Chronicling my travel adventures since 2007
I arrived home yesterday. My last night in Luxembourg was fun, as I went to several locations participating in La Nuit des Musees, where all of the galleries and museums were open until 1am and had special events going on (jazz bands, performance art, cocktails, etc). It was great.
d
When we last met our heroine, she was off to Echternach, deep in the heart of “little Switzerland” and then….nothing. As it turns out that i have been in areas so quaint, that they are internet free! (i apologize if i am making even more typos than usual, but this keyboard is entirely random and difficult to navigate.)
On Thursday i took the bus from Luxembourg city to Echternach, which took just under an hour. It was raining when i arrived, but that did not dissolve my spirits, as the town is so charming. It is kind of like Tallinn, in that it is very small and very medieval feeling. There is a square and a pedestrian street, a church and a school and that’s about it. I checked into my Hotel, Le Pavillion, which was very cozy; i then proceeded to explore the town.To my delight there were hardly any tourists and almost no one spoke English. There were however lots and lots of kids. There is an enormous boarding school in Echternach and after school and into the evening, the kids just roam freely. Some were as young as about 8 years old. They weren’t creepy – like children from a certain movie that shall not be named – they were just hanging out and eating candy. It is hard to imagine people in North America letting children roam unsupervised, but to the best of my observation, not one of these children was being molested. Crazy.
I walked around all the streets at least twice before i decided to venture across the bridge into….Germany! Germany is a stone’s throw from Echternach – literally, I threw a stone and hit German soil. Unfortunately, the town on the German side isn’t very attractive, but I did hike up a mountain path into the forest to see what I could find. (nothing)
Bach to Echternach, I had dinner outside of my hotel, sitting in the stillness, watching people walking sturdy rottweilers and German Shepards and listening to a couple of old men talking vibrantly in Luxembourgish.
And that was my day in Echternach.
Last night after blogging, I enjoyed the most relaxing evening in the lounge at my hotel. I had a cigar and read the New York Times and worked on the crossword puzzle. I also samples one variety of the Luxembourg beverage, L’eau de Vie. Basically it is like grappa, but in stead of being made from grapes, it is made from fruit. There is apple, pear, strawberry, plum, raspberry, and others. I had the raspberry. It was quite nice.
I chatted with the waiter, who is from Germany. He told me that he recently went to Canada; and where do think he went? To Invermere, Cranbrook and Banff. How random is that? Invermere? He thought it was beautiful. He told me that he had always heard that Canada had very good ”weed” and very bad chocolate. When I ordered my beverage he said ”Wunderbar”, of course it sounded like “Voonderbar”. Delightful; I didn’t know that German people actually said that.
I also talked to a Swiss man who has never left Europe because he does not think he could fly because he could not go without cigarettes fro the duration of the flight.
After a sleepless night due to a raging fever and an achy body, I began my day. I took a train to Ettlebruck and then caught a bus to Esch-sur-Sûre, which is North East of Luxembourg City. Esch-sur-Sûre is a tiny little hamlet nestled (that really is the most appropriate word for it) between the mountains in a steep bend in the river Sûre. The ride there was beautiful, past farms with horses and sheep with long tails and enormous cows. The town is tiny – population 250. It took me 20 minutes to walk every street. I played on a swing by the river and listened to birds and watched dogs playing by the river. The air was so crisp and the leaves were all in various shades of autumn.
The town dates back to about the 600s and there is a castle from about 800 on a hill in the centre of town. The castle is mostly in ruin now, but from its vantage point I had excellent views of the town. After a cup of coffee, I returned to Luxembourg city.
This afternoon I visited the AM Tunnel gallery. It is very odd. It is a gallery of photographs (100s of them) displayed in a tunnel 5 floors below the ground. The tunnel exists as a conduit between the various banks in the area (none of which look like banks, by the way; the all look like homes for royalty). The gallery had two exhibits: a vast collection of photos by Edward Steichen and a similar array of photos by Rene Burri. It was very impressive.
I haven’t done much since then; I had dinner (pizza) and I have just been walking and relaxing. I just had some tea and a cigar at my hotel. I am pretty exhausted and still feeling quite ill, so I shall retire shortly.
The weather was nice today: about 17 degrees, cloudy, but not rainy.
Tomorrow I plan to take the train to Clervaux. Details to come.
d
Day two in Luxembourg has had two things working against it: my cold and the rain, which was severe this afternoon. Aside from those two negative aspects, the day has been lovely. I went on a brisk walk in the park this morning before browsing through the shops on the Grand Rue. There is a fine selection of chocolate shops here, although I have yet to sample any. I did however buy a coat. It’s weird, I know, but it is chilly here and the coat is nice; it is black and sort of marching-band-esque. It proved to be a wise purchase in light of the rain and cool temperatures.
