The Hitchhiker's Guide to Luxembourg

(Ok, so we didn't actually hitchhike across Luxembourg. It just sounded like a good title.)

There are surprisingly few guides out there on the country of Luxembourg.  Everything we did there we discovered by creeping on the tourism websites of various cities.  Being the poor college graduates that we are, we skipped most of the museums and went more for the culture (I don't even read most of the signs in museums anyway).  This idea would have been splendid except for the fact that the temperature dropped ten degrees just before we left.

It. Was. FREEZING.  Our first day we spent in Luxembourg City (or, Luxembourg Ville), hopping from cafes to churches, back to cafes.  The nice thing about churches (even though they are not heated...this explains why everyone leaves their coats on during Mass...) is that no one will disturb you if you want to spend a holy hour (or two).  In cafes, once you've finished your coffee and don't seem that interested in talking to your companion, they want you to leave.

Our favorite thing about Luxembourg City is the gorge that runs through it.  It makes one feel like a mountain goat when clambering up and down.

In Luxembourg, public transportation is extremely easy (once you know how to use it).  That night, we traveled to Vianden and ended up on a bus (...well, first a train to Ettelbruck, and then a bus) with some other assistants.  We all ended up sharing a room at the hostel.

(A note about buses: You can buy your tickets on the bus.  You MUST push the red button if you want to stop and get off because they won't stop at every stop.  Almost learned this the hard way.  Other than that, they are extremely efficient.  Some even display the next stop on a screen.)

In Vianden, we went to see the castle. That took an hour at most.  Then we walked down the hill that the town is built on and back up again.  This is when we decided to go on a short hike.  That "short" hike had us scrambling to get back to the hostel before dark.  We only went a couple of miles, but it was through mountainous hills where the paths zigzagged so much that we hardly got anywhere.  The view was totally worth the sore muscles:

 The Castle.  The best view is from the hill behind the hostel.

 Vianden

 The mountain path

 We hiked all the way to another village, only stopped about a quarter of a mile away before turning back.

 Luxembourg is a very Catholic country.  The is a chapel we encountered on our mountain hike.
The next day we visited Eechternatch, which isn't really worth a visit.  The basilica and the cathedral were nice, but the abbey is now a school, so the only thing to do is walk around.  I didn't take many pictures.

 The one cool thing is that the border between Germany and Luxembourg is right there.  They had this plaque on the bridge between the two:

 The last day we spent in Luxembourg City (again), checking out the ducal palace and the casemates (definitely worth a visit!!)

That's all for now.  Just remember to always bring a towel when hitchhiking around Luxembourg!
--Mary