Luxembourg

After I had my fill with Brussels I decided to move on to Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a small country and the city, also called Luxembourg, is relatively small as well; I walked around the Old town in about 30 mintues. The city does extend beyhond the old portion but it is mainly residential. Luxembourg, the city, is very interesting. I was able to go to a museum dedicated entirely to the history of the city.

The legend of Luxembourg is that a King was walking along the river when he spotted the most beautful princess he had ever seen. The King approached the princess and requested her hand in marriage, as was appropriate in those days. The princess agreed but with one condition that one day a week would be her's alone and the King could not know what she was doing or enquiry to her whereabouts or she would disappear. The King agreed and they lived happily for many years and the King built the city of Luxembourg in her honor. However, on one of the princesses personal days the King had to know what she was doing; so he snuck to her room and looked through the keyhole. And to his surprise she was a mermaid, go figure. When the King saw what she was he let out a moan that gave him away and the princess disappeared forever. Some still look for the princess along the river banks. This story is all well and good but apparently it wasn't created until the middle of the 19th century, and in France, and was only later used by Luxembourg.

I also had the chance to go to the national museum and it was incredible, I highly recommend it. They have exhibits for both prehistory, tools, pottery and even 8000 year old human remains and protohistory, bronze and iron ages. There is also an extensive Roman exhibit. All the pieces in the musuem were discovered in Luxembourg. In the roman exhibit there was a giagantic mosaic floor, it was stunning the size of the floor given that they used tiles that are a centimeter by a centimeter. Also, the museum it self was quite the spectical. It was built into the ground and the walls are glass and you can see the rock they dug into.

The city itself is very interesting, it was original built on the Bock, which is a plateau surrounded on three sides by valleys. It was quite difficult to walk around the perimeter but in the centre it was quite flat.

I highly recommend Luxembourg.

Top Photo: A view of one of the 3 valleys surrounding Luxembourg
Bottom Photo: A glimpse into every-day city life