I then went to the Casino. No, not the gambling kind, some of you will be disappointed to learn (and you know who you are), it is a contemporary art museum called “Casino” (it was a gaming establishment in the 1800s). They had an exhibit called SK-Interfaces and it was great, although I may very well have nightmares. It was probably the creepiest exhibit I have ever seen – and let’s not forget, I have seen mummies in Egypt, pickled babies in Russia and, yesterday, a jar of preserved fingers. The exhibit was this weird synthesis of science and art that culminated in art such as someone growing tiny leather coats using animal stem cells; some flowers that had been cross-bred with the artists own DNA; a fur coat made of road kill and an accompanying video of the skinning process; a video of an artist who had an ear grafted onto his arm; a display of artful hymens made of human and animal cells; ä collection of “perfume” bottles filled with liquid derived from human sweat and supposedly smelling of actual human fear; and a photography exhibit of a nude woman engaged in rather disturbing acts with a pig carcass. Yep. Not everything was creepy. There was a neat painting that you were encouraged to touch and when you did, the color would disappear (temporarily) from the places you had come into contact with. But by and large it was pretty disturbing (which means I loved it).
The rest of the after noon consisted of me wandering and, when the rain got too bad, hopping from cafe to cafe, sipping on wine and coffee and soup and smoking. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to smoke inside and to SEE people smoking inside. One cafe I walked past was filled with table after table of women with glasses of wine and coffee, smoking contemplatively and reading or writing in books. It just seems so civilized.
I had about a 3 hour nap today. I was wet and tired and I am, after, all, sick. This allowed me to go out this evening for a tea and a stroll. The streets are so welcoming here after dark. Everything feels so pleasant and secure. I have to say that there are a surprising array of inviting cafes and taverns here; they aren’t too loud or too quiet and the decor seems to always be just right.
Tomorrow I plan to venture outside of the city to explore one of the many villages in the country.
Gutt Nuecht.
d.
I have arrived in Luxembourg!
The flights (Vancouver to Toronto, Toronto to Zurich, and Zurich to Luxembourg City) were all very pleasant. There were no hassles, no irritations, just many hours of relaxation.
I arrived in Luxembourg City at 9 or 10 this morning. (Note: Luxembourg is 9 hours ahead of Vancouver Time). The only problem was…my bag decided to take a later flight. No problem though, as the airline delivered it to my hotel about 10 hours later.
A few comments about Luxembourg generally. Most people have been perplexed or even irritated by my decision to come here on vacation, as they wondered why I wouldn’t go somewhere else. All i can say is that I knew shamefully little about this diminutive country, but some preliminary investigation intrigued me.
For your own edification, here are some useful facts:
-Yes, it is a country.
-Yes, there really is a language called “Luxembourgish”.
-The country is 2586 km2 and has a population of 486,006.
-It had the highest per capita GDP in the world, has a near 100% literacy rate and makes most of its money in banking.
-It is 90% Roman Catholic (which explains the constant church bells.)
-The National Dish is called Gaardebounen smoked pork neck served with broad beans, potatos, and bacon.
-They make wine and chocolate and some odd looking liqueurs.
-It is one of the most forested countries in Europe and is home to deer, wolves, wild boar and an impressive collection of birds.
-They have two flags.
-It is the only Grand Duchy in the world. (I don’t know why this is a big deal, but they are very proud of it.)
First impressions: Luxembourg is very green with a patchwork farmland and puffy forests visible from the airplane. The were so many shades of green and gold and “yellow ocher” in the trees that it resembled a Bob Ross painting.
I caught the bus into the city, which cost €1.5 and took about 10 minutes. The city is quaint and beautiful. It looks more like a ‘real” city than, say Tallinn, but it is very charming. There are many squares lined with the requisite cafes and cobblestone streets leading to churches and museums. Winding though the middle of the city is a narrow and deep ravine, which is reachable either by steep stairs or an elevator. At the bottom of the ravine is a serene forested park area along the banks of a river (scarcely, more than a trickle, really, but that call it a river.) The park is so beautiful and is full of bird song and that delightful smell that i shall simply call ”forresty”.
I am staying at the Hotel Grand Cravat which is lousy with “faded elegance” (to borrow from a previous post). The common areas are lovely, but my room is nothing special; it is however, very clean and stocked with all the amenities. The lack of charm in my room however is more than remedied by the hotel bar which is exceedingly gentlemanly and civilized, with leather chairs, stately draperies and painting of men in doublets and impressive moustaches. The best part? It is cigar friendly! Apparently you can smoke in any bar or cafe as long as they are not serving food. Huzzah!
