We hit the ground running.
Day 1: Old Luxembourg and Indian food
After a brief driving tour to see some of the city quickly (they had just covered some serious pavement in Paris), we parked to check out the old fortifications of Luxembourg and stumbled upon the Bock Casemates, which I hadn't realized were right there (last time we visited, it was after closing and the gate was shut).
Good summary from the Visit Luxembourg site:
In 963, Count Siegfried built a fortified castle on the Bock promontory, which was soon to become the cradle of the city. In the course of the centuries, on the western side, mighty ring walls were added, which, however, did not foil the Burgundians in their attempt to conquer the city in 1443.
The best builder-engineers of the new masters (the Burgundians, the Spaniards, the French, the Austrians and the German Confederation) eventually turned the city into one of the most powerful emplacements in the world, the "Gibraltar of the North". Its defences were bolstered by three fortified rings with 24 forts, 16 other strong defensive works and a unique 23 km long network of casemates: these could not only shelter thousands of soldiers and their horses, but also housed workshops, kitchens, bakeries, slaughter-houses etc.
In 1867, after the declaration of neutrality,the military withdrew from the fortress and during the following 16 years 90% of the defences were demolished. In 1875, the superstructure of the Bock, a tremendous construction, was razed. However, it proved to be impossible to blow up the casemates, without also demolishing part of the city, so the entrances and the key connecting galleries were sealed. In spite of this, 17 kilometres of tunnels remain, often on different levels and tremendous stairways penetrate up to 40 metres inside the rock face.
Tremendous stairways, indeed! We climbed and descended tons of stairways, but it was extremely cool and I definitely want to go back with John again. I'll let some pictures do the talking:
Originally, we had planned to eat around the Hotel de Ville area, but the idea of walking more and a long dinner wasn't so appealing. Instead, we introduced Debbie and Keith to their first (delivery) Indian food (going tame with Chicken Tikka Masala - I ordered (extra) spicy Lamb Tikka Masala that was pretty good and nice and spicy).
Day 2: Vianden, Luxembourg and Bastogne, Belgium
We've been to both of these spots multiple times so I didn't take pictures. We took them to the gorgeous château (see Vianden post), had a snack, then headed back to grab John to drive to Bastogne to grab some Belgian chocolates and a Belgian dinner (I had mussels with citrus seasoning this time). It was a nice day.
Boo tried to feed our swan buddy some stale bread by hand. She didn't keep her hand flat and got nipped a little bit (totally fine, just scared - (s)he's a HUGE swan, probably as big as Boo). They should just cancel the Parent of the Year ceremony, as there's no competition.
Day 3: Echternach, Luxembourg and Trier, Germany
It was finally Saturday and John could come out to play! We headed to Castle Beaufort, some 11th century ruins near Echternach, Luxembourg (oldest town in Lux).
It was cool to see a castle that wasn't completely renovated and redone in the last century. This place had a prison, torture chamber, you name it!
Prison - note wall chains
After walking around, we picked up some bottles of Cassero, which is liquor the castle is apparently known for:
I'm bringing the bottles back to Ohio to share with whoever visits us!
The castle is pretty close to the German border, so it was only about 30 more minutes to Trier. We walked around and met up with Boo's buddy, Hazel, for a few mini carousel rides before dinner at Brassierie Trier, which Hazel's (German) mother recommended.
Then I enjoyed a salad with grilled prawns because eating all this rich food is getting to be a little much.
Day 4: Strasbourg, France
We had loved Strasbourg so much we decided to take Debbie and Keith back to enjoy it on Sunday. We have quickly learned that Sundays aren't exactly the day to go touristing if you like to go shopping as well. Lots of souvenir shops open, but not much else, save for restaurants. It was nice to see the cathedral again and notice a few features I had missed the first time, plus walk all the way around the outside. The cathedral was nicely lit at night as well.
This trip we had a little accident, but Boo is okay. I took her into the bathroom with me, and must have flipped the latch 360°, because a woman opened the door on me. I was frantically trying to close the stall door while she was weird and stood there staring at me, and the door wouldn't close as I pulled it harder. Finally I hear Boo's shrieks and realize she had put her fingers in the door hinge area and I was pulling the door against three of her poor fingers. They looked pretty ugly with a long pressure line in them, but cleared to a tiny bruise quickly. After lots of hugs and getting her to bend her fingers, then handing over a lollipop, she was completely fine.
Last day/morning: After a quick goodbye lunch and dropping them off to grab a bus to Brussels (to catch a plane to Venice, Italy), Boo and I took a glorious THREE hour nap and then we headed to Namur, Belgium for two days of adventuring.
We will head back to Lux tonight, and probably visit The Netherlands for the weekend. I'm a bit tired after around 9 miles of walking yesterday but I'll sleep when I'm dead.
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