Luxembourg

I only remember two stops in Luxembourg, and since it's a small country, that was probably the only times we did actually stop awhile. I am only now realizing that when I let them plan the trip, it turned out to be a, "we were there" king of thing. We went through a total of 8 countries and visited a few cities in each . But, no one checked on the sites or "spots of interest" in any area. We were just there and saw what we happened upon, without any real understanding of what we were seeing. I was thrilled just to be on the trip, but there were disappointments. When I objected, like at the Lourve, the standard reply was, "there isn't time." We were there, we can say so, but we missed so much. If I were doing it now, I would insist on less "we were there" and more of "we saw." (But, I suppose that would have made me a bad travel companion.)

Our first stop in Luxembourg was the town of Viaden in the northern part of the country. What catches your eye first is a very large castle high above the town. I don't even know it's name, nor did we "have time" to tour the castle. It's the kind of place you see on the post cards that make Europe so different from the U.S.A. It's deeply forested with very high, steep hills and deep valleys and beautiful rivers. Where the towns met the rivers, they have been banked in stone or concrete, with streets running along the water. And the old buildigns right on the edge of the streets. So close they are reflected in the water. The town follows the river aroung the base of the hill. Then the deep forest climbs the hill and the castle dominates the top of the hill and the view. Viaden was like that too, quaint and lovely.

When the road takes you away from the town, you are back in the woods or you come around a hill and find vineyards spread out around you. This is wine country too. Some of the woods have been cleared and the vineyards cover the hills. Most of the roads that I remember in Luxembourg followed the valleys, so the vineyards were always above us.

Luxembourg City was surprisingly large. It started as a walled city, and that part of the old town is still large. But, it outgrew the walls and they have been removed in places. The city had spread into the valley below, and back up the side of another hill. On both sides of the river that runs through the valley. There was even a bridge high above the valley that connects the two hills of the city. A long viaduct kind of bridge made of huge stones. I was amazed at a the height of the old wall where it still stands around the old town. It dwarfs even the Churches in height. Even in town the hills are still (were still) covered with trees. This is not the Capital city, but it is the biggest city. And, very much worth a visit.

Another thing I learned and want to mention is about their language. Luxembourg has a language all their own. Again, there are a lot who also speak English, but they also speak other languages. Over the centuries, these people have taken French, German and Flemish, and turned it into a language that isn't understood by the French or German or Flemish. It is all their own.

For small countries so close together, it was surprising to me that they could each be so much alike in landscape and yet so very different in every other way. Different attitudes and tastes and cultures. At the borders, you would know you had entered another European counry, even without the check point. I thought it was a National Pride in their homeland that made them seem different in some untangable way. They were friendly with us, but there was still a vague difference everywhere we went. Maybe it was because of the different attitudes to our 3 generation travels together. (And one of them a 5 month old baby.) And traveling randomly where there wern't a lot of tourists. It would be interesting if I could retrace at least part of that trip again. J has always wished I could take him back some day. But, I'm afraid this is the only way I can give him any part of that experience.