I was fortunate enough to be able to spend this past weekend with three of my favorite people: my parents and my brother, Ben. We had a fantastic few days in Rome last weekend, and I was super excited to show them around Luxembourg, even if it was only for a short amount of time. We started out going to The Chocolate House, which they loved (so much so we ended up going again!) and doing some walking around Hamilius, Luxembourg City's downtown area. I haven't really had the chance to explore Luxembourg much myself, so it was really fun to learn my way around with my family. We ended up getting turned around a couple times and nearly missed being able to go to The Chocolate House before it closed, but we were expert navigators by the end of the weekend.
On Saturday (April 5), we took a trip to Trier, which is only about forty-five minutes away. It's the oldest city in Germany and home to tons of historical stuff, so my dad got us a map listing some of the main attractions in Trier and became our tour guide for the day. We walked through Hauptmarkt, went to several churches, including Dom St. Peter and Emperor Constantine's old throne room (now a Protestant church), walked along the Moselle River, visited an old palace and its gardens, saw some Roman bath ruins, and walked by the house Karl Marx was born in. Although it was a little overcast, it wasn't rainy or too cold, so we had perfect walking weather, making it a lovely and relaxing day of exploring Trier.
On Saturday (April 5), we took a trip to Trier, which is only about forty-five minutes away. It's the oldest city in Germany and home to tons of historical stuff, so my dad got us a map listing some of the main attractions in Trier and became our tour guide for the day. We walked through Hauptmarkt, went to several churches, including Dom St. Peter and Emperor Constantine's old throne room (now a Protestant church), walked along the Moselle River, visited an old palace and its gardens, saw some Roman bath ruins, and walked by the house Karl Marx was born in. Although it was a little overcast, it wasn't rainy or too cold, so we had perfect walking weather, making it a lovely and relaxing day of exploring Trier.
We got back to Luxembourg City around dinnertime, where we grabbed something to eat and did some more exploring of the city. One interesting thing I learned is that Lux does, in fact, have a night life! I'm used to only seeing smaller cities in Luxembourg like Differdange and Bettembourg, where most places close at like 7pm, so it was really strange to see so many people out and about. We went to bed pretty early since we were all exhausted, and woke up fairly early again on Sunday.
Sunday consisted of some more self-guided walking tours and a tour of the casemates, which are a massive system of underground tunnels built under Luxembourg during the war. We walked through those and visited a city called Ville Basse, which is underneath one of the main bridges in the city. Since it was a Sunday, the town was realllly dead, but it seems like the more artsy part of Luxembourg, as there were a lot of little craft shops. I'd like to go back another day when some of those places are open. A river bisected the city and provided us with a beautiful view.
Sunday consisted of some more self-guided walking tours and a tour of the casemates, which are a massive system of underground tunnels built under Luxembourg during the war. We walked through those and visited a city called Ville Basse, which is underneath one of the main bridges in the city. Since it was a Sunday, the town was realllly dead, but it seems like the more artsy part of Luxembourg, as there were a lot of little craft shops. I'd like to go back another day when some of those places are open. A river bisected the city and provided us with a beautiful view.
We also went to the Luxembourg American WWII cemetery, a place my program went the first weekend we arrived in Luxembourg. My dad, who is a big history buff, especially enjoyed being able to see such a prestigious place. It was a bit of a hike to get to from the nearest bus stop, so we were pretty exhausted and absolutely starving afterwards, so we headed to Banana's back in Hamilius for a late lunch. Once we finished eating, we explored a little longer before going back to the hotel so I could pack up my things and catch a bus to the train station and a train back to Bettembourg. It was so wonderful seeing my family, and I hope they had as much fun as I did this weekend!