Around The World – Luxembourg
Editorial note: I’ve made several very short stops, so I’m going to try to get caught up.
My goal on this leg of the trip is to get to Strasbourg, France, but I decided to stay over in Luxembourg because it’s on the way on the train and it seems mildly interesting and I get to count it on my country list. the 40th one.
Luxembourg was launched as a village in Roman times when a fortified tower sprang up at the site of the crossing of two roads. Later an abbey was built, then a market and the rest is history, leading to the Grand Duchy it is today, and the world’s only remaining Grand Duchy. It’s a representative democracy, retaining the Grand Duke Henri as head of state. Due to the geography, it’s naturally fortified and has been called The Gibraltar Of The North. You can see the huge cliffs over the valley in the pictures. The city center is full of great architecture. It has the second highest per capita GDP in the world, leading with finance and corporate headquarters. Something like 90,000 French people come into Luxembourg to work every day. They’re not especially loved by the locals.
Now, Luxembourg is small. Really small. Like, they recently had the whole country carpeted. Like, Rhode Island could beat the crap out it in a war. Anyone get the reference? OK, let’s move on.
I woke up with the alarm at 8 AM on my last morning in Amsterdam and saw an alert from CNN on my phone that Brussels is in the highest level of security alert, especially sports stadiums, the airport and the train station. Fuck. Well after my travel safety rant the other day, I’m not going near any of that. I found a routing through Frankfurt, departing about 3 hours earlier so I had to quickly pack and get into the Centraal station. This is where the power of the “Eurail Global 2 Month” pass comes in. I just find something else I like and get on and sit down in First Class. Some routes you have to make a “reservation” and pay a small fee but they’re generally avoidable.
I got to the station in time and the train pulls in about 15 minutes late so I hop up and get to the first class cabin. For my first Eurail trip, it’s pretty sweet. 2 seats one side, 1 seat the other side, comfortable reclining seats, a flip-down table, adjustable foot rest and a power jack but no Wifi that I can find. Never underestimate the joy of a good foot rest. There’s only me and one lady in the whole section, with about 33 seats. There are even 4 little cabins which seat 4 people each. Second class looks pretty good too, 2 – 2 seats, about the same space as first class on a 757. To confirm my trip, all I have to do is write the train details into a line in the form that comes with my ticket, that makes it legit. This is very important for the Eurail passes that limit the number of travelling days you can have, but I have unlimited travel for 2 months so it doesn’t matter, but I’ll fill it in anyway for historical purposes.
A group of four shouting Chinese girls piled in to the compartment and I was sure they were in the wrong place. After a while a conductor explained their ticket and they moved to the second class coach. Man, sometimes it’s good to be a 1%er. Oh damn, I’ve gone over to the dark side. I feel this urge to vote for Donald Trump! Somebody shoot me!
The highest speed I saw on the display was 288 km/h or 180 mph. Man we’re flying! Zoom!
Small connectivity problem. My Netherlands SIM quit on me right on schedule at the German border. My 3 Network UK SIM’s free roaming feature doesn’t work in Germany and there’s no Wifi on the train, so I’m very detached from the world. I’m marathon watching Wheeler Dealer Season 12 and watching the countryside pass by, and it feels very relaxing.
I ended up arriving in Frankfurt about 50 minutes late and I missed my connecting train to Koblenz->Luxembourg City. Using the handy Eurail Rail Planner app with its huge local cache of schedules, I quickly found the next train going there, spotted the track on the big station display and walked right into the first class coach as it was sitting there waiting to leave in about 20 minutes. This coach has an older feel to it, but big comfortable cloth chairs, fold-down tables, foot rests (!) but no power or Wifi. I’m on here for about an hour and a half so I guess I’ll just have to eat my banana and some of the giant Toblerone I got on the train ferry coming over from Copenhagen. You know the one I’m talking about.
I transfer in Koblenz just long enough to have a sandwich. Tricky third and last train of the day is 3 train numbers and destinations in one physical train. At some point, coaches will be disconnected and go in different directions, so it’s vitally important that you get into the correct coach when you board the train. This coach is the best yet, ultramodern, 3 levels and first class feels like a private jet. 2 – 1 again but leather seats, power plug and curved windows on the top level, the view would be better in the daytime but wow. If only America could get its shit together and build inter-city train lines like this. Still no Wifi. Being on the top there is no overhead luggage space but I’m alone in the compartment so I just put it at the bottom of the opposite seat. The lights are bright in here, feels like an operating room. The conductor and a trainee just came by to check my ticket and they confirmed I’m in the right coach to get to Luxembourg. Whew!
I arrive in Luxembourg, now need to get down to my Airbnb neighbourhood. Luckily the terminal had free Wifi so I could get Google Maps to give me directions to the house. My Airbnb host Maria told me to take any train towards Bettembourg, so I did, two stops and a cold 15 minute walk through town and I found the house. 12 hours overall for the trip, but safe and sound with no incidents. Although I sent them a message this morning that I would be later than my original plan, they were worried that something went wrong and were amazed that I had to avoid Brussels today and go via Frankfurt.
Maria is Finnish and her husband Terry is Irish, they have an 8 year old boy Noah. Maria immediately brought me into the living room, sat me down with a blanket and a beer and a bowl of pistachios and we all had a rambling conversation about terrorism in general and guns in America. Although I only booked for one night, they offered me to stay another night, I told them I was thinking about that and they said I could stay for free. The also invited me to Sunday lunch with their friends but it’s a 5 hour thing with lots of wild game meat and I want to go into town for the day and explore. A few drinks into the night, Maria kept trying to explain that she thought I was a “dickhead” from my Airbnb profile but she was happy that I’m more interesting than that. She offered me the room because she wanted to see how much of a dickhead I was. She kept laughing, saying “octo-something vegan”. Given this reception to my profile, I think I’ll be rewriting it a bit! It looks like the less information the better in your Airbnb profile. Lesson learned.
Terry’s friends Martin and Owen came over for drinks and to play pool. I think I represented myself well, won 2 games in a row with some good shots including a triple-combo! They said that the cops here hate French people, so it’s best to speak Engish if you get pulled over, you’ve got a chance of talking your way out of it. There is a local Luxembourgish language, separate yet closely related to German, but it’s not widely used.
In the morning, I did an Instant Book at an Airbnb in Strasbourg for tomorrow for two days. It was confirmed and my card was charged so I thought I was locked in. If only…
I took the train two stops into the city and walked towards the Notre Dame cathedral (it seems every city in Europe has one), across a very scary bridge over the deep valley but I was very brave and made it across without incident. It’s a sunny and brutally cold day, just about freezing with strong winds. Everyone is bundled up, including the street-clogging Chinese tour groups.
I stopped for a raspberry tart and hot chocolate and read my book. While there, I got a notification from the Airbnb host “Sorry it is not Accepted thanks.” I replied that it was an Instant Book, confirmed and paid for. He then wrote back “Please Michael am sorry, did not kwon how you was acceptted that is why beacuse I need a time to prepere so the chambre,if you will arive araond 19h it will be ok thanks.” Why try to reject me if you just need until 7 PM to have the room ready? I’m fine with that, just don’t be an ass, and try to understand how your end of Airbnb works.
I then continued walking around the old city center until I came to the Christmas Market. Dozens of wooden kiosks had been brought in, filled mostly with food and hot wine but lots of Christmas-y gift booths and a ferris wheel. I had a hot red wine and later a german soft pretzel with nutella inside!
Luxembourg feels like it could be any small city started in ancient European times. Just the quirks of geography and war have made it into its own little country. And the carpeting is quite nice.
Tomorrow, off to Strasbourg.
