26/7 - Luxembourg
It seems all HI hostels provide breakfast.
The breakfast I had this morning was very good. I'm not sure why either, but I'd never enjoyed semi-crusty rolls, cold cuts, cheese and butter so much. This enjoyment didn't extend to the vile juice though.
If the quality of the McDonalds I had in Rheims was indicative of what they had throughout France, it’s no wonder that farmers were dumping shit in the streets.
The palace was very modest. So much for being a Grand Duke.
It's the wrong type of triangle!
I considered going on a tour of the palace, but there was only one English tour on the day I was there and it was too late for me at 4:30. In contrast, there were 2 in Luxemburgisch, 3 in German, 2 in French and 1 in Dutch on the same day.
Cathedral
Organ
Nave
There was one king called John the Blind. How odd.
There were students under the ‘ARC’ organisation giving tours of the cathedral. I asked one the question about the flag's similarity to the Dutch flag and he said it was because the two have a common history. Gah, stupid Salic law (Luxembourg broke away from the Netherlands when a woman ascended to the Dutch throne because it goes by Salic law, which states that it must be headed by a male).
It is rare for flags to flap so nicely in the breeze. Before I got the camera out it was going up and down also and so looked even better.
Place de la Constitution
Due to my budget, time constraints and my not wishing to be full before dinner (it was almost 2pm), I didn't want to eat at a restaurant so my choices were McDonalds (which had a menu in German and even a .de URL in its sign but where the staff spoke in French), Quality Burger Restaurant or kebabs (bah). In the end I opted for ‘Quality’, which had a good Wednesday special - €3 for large fries, 4 chicken dippers and a 25cl drink. I added on 180ml of gazpacho (trust the French to serve gazpacho as fast food) for €1,80, since it’d been a long time since I’d had it; it was also the first time I'd drunk it through a straw.
Before the World Cup, McDonalds Germany had a strawberry fetish. Now it seemed they had an ‘exotic fruits’ fetish, with an ‘exotic fruits’ ‘cake’ (‘kuchen’ – ‘pie’ would’ve been more appropriate), a McFlurry with Solero Exotic and a milkshake with marcuja and something that looked like peach. I had the McFlurry, which had pieces of real fruit in it, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t tried the Daim McFlurry in France, which surely would’ve been wonderful.
Fountain in place d’armes + pivler (?)
There was a crazy guy who’d thrown his bag inside and was swimming around
City Hall
I went to the other casemates but they were only viewable with a guided tour, so I had to wait 40 mins. Bah.
‘Gelle fra’ (Golden lady) memorial to war victims in Place de la Constitution
Other casemates
Pont Adolphus Bridge - longest bridge in the World when built 1899-1909 (?). Now the longest stone bridge in Europe.
Cannon room
"Don't forget the sand" - toilet in World War II bomb shelter. This German sign was written by Nazis who forced German on the Luxembourgians. Even place names were changed to German.
The guide said very few people speak Luxembourgisch in Luxembourg now. To work you need French. Even German's not that spoken. Hurr hurr.
In contrast to the Bock Casemates, open year-round, the Petrusse Casemates are only open on Easter, Whitsun and from July to September, during which they have students to serve as free labour. Well, at least it's one more reason to visit Europe in July.
I saw a 10 year old girl in a thong. Uhh.
Rue large.
Seen: Some potato snack in a cup 'Kartoffel Snack' from Pfanni. I couldn't figure out what it was though.
Random tower above the hostel
River outside Luxembourg hostel
Hostelworld bookings are free if done through letsgo.com. Gah. One more reason to read the guidebook before making arrangements.
Getting to Vianden took me longer than I thought it would and I got scolded by the receptionist who had to wait for me.
Home-cooked meal at Vianden hostel: Cylinder of mystery meat in brown apple-meat sauce. Served with baked cauliflower and baked potatoes.
The Vianden hostel was very enlightened, since there was a hair dryer in the male toilet. It had a fixed duration - you pressed the red button and it'd blow for a while.
As in Ravenna, the male-only hostel floor was above the female-only one. How sexist.
In July I slept on the floor on maybe 1 out of every 3 nights, because it was hot. Yet, I hadn't been as hot as I was in Vianden. The room had German windows (which open in 2 planes), but they were locked so they could only slant in one plane (the top of the window falling into the room towards me), which was worse for circulation than the other plane (pivoting on the hinges on the left of the window, so air could flow in through the entire area formerly occupied by the pane). I tried looking for the receptionist, but he'd run away at 9pm, probably to an air-conditioned house. Even though I slept on the floor and even took off my shirt (for once), I still found it very hot. Luckily I was the only one in the room, or I'd have died on heatstroke. I tried doing what I did in Ravenna and soaked my shirt, wrung it dry and then lay on the floor but it still wasn't enough.
In any case, it wasn't only me. In the family room opposite me, this German guy kept swinging the door. When he saw me looking, he ejaculated: "It's too hot!" and commented that it was "better to sleep outside".
Unable to sleep, I went down to the breakfast area and looked at the coffee machine. For fun, I pressed the 'Nesquick' button and was surprised to see brown liquid coming out. I quickly put a cup underneath and watched as a brown, frothy liquid filled it. I got a teaspoon, feeling very pleased with myself, and took a sip. Immediately my face changed - there was no powder in the machine. This was just water the colour of Nesquick, and tasted like what you'd get if you filled an empty, unwashed Nesquick tin with hot water and poured its contents out.
In the Brussels hostel the handicapped shower had 2 shower heads. In this hostel one male shower cubicle had 3 heads, and the door could be locked. I wasn't sure which thought was more disturbing - 2 disabled people showering in wheelchairs at the same time or 3 men showering together like in jail (or the old SMM) with a locked door.
Travel tip:
- Don't buy Eurail passes in Europe. They're more expensive there.