Benelux Field Trip - first weekend



Spent Saturday afternoon touring around Brussels for my first extended look at the city since arriving. I liked what I saw (even though it was damp and unseasonably cold for the seventh straight day). I ate my first Belgian waffle covered in chocolate from a street stand. I saw Manneken Pis, the famous statute of the little boy peeing. I strolled around Place Royal and Grand Place. I sat down in a bar to watch some real football and down a couple bottles of Leffe.



I also purchased a one month Benelux rail pass which I will be able to use to go anywhere in Belgium, the Netherlands, or Luxembourg for any five days of my trip. So I hopped on a 7:40 train last night for Luxembourg, got to my hotel after a three hour train ride, and went straight to bed. The hotel I picked out was bland, but it was also perfectly clean and was located midway between the train station and the Old City -- which was all easily walkable.

There's nothing truly spectacular about Luxembourg City. There's no crap-your-pants moment or sight along the lines of Jerusalem's Old City, the Great Barrier Reef, Florence, Yosemite, etc, etc, but there are some "nice" things to do and see. I woke up this morning and walked up to the Old City. It was still damp and chilly out and most shops were closed because it was Sunday, so at first, I had the whole place to myself. I walked down into the great park in the Petrusse valley, saw the cute little area along the Alzette river known as Grund, and then went back up to the Chemin de la Corniche, a pedestrian promenade along the edge of the city walls overlooking the valley below.


in front of the Palais Grand-Ducal

The walk then took me to the Bock Casemates, an extensive series of rock cut tunnels under the site of the famous hilltop fortress which stood on the Bock in various forms from 963 until it was mostly dismantled in the 1800s. These tunnels actually reminded me a bit of the ones Mary and I saw in Cappadocia in central Turkey. After the Casemates, I walked past the Palais Grand-Ducal in time to see a changing of the guard as the sun finally came out. After a quick pizza lunch, which included a free glass of champagne for some reason, it was back to touristing.


Chemin de la Corniche

I spent a couple hours of my afternoon in the National Museum of History and Art. Among the art highlights, they had an enormous 35ft x 20ft Roman floor mosaic in excellent condition which dated to the 3rd century AD. Notably included in the collection of paintings were some gorgeous 16th century paintings by Pieter Breugel as well as some more modern pieces from Cezanne and Picasso. I then spent a little while visiting the Luxembourg City History Museum. The lower two levels dealing with the real history of the city and state were actually quite nice. However, the top level could basically be described as "this is how the plumbing works in Luxembourg" and was not worth much time. Finally, they had an interesting (and bizarre -- and also apparently controversial) temporary exhibit called "Watch out, gypsies! The story of a misunderstanding."


Grund, along the Alzette river

All in all, Luxembourg is a lovely little place I probably never would have visited without already being on an extended trip to a city that's a short train ride away. Some of the folks I spoke to around Brussels, both co-workers and locals, weren't so keen on Luxembourg City, but after my day there, I'm glad I went. I sure wrote a lot about it, anyway. Though I guess that's partially because this is the first time I've travelled abroad without Mary being with me, so I really want to have it all written down to share with her.