Since I had Memorial Day off, I decided
to take a day trip to another country that is close by to Germany,
that would be Luxembourg. Again I find it very weird that I live in
a location that is only a few hours from a number of other countries,
I've never had that before and to be honest I probably never will
again. But, enough about that, you're not here to hear about
anything but the trip itself. :-)
Our first stop in our day trip
excursion to Luxembourg was to visit the city of Echternach, Luxembourg around 9am. This
is a very small town, probably actually a village, that houses an
Abbey of Echternach founded by a gentleman known as St. Willibrord. This was one
of the things that I had really wanted to visit. In the process of
looking at Echternach I found that they have a yearly dancing
procession that they are known for. Unfortunately this wasn't the
day we visited. We started out the day by eating breakfast at a small
little place that I believe was called La Petit Poete. Aside from
the cafe hostess only knowing French and some German (luckily we know
some German), we were able to order breakfast of some cappuccinos and
Croissants. They were very good, after driving for a few hours and
being very hungry.
We then started wandering around, and
found the Abby of Echternach and wandered into a small garden of the
Abbey where we were met by the groundskeeper who noticed us aimlessly
wandering. He, speaking German, directed us to the local tourist
office located right in front of the Abbey where you can get a map and
do a self guided walking tour of all the sites of the city. This
tour took us from the Abbey to its properties and other various sites
in the city.
One of which, perhaps my favorite, was periodic remains
of the city wall through the city. The residents have creatively
converted parts of the wall to apartments people can actually stay
in, including a tower that was apparently converted to apartments
specifically for tourist visitors. This might be a neat place to go
for a honeymoon or other romantic getaway in this quaint location. 
The next place we visited was Vianden Castle, in the village of you
guessed it, Vianden, Luxembourg. Now, if Echternach was quaint, I'd
almost call Vianden a little majestic. The castle itself was fascinating. It is one of the largest, fortified castles west of the
Rhine, and very beautiful. My only disappointment was that the
castle was organized more like a museum with exhibits in each room
behind glass cases, instead of letting you wander through and see
things like it might have actually been. But even still, it is
perhaps one of my favorite castles so far and I really enjoyed the
visit, especially seeing what I would call the Great Room and its'
spectacular view. I enjoyed the castle so much, that I am seriously
considering returning for a Medieval Festival they hold in the fall.
Next we decided to go down into the
village of Vianden for lunch. We decided to stop at a little place
that was called Beim Hunn.
This was a small restuarant and it looked like a hotel catering
towards bicyclists. The food was fantastic as well, and the service
wasn't too bad either. I had Chicken Cordon Bleu, and the portions
were more than generious. I salad I saw was comparable to the size
you might get at The Cheesecake Factory. Again, all of it was
delicious.
Finally our day in Luxembourg took us
to the capital itself of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. I slightly wish we
weren't there at the last part of the day and already pretty tired.
It is a quiet, yet very beautiful city. We visited the Casemates,
which apeared to be, or at least be near, a UNESCO World Heritage
site. It gave us a pretty spectacular view of the lower city of
Luxembourg. 
We also visited the Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg.
This cathedral again showed me that I love to see these old churches
in Europe. They are all so beautiful and fill you full of awe.
After wandering around taking many more pictures, we stopped again at
a small little coffee shop before heading home. Unfortunately I
can't remember the name, but it was lack-luster to me. 
I will say that the drive from Germany
and throughout Luxembourg was fantastically beautiful. The scenery
and the terrain was amazing and well worth the trip on it's own. My
only regret was something I found out after the fact, that I didn't
know that Luxembourg contained the largest American Cemetery outside
of the United States. Luckily that, in itself, is a reason to return
to Luxembourg again right? :-)
Again, this trip was a very enjoyable
trip. There are more things to see in Luxembourg since we were there
late and only saw a few. I definitely recommend a quick view, and I
think that a day trip was the right choice for me. I hope you can
enjoy Luxembourg too!
