The Other Spot

There are places in the world who you go with few references, prefixed with the idea that you will not find anything special and yet, when you arrive, you meet a charming city. That happened to me with Luxembourg. I visited a small break in one day from Belgium. Today I am glad I visited, because after Halloween, was the city that captivated me.

It’s a really beautiful city. A short train ride from Brussels (just 3 hours), you can visit and enjoy it in one day. And the windows of the train, an hour before arriving at the Gare Central Station, when you start to discover that was the right choice, because you descend to introduce Belgian plains in many landscapes and fresh mountain drawn by the mountain massif of the Ardennes, and the course of the Moselle.

The entry walk to Luxembourg, Grand Duchy’s capital, from the station, is spectacular, you have to cross a high viaduct from which we saw some excellent views of downtown, which rises imposingly on a large rock mass, and second, the river Pétrusse and all the beautiful gardens surrounding the historic districts. Our first visit is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, a beautiful baroque church built in the early seventeenth century.

From there we will enter the center through Rue Phillipe looking for the Place d’Armes, the main town, where we can enjoy the typical cuisine of the country one of its many restaurants. Next to this square is that of William II, where the town hall, preceded by two beautiful bronze lions. Opposite the square, the Grand Ducal Palace … and well, enjoying a pleasant stroll through the medieval streets, we headed to the nerve center and most tourist in the city: the Chemin de la Corniche, a spectacular ride on the edge of the pit dug Alzette River. To get here we went up through the narrow streets, so now the city is on two levels. At our feet extends from the city, with its gardens, and the river, drawing their curves between typical alpine house. At the top lies the old Spanish fort overlooking the city.

Just below this fort is the famous “Le Bock, a spur of rock excavated, and with rooms full of mazes and viewpoints, from which once protected the city is. Inside, in one of those small windows are still maintained some of those guns. And, finally, as we await the hour of the return to the station, where we awaited the train back to Brussels, we are the beautiful gardens that surround the old town. Just the sound of birds, water, or bicycles that pass through the many paths that have qualified in this huge park for this sport, is all that can alter the relaxation and tranquility of a unique city. A city made for rest.