Luxembourg

This weekend I traveled down to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After a three hour train ride, I hopped on a 45 minute bus ride to the town of Echternach, on the German border. Luxembourg, at least in that area, seemed to alternate between rolling farmland and mountain-y forests. After checking into my hotel I left to go hiking on the Mullerthal Trail. It was BEAUTIFUL! The part of the trail I hiked was about 8 kilometers, going from Echternach to another town called Berdorf. It started by making you walk up about three, rocky Bascom Hills, then over a bunch more rocks, and finally through some large rock formations to a smoother path and into the village of Berdorf.

This is the main square in Echternach—a small town which seems to attract a lot of hikers and bikers (both bicycle and motorcycle).

After climbing up a steep incline, there was a great town and Germany across the river.

On the trail…

At the end of trail you have to walk through a wheat field (with cat head-shaped cloud!) to get to Berdorf, where you can take a bus back to Echternach. Unfortunately, the bus only comes once an hour, and one was pulling out as I walked towards the bus stop…leaving me to wait at a cafe with no reading material (a travesty) until the next one.

Right next to the town is the Sure River, which is also the border between Germany and Luxembourg—so I went to Germany! (for approximately 30 seconds)

On Sunday I returned to Luxembourg City. It has an upper town and a lower town. The view from the Corniche balcony (right) is supposed to be the most beautiful in Europe. It shows the old Bock casemates (left side of picture), which are tunnels built into the limestone that served as a fortress/prison starting in the 1100’s. The casemates, and the Grund neighborhood in the lower town are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

There was a concert going on in Place d’Armes, one of the main squares, and they were playing classical music, including the Nutcracker Suite!

So, that in a nutshell, was my weekend! I’d love to go back to the Mullerthal forest, but I think I’m good on Luxembourg City. Coming up this week- Belgian National Day on Wednesday, when, apparently, quite a celebration takes place downtown!