New England foliage is incredible and I am sure no one will disagree. I love our foliage road trip in 2021 to Vermont to photograph those cute farms. I always wonder what would those fairytale villages and castles look like in the fall in Europe? At the end of September last year (2022), I booked the trip to Brussels, Belgium where we started our road trip to Luxembourg (on the way) to Cochem, Germany, to the Alsace region in France, and back to Belgium.
We landed in Brussels in the morning, got our rental car, and drove 2.5 hours directly to Luxembourg; it’s on the way to Cochem so why not to check off another country? Luxembourg is one small country but super wealthy with banking. We stayed at Hotel Parc Plaza ($175 for one night) as it’s within walking distance to the center of Luxembourg City and has a garage to park our car. We arrived before 2 PM, checked in, and walked to the center to explore while the weather was decent (it was forecasted to rain in the afternoon).
Pont Adolphe as we were approaching the center:
We quickly visited the post office so Jason can get stamps to add to his collection and then to a quick lunch. It was late and not many choices left for lunch so we stopped at Sushi Shop. We got salmon sashimi with avocado on rice for Jason:
I ordered a beef stick rolled with cheese and gyoza. Those were small…
One order of gyoza only has 2 sigh…note that Luxembourg’s primary languages are French and German and it’s not a tourist country so the menus are in French and German only! I was guessing so didn’t pay attention to the quantity per order.
The quick lunch in an expensive country? €28!!! Anyways, I should be okay till dinner! Next, we walked to the Grand Ducal Palace, the official residence of the grand duke of Luxembourg, for a quick photo. This is only open for visits during the summertime so we didn’t get a chance to go in. When we were there, the guard was walking back and forth from the booth at the entrance to one end of the building. It looked like a repetitive and boring job.
Then, we walked down to the Le Chemin de la Corniche, it’s a “balcony” that offers views of the Old Quarter and the Bock Casement Ruins below. Along the way, the sidewalk was under repair…
Stairs and stairs….
The postcard view of Luxembourg City!
The sun came out and it was actually warm!
We walk along the “balcony” for different views.
The Bock Casement Ruins (underground system of passages) was closed for repair so we couldn’t make a visit 🙁
A look back to the city center:
There’s also a sightseeing “train”:
To get down, we would not have found the route by ourselves so thanks to Google Maps! It was a short 10 minutes walk down and through this bridge:
Then along the wall to the community garden:
We were up there and the view from down here is different. We placed our camera along the wall of the bridge and took this photo of us – our 46th country!
The Stierchen Bridge, I wish they trim that bush/tree on the left!
This angle has a better view of the bridge but couldn’t see much of the old town behind.
The sky got gloomier and it started to drizzle, we had our umbrella that we never need to use it in Jason’s camera backpack and it was partially broken oops! We walked back to our hotel, Hotel Parc Plaza and saw a Tesla taxi in front of the hotel LOL!
Our room, it was compact but clean and comfortable for one night stay.
That chair was comfortable that Jason wants to take a nap on it!
Closet space in front of the bathroom:
The toilet:
We took a break, called our kids, and then walked back out to the center for our dinner at Batucada. We walked past Cathédrale Notre-Dame:
Batucada is a Brazilian seafood restaurant and urg only German and French menus. The waiter’s English was minimal so we rely on Google Translate to order.
We ordered the grilled calamari and it was yummy!
We each order a different seafood dish with curry and coconut milk but with a slight variation on other ingredients. We both loved the sauce on both dishes and with rice, it was our type of food and filling!
Dinner cost €85.80 plus €5 in tips; it was expensive but at least good and filling. My thought of Luxembourg? I was glad that I only planned half a day for it, there’s really not much to see or do. It was good that it was on the way so we can check off another country!
What a delightful adventure! Luxembourg’s charm shines through your vivid descriptions and lovely photos. A perfect blend of exploration and culinary experiences.
thank you!