Yesterday is a bit of a blur. I woke up early, after a tough pre-travel night’s sleep, and said goodbye to Joel outside our hotel. The plan (ah, that word!) was for him to take a bus to the airport so he could meet his son, son-in-law, and a friend in Turkey for a mountain bike trip. My plan was to take the tram to the train station and take a train to Luxembourg, via Brussels, for the third phase of my adventure – the solo travel portion. We had heard that there was going to be a train strike in Amsterdam, which is why Joel took a bus. The clerk at our hotel said my trains should not be affected. WRONG! Joel’s bus and plane rides went swimmingly. My journey was much more convoluted. I get to the train station and what do I see? ALL TRAINS ARE CANCELED!
I considered flying to Luxembourg ($$$$$) or renting a car (none available) and instead decided to take FLIX bus. The bus wasn’t scheduled to leave until 4:00 p.m., but I headed to the other train station thinking I could, perhaps, squeeze onto an earlier bus. Nope. Impossible. And then…my 4:00 p.m. bus is CANCELED. I rebook for a 5:55 p.m. bus to Brussels with an hour and a half layover before hopping onto another bus to Luxembourg, set to arrive at 2:25 a.m. Those two buses were NOT canceled. Although I arrived very late to my hotel, taking a taxi from the train station to my lodging rather than walking at that hour, my key and room were ready for my sleepy head.
When I decided to visit Luxembourg, I thought Joel and I would have been barging and biking in Germany on the Mosel and Saar rivers…so very close to Luxembourg…that trip, of course, was canceled due to low water levels in the Rhine River.
Oh, well, I woke up at 8:00 a.m., had a nice breakfast at my hotel, and headed out to explore this gorgeous city. After lunching on a veggie burger, salad, and beer, I took a very long and refreshing nap!
CANCELED!
Place Guillaume II: My hotel is on the plaza…which is under construction! Looks like some archeological digging happening, too. This is the equestrian statue of William II.
Bock Promontory: The old wall which once protected the city.
From the top of the old wall surrounding the city, I saw this cool configuration.
A beehive in a hollowed out and carved tree!
Another beehive.
Mermaid sculpture along the former moat.
View of the Corniche.
Luxembourg’s first monument honoring victims of the Holocaust.
On 17 June, 2018, a monumental 4-meter high sculpture commemorating the victims of the Holocaust was inaugurated in Luxembourg City. It is a work by Shelomo Selinger, a French-Israeli artist of Polish origin who is a survivor of nine concentration camps, among them Theresienstadt. [https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/news-archive/unveiling-luxembourgs-first-monument-honouring-victims-holocaust]
Building seen when meandering around town.
Vases in front of a museum.
Lunch, then NAP!