Anyway, I spent the day exploring and becoming comfortable navigating around the circuitous streets. As it is Sunday today, all the of the shops were closed, but the churches and cafes were busy. I will not list every place I visited, but there were a couple of churches, some squares and I walked through the Petrusse Valley (the aforementioned ravine). I also visited the Bock Casemates, which are 17 km of tunnels carved into the rock walls of the ravine, built in the 17th C for defensive purposes. Betty Lou, you would have been both claustrophobic and suffering from vertigo. I, however, enjoyed it.
I also visited the Museum of the History of the City of Luxembourg because they had a fascinating exhibit on murder and manslaughter. It was gruesome and academic and partly interactive. They even had a jar of prisoners’ fingers! It thought it was neat.
I had Indian food for dinner (thank god for curry or I would surely starve in Europe).
More observations: There are many happy looking dogs of medium to large sizes. It is very clean. Although there are 3 national languages, most people I overhear are speaking French. I am relying on French with the odd mis-pronounced word of Luxembourgish thrown in for effect. People are serious but very nice. Bicycles are everywhere (no helmets, of course.)
Like I said, it was a quiet Sunday, so I will get a better sense of things tomorrow.
d
We are back in Lisbon.
Within the fortress walls were many shops which, curiously, all seemed to sell linens. There were also a couple of cafes and Portuguese restaurants. (If i never see another olive again, it may be too soon.) And of course there were a few small churches. On our first day there we explored this area. On the second day we went to Spain.
Spain lies just across the river and is accessible by means of a bridge built in 1886 and designed by Gustave Eiffel himself. It took us just less than 15 minutes to make the journey. The town on the other side is Tui. Don´t ask me how to pronounce it. At first glance it is a depressing roadside town, best glimpsed from a passing car, but if one heads towards the river there is a beautiful little town, 5 or 6 hundred years old and centred around a large cathedral. We walked through the steeply winding streets and had a coffee. (You can smoke inside there, something that is not possible in Portugal.) After about 5 hours of blind exploration, we returned home, had dinner and watched the sky darken from our hotel room.
Today we took the train back to Lisbon; a pleasant journey that took about 6 hours. We spent out last evening having dinner and taking one final walk around the castle.
We have an early and long trip home tomorrow via Frankfurt and Calgary (two cities not often mentioned together).
We will be in Vancouver Sunday evening.
d & b
Let us assure you that we are not suffering when it comes to breakfast. All of our hotels have had excellent breakfast offerings (complete with dessert), and the hotel in Porto has been no exception. Oh yeah, and the food is free, which is quite remarkable, when you consider how inexpensive these lodgings are (relative to North America).
So, after eating, we went walking in the sunshine, which was lovely – particularly considering we awoke to rain. We visited the imposing Se Cathedral and numerous other churches, which are always wonderful. We never tire of them, and apparently nor do the Portuguese, as there always seems to be a mass underway. We are not yet converts.
We strolled across the impressive bridge spanning the Douro – i forget the name of the bridge, there are 5 of them, but only one is impressive. The bridge was designed by an unnamed assistant to Gustave Eiffel.
Having worked up an appetite, we had the most glorious long lunch on the river front, sitting in the sunshine, snacking on olives, and seafood (Betty Lou) and smoking a cigar (me) all the while being serenaded by a lively duo on the accordion & guitar. It was perfect.
Not wanting to leave the river, we took an hour long cruise down the river.
We capped off the evening with hot chocolate and truffles at a super stylish and beautiful hotel, like something out of Wallpaper magazine. Very glamorous.
Today we were sort of out of things to do. We visited a few more churches and took a tour of the Palacio de Bolsa, which was once the stock exchange and commercial centre. It was very beautiful.
After a decadent afternoon nap we were on our way to tea when we stumbled across a group of university students dressed in their black suits & capes playing Portuguese music on the street (accordions, various stringed instruments, drums, etc). Very delightful. Even without anything planned we always manage to find entertainment and delights.
We will be catching an early morning train to Valença do Minho, the last stop as we wander north.
d & b
Greetings from Oporto (or Porto, if you prefer).
We arrived at our hotel, the Grande Hotel de Paris, yesterday afternoon. It is a lovely old hotel, charming in its faded elegance, decorated with antiques and delicate staircases. We just had the breakfast this morning, which was fantastic.
