So… “why Luxembourg?”, you might be thinking. Aside from it being a country I have yet to visit, it also happens to have a direct flight from Malta and is just a couple hours away from Kaiserslautern in Germany. And why would I be headed to Kaiserslautern? You will have to wait until the next post to find that out.
The added bonus, however, was figuring out the historic town of Bastogne in Belgium lies just about 40 miles away from Luxembourg City. As a huge WWII history buff, this city is a must see.
Day 1 – Monday, April 20
The direct flight from Malta was uneventful and I landed about 7:30 p.m and stepped off the airplane into chilly weather of about 50 degrees Inside the terminal, I was pleased to see this sign:
All public transportation in Luxembourg is free and all the buses are 100% electric and appear to be almost all brand-new. The trip to the Airbnb where I was staying would require 3 buses. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate the third bus (the stop had been moved due to construction) so I ended up in a taxi for the last leg. I was in bed by 10:30.
Day 2 – Tuesday, April 21
Happy birthday to me. A year ago, I certainly would have predicted that I would be waking up in Luxembourg, but here I am. I decided to head to Bastogne today. It’s a bit of complicated trip on public transportation but after a couple of hours on a bus, train, and another bus, I arrive. One interesting note: you don’t need a ticket to get on the train in Luxembourg, but as soon as it crosses the border, a ticket checker magically appears out of nowhere to make sure you have a ticket for the Belgian portion of the trip. I did.
I headed straightaway to the Bastogne War Museum, where I spent several hours. The self-guided audio tour was excellent. The only disappointment was that the Bois Jacques, the forested area where U.S. forces dug in and endured the Battle of the Bulge (you may have heard of this from watching Band of Brothers), was a 45 minute walk from the museum and no shuttle was provided. It was late in the afternoon and I wasn’t really dressed for a long walk in the cold so I didn’t see it. I will next time.
I decided to spend the night in Bastogne and treated myself to a nice dinner at Wagon-Leo Brasserie where I tried a local delicacy, civet de marcassin stew. Yes, wild boar stew. And no, probably wouldn’t order it again.
Day 3, Wednesday, April 22
I was up early and was back in Luxembourg city before 9 a.m. I got the most expensive workout ever after paying 30 Euros (about $34) for a one day pass. Was it worth it? Hard to say, but I like to see the maximum number of pull-ups I can do every year on my birthday to see how I compare from one year to the next. I did 23, which is a couple fewer than last year. Not bad for 64 years old, if I say so myself. Don’t believe me? Here’s a video from a few days ago.
Later that afternoon, I went on an E-bike tour. It was a very enjoyable excursion and we covered almost 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) . Besides our guide, Malik, I was joined by two other couples, one from Minneapolis and the other from Australia. They were great company.
After the tour, I headed back to a charming area called Grund and then tried mafe and fufu at a nearby African fusion restaurant called Odum .The hostess was very gracious in showing me how to properly eat my dinner with my hands.
Day 4, Thursday, April 23
On my last day in Luxembourg, I decided to go on a long hike. I took a bus to nearby Rumelange and started 7.3 mile trek ending up in the town of Kayl near the Luxembourg-France border. It was a gorgeous day with even more beautiful country side. I happened upon a restaurant in Kayl where I enjoyed some really good sushi and spring rolls.
After lunch, I decided to head to Germany. Just as the bus I was on crossed over the border, we were pulled over by the police who boarded the bus and checked everyone’s identification. Interesting considering we were crossing over an unprotected border within the EU.
After checking into a hotel in Saarbrucken (which means “bridge over the Saar”), I enjoyed a nice Turkish dinner at a restaurant overlooking the… you guessed it… Saar River.
Day 5, Friday, April 24
I was up early for a bit of sightseeing in Saarbrucken.
After lunch, I got on a train for Kaiserslautern. Unfortunately, I got on wrong train but at least it was going in the right direction. There was a very nice older woman sitting near me who apparently noticed my concern when I realized what I had done. Though she spoke no English, I was able to make out most of what she was saying and got off two stops later at St. Ingbert, waited for about 15 minutes and got on the right train. On this train as we stopped at a station 3 or 4 stops from my destination, soccer fans wearing the bright red colors of the Kaiserslautern soccer team started streaming on board. One sat next to me, two beers in hand. By the next stop, he had helped me to buy a ticket online for my first ever Bundesliga 2 match. A nice surprise, but not the reason I was heading there. More about that in my next post.
Leave a Reply