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Luxembourg Puts the "Lux" in Luxury
People always seem to be puzzled whenever I tell them I want to live in Luxembourg. Why would I love Luxembourg so much if its even more expensive than France and has less ancient history circling it? Well I will tell you. But first I must explain the events leading up to my arrival in Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. So Paul and I left St. Christopher's later than expected and wasn't able to make the 7am train. Therefore, w were hoping to just walk on to the 8:30am train and be fine, but of course, being France, they just have to complicate things. Supposedly, all the spots for eurorail holders were filled going to Luxembourg until 2:00pm. Being the only remaining spot for the day, we had to take it. The only positive to come out of this was that I got to catch up on my sleep. With six hours to kill, Paul and I got some food and then set up shop between two ticket machines and went to sleep. I feel you can only say you've truely backpacked after you've slept in a train station. Even though I slept from the morning to early afternoon, I feel it still counts. After dozing off a couple more tiems between 12:00 and 1:00, Paul and I gathered our stuff and left for the platform. The rest of the day was easy going. Finding the hostel was easy seeing as it was the only hostel in the small city and just walking through the city to find it, I could see this palce was not what I had expected.
I had expected large houses and tall buildings. There were the large buildings, but the houses were not extravagent whatsoever for being the richest country per capita. Granted I was only visiting one place, but it was still the capital and I was expecting something spectacular. Instead, I found a former fortress city with ruins, acqueducts, and a valley with quiant houses linging a rive passing through the city. Sounds ppretty picturesque don't it? Well it was. The medieval ruins of fortresses and walls are all over the place, especially near the hostel, and the acqueducts were huge. Looking over the bridges, one sees the valley which is dotted with houses lined up on the river that flows through what the locals call "Old Luxembourg." "New Luxembourg" is basically separarted by a couple bridges and consists of shopping centers and large office buildings. Even newer buildings are considered old because of the foundations they are built on. Personally, its one of the best aspects of the city. Because of the valley and walls, everything is on different levels and roads wind up and down them. Its just so European without the tourism. And to top it off, they are a multi-cultured country. Speaking French, Duetch, German, and English, the shopping areas provide ample delicious food and clothing stores. Its quiet, small, elegant, historic, can be explored in a day or two, and has a surprising active night life. What else can you ask for? If I live in Luxembourg when I'm older, I'll know I did something right. As for the hostel I stayed in, as well as the city, it was the cleanest place I've ever stayed. And I know clean. Basically take France and go to the polar opposite end of the cleaniness spectrum and you will have Luxembourg. I was in heaven. 
Much to my dismay, I wasn't staying long enough to really immerse myself in the culture, but I did hit most of the marquee sights in my only full day and left for Brussels, Belguim the next morning. However, this was not before joining the locals in a Christmas market celebration complete with barrels and barrels of mulled wine.
People always seem to be puzzled whenever I tell them I want to live in Luxembourg. Why would I love Luxembourg so much if its even more expensive than France and has less ancient history circling it? Well I will tell you. But first I must explain the events leading up to my arrival in Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. So Paul and I left St. Christopher's later than expected and wasn't able to make the 7am train. Therefore, w were hoping to just walk on to the 8:30am train and be fine, but of course, being France, they just have to complicate things. Supposedly, all the spots for eurorail holders were filled going to Luxembourg until 2:00pm. Being the only remaining spot for the day, we had to take it. The only positive to come out of this was that I got to catch up on my sleep. With six hours to kill, Paul and I got some food and then set up shop between two ticket machines and went to sleep. I feel you can only say you've truely backpacked after you've slept in a train station. Even though I slept from the morning to early afternoon, I feel it still counts. After dozing off a couple more tiems between 12:00 and 1:00, Paul and I gathered our stuff and left for the platform. The rest of the day was easy going. Finding the hostel was easy seeing as it was the only hostel in the small city and just walking through the city to find it, I could see this palce was not what I had expected.
I had expected large houses and tall buildings. There were the large buildings, but the houses were not extravagent whatsoever for being the richest country per capita. Granted I was only visiting one place, but it was still the capital and I was expecting something spectacular. Instead, I found a former fortress city with ruins, acqueducts, and a valley with quiant houses linging a rive passing through the city. Sounds ppretty picturesque don't it? Well it was. The medieval ruins of fortresses and walls are all over the place, especially near the hostel, and the acqueducts were huge. Looking over the bridges, one sees the valley which is dotted with houses lined up on the river that flows through what the locals call "Old Luxembourg." "New Luxembourg" is basically separarted by a couple bridges and consists of shopping centers and large office buildings. Even newer buildings are considered old because of the foundations they are built on. Personally, its one of the best aspects of the city. Because of the valley and walls, everything is on different levels and roads wind up and down them. Its just so European without the tourism. And to top it off, they are a multi-cultured country. Speaking French, Duetch, German, and English, the shopping areas provide ample delicious food and clothing stores. Its quiet, small, elegant, historic, can be explored in a day or two, and has a surprising active night life. What else can you ask for? If I live in Luxembourg when I'm older, I'll know I did something right. As for the hostel I stayed in, as well as the city, it was the cleanest place I've ever stayed. And I know clean. Basically take France and go to the polar opposite end of the cleaniness spectrum and you will have Luxembourg. I was in heaven. 
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