Yesterday we visited the beautiful sao Fransisco church, museum and catacombs. We stopped for lunch and Betty Lou decided to sample the grilled sardines. There were four large fish on a plate, complete with their tails and tragic faces, which I covered with leaves of lettuce out of respect (and disgust). She reports that they were tasty, but difficult to eat.
We then walked along the banks of the Rio Douro, and looked across to the south bank where all of the port is made. This inspired us, so we paid a visit to Vinologia, a cozy & rustic drinking establishment that describes itself as a ´Port School`, as it provides education with each glass. Betty Lou and & i did a beginner´s tasting of three ports each. (That´s right, Betty Lou was drinking again!)
We spent the rest of our evening walking through the city and stopped for a coffee at the Majestic Cafe, which certainly lives up to its name.
The weather again today is grey and a bit drizzly, but we hold out hope for sunshine.
That is all for now. More to come later. We are off to a market and, what else, more cathedrals.
d & b
Sunday in Coimbra is a quiet day, unless you are a church goer. All of the shops and most of the cafes & restaurants are closed. Thankfully, we completed the majority of our site seeing yesterday, so today we really didn´t have anything planned except continued exploration of the city. It was again a bit chilly and drizzly today, so after an excellent breakfast at our B&B we walked around for several hours before returning ´home´ for a nap.
We were awakened by the sound of a marching band parading through the streets. They were very near to us but from our window we couldn´t see them, even though we saw people from a street over looking down on the random parade.
At about 4pm we went out and one of the small pedestrian, residential streets that we have passed frequently was suddenly enlivened by a path of carefully arranged flowers and leaves leading down the winding road. We saw a couple of elderly women laying out the flowers. We discovered that this was in honor of an old ritual, the Festa Na. Sa. Boa Morte, which is an annual procession from a cathedral in honor of the virgin Mary. We went to the church and sat for about 45 minutes of the mass before the procession started. (this is by far the longest time that i have spent in church as an adult) The procession was led by a priest and assorted church officials carrying banners, then a group of scouts carrying a life size figures of Mary, lying in repose among flowers and gilded angels. A marching band followed, playing sober music, and behind the band, was a group of people. Rose petals marked the path of the procession around the city. Along the route, people hung colorful fabric from their windows and watched the pious parade. It was quite a wonderful scene.
Coimbra has been a delight, full of unexpected events. Tomorrow after breakfast we catch a train north to Oporto.
Boa Noite.
We arrived here Saturday morning after a short & lovely trains ride (first class) through pastoral environs. Coimbra is a town dating back about nearly 1000 years. It was originally the capital of Portugal and presently is best know for being home to one of the oldest universities in Europe. There is a a winding, walled historic centre on a hilltop surrounding the university (the area where we are staying).
We are staying at a small bed & breakfast, Casa Pombal. It has ten tiny rooms surrounding a precarious flight of stairs up four stories. (Dawn & Ron: the climb is like the Biscuit Palace in New Orleans.) Everything is bright and cheerful, including the small courtyard patio, filled with flowers. Our room is in the attic with excellent views of the city & river.
We first visited the university, which is from the 1500s. It was quite impressive. There were ceremonial halls and classrooms that looked like they belongs at Hogwarts, and a lovely church, but the best thing of all was the library, the Biblioteca Joanina. It was the most beautiful library i have ever seen. It was built in the early 1700s and houses 300,000 ancient books in ornate black & gold bookcases inlaid with chinoiserie designs. the ceilings and archways look like something out of a baroque church and there are huge reading tables and ladders to reach the uppermost volumes. The extra cool thing is that it is also home to a flock of bats that that sleep in hidden crevices and come out at night to eat insects that may otherwise destroy the books, so every evening, the floors and tables are covered by the caretaker, who let us in with the use of a giant skeleton key. Very cool.
After the university we meandered along and stumbled across a wonderful street party\market where crafts people sold their wares and other people cooked up tasty treats, which we sampled. There was a DJ and giant cushions on the step on which to relax.
We visited so many churches, that i shall not name them all, but they were all beautiful. (At one we even saw people singing and taking communion.)
One thing that bears mentioning is that at the moment it is the Quiemba das Fitas, the festival that marks the end of the university year. There is the usual student revelry (drunkenness), but here the students also have a ritual in which they burn ribbons of the color that represents their faculty (red for law, yellow for medicine, etc). The students are everywhere dressed in formal costume: Long black capes, black suits and many also wear black hats. It is very dramatic, seeing groups of them walking to various parties with their capes flowing behind them.
It was a wonderful day. It is a bit cooler here than it has been in the past week or so, and it even rained a bit last night.
Today we shall explore a bit more and tomorrow we catch a train to Porto.
d & b
