Luxembourg

Trip Day 6 - November 4th - Part 1 - St Vith

My goal was to drive to Luxembourg, but not get there until 3 PM. Luckily, I have a weak bladder (TMI) plus I'm a procrastinator! I stopped at St Vith for a bio-break plus a coffee refill. 

The name of the town was familiar to me but I didn't really know why. While ordering coffee and a "snail" (Schnecke), I noticed everybody was speaking German. 

I took my snack upstairs and looked up St Vith. It used to belong to Luxembourg, then when Napoleon was defeated, it was given to the Germans (Prussians actually who spoke German). 

After World War 1, it was given to Belgium. Belgium is primarily a French or Flemish language country except around this area, where they speak German. I talked to some people sitting near me in German and they have a very northern German accent. 

St Vith was also important in the Battle of the Bulge, when Hitler was trying one last push to beat back the Allies in the West. Because of the defense of this town, the Germans were delayed getting to Bastogne and the Americans could get reinforcements there, basically halting the progress of the attack. (Which where I heard of it.) 

In Bastogne, General McAuliffe responded to the Germans offer of a surrender with one word "NUTS!" There was a movie called Battle of the Bulge made many years ago. There will be more on Bastogne later.

On the way back to the main highway to Luxembourg, I stopped in at the East Belgium Action and Karting Center because there was a sign for bowling (I carry my bowling shoes with me). My bad luck was that the place was closed on Monday but I went in anyway and spoke to the owner for 20 minutes. They also had an escape room, laser tag, and go carts. Amazing place!  

Trip Day 6 - November 4th - Part 2 - St Vith -> Luxembourg

I have never stayed in a 5-star hotel until now. Le Hotel Royal cost $350 a night, but it was amazing.

First of all is the service. I pulled up and the bellman took my luggage and told me where I could park in the underground garage.

When I left, they took my luggage to the garage, put it in the car, and drove my car up.

Secondly, this place had a ton of high-tech gadgets. No putting a do-not-disturb sign on the door. Just press the button. 

I overheard someone say that instead of staying at a 5-star hotel, stay at a 4-star hotel, and get a premium room or suite for the same price as a regular room at the 5-star. I may try that one day.

Trip Day 6 - November 4th - Part 3 - Luxembourg Tour

This is really 2 days of sightseeing combined - the evening with a private guide for an hour and then the next day.

I was disappointed with the one-hour tour. It was the only tour I could find and it was billed as "Explore Luxembourg in 60 minutes with a Local". 

Well, the person was not a native Luxembourger and the tour was pretty much just show some places. There was no historical explanation for anything. For example, there is an upper and a lower part of town. The upper part of town was fortified heavily.  The lower part is known as the "ground" (Grund in German). I had read some about Luxembourg before I came and I felt I knew more than she did.

The guide did show me the statue of the mermaid - Melusina - and told me the story about Melusina's husband not trusting her going off by herself on Saturdays, when she turned back into her true form. He spied on her and lost her forever. You can look it up. I did. I think there is a moral to the story. Anyway, the statue is pink, but the picture was taken at night.

After the guide showed me the first church and we went inside, I told her I don't care for churches but nevertheless she showed me another. I exited within 30 seconds and said, not interested (grumpy, grouchy and aren't you listening to me?) She realized that I wasn't going to stand for a third church so we saw Melusina instead.

I only stayed one night in Luxembourg. One of my goals was to see the Bock Casemates which protected the upper city. I think the lower city was probably settled by the poor, which is where we got the terms lower class and upper class from. Sounds plausible, right? Nah, probably not, but fun to speculate.

The next day before leaving, I walked back down to Grund and found that Bock Casemates was open. I paid the entry fee and explored it a bit.

Because I walked downhill some, I happened on a bus stop which took me back close to my hotel. Public Transportation (and trains) are free within Luxembourg. I walked through a mall and saw the pic of the perfume place.

Would I go back to Luxembourg? Probably not, but if I did, it would be in May or September because more stuff is open (such as the Ducal Palace). This was truly off-season.