was trying to hurry, so this was frustrating. I wanted to be able to use the same transit ticket on the way back to the park and ride. Silly me, I thought there would not be much to see in Luxembourg City.
After some lunch and the purchase of a postcard, I went to the Luxembourg Tourist Office and got a guide for what is known as the Wenzel Circular Walk, which I had read about on another travel blog.
This is a 5.5 kilometre walk that takes visitors past and through and over some of Luxembourg's old (and less old) fortifications.
Given the time constraints I put on myself I did this loop in less than an hour, so needless to say I did not enjoy it fully.
It was still a really incredible experience, however, and gave me a good taste for Luxembourg's history.
Luxembourg City felt much larger, even cosmopolitan, than I expected, and yet still managed to feel romantic and historic.
I boarded the bus with two minutes of validity left on my bus ticket. I don't know if that was good enough to let me ride with it, but I did anyway.
Back in the car I drove the remarkably busy and complicated freeways out of the city and into the region of Luxembourg known as Petite Suisse, or Little Switzerland.
Suddenly I went from conventional highway to the middle of a huge forest.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
I had hoped to do some hiking this afternoon, but since I had stayed in Bouillon longer than intended I was running out of time. I did pull over in one spot where the rock formations were particular striking and spent about ten minutes clambering around.
I pulled into Berdorf, the little village I am staying in at 16:00, and as usual it was already getting dark. I knew trying to hike was silly, but I put on my running shoes and ran out of the village and onto a forest trail for a bit to make sure I made the most of the last scraps of sunlight.
My hotel is called Trail Inn, and its website is terrible. The price was right, however, and I liked its location, so I put a lot of effort into booking it. It is far nicer than I expected; the bathroom even has a heated floor!
I went all out on dinner in the hotel's restaurant, and ate bratwurst with something resembling pasta and shredded brussel sprouts in a cream sauce, with apple strudel and ice cream for dessert. It was delicious and a real treat. I generally disapprove of people photographing their food, but I surreptitiously snapped a picture of my entree as a souvenir.
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