A Grand Duchy Indeed

Another weekend is behind us, and another country has been added to our list of places we've been. This past weekend we struck off for Luxembourg.  Neither of us had ever visited the world's only Grand Duchy, and with a free weekend while the weather is still nice, we figured why not?

We decided to make it a one-night trip so that Todd could catch up on his sleep a bit on Friday night.  The boy is in 2 fantasy football leagues (NFL), each of which held their drafts at 2am NL time on different days last week. That, coupled with actually needing to go to work instead of adjusting to the time difference from the US, meant that Todd deserved a little R&R.  So Saturday morning we headed off, and checked 2 more countries off of Jack's travel list too.  We stopped for gas in Belgium, where Jack made her mark (if you know what I mean) on the country, which I think means we can officially count it.  

Upon arrival and after checking into the hotel, we first stopped for some baguette, cheese, and meat sandwiches...

And then we headed to our first stop, Le Bock du Casemates.  Le Bock is a natural cliff that overlooks a valley in Luxembourg City.  Over the centuries, beginning in 1644, tunnels were dug through the cliffs and used by the military.  They also carved out over 50 holes in the cliffside where cannons were placed to protect the city.

The tunnels are down to 40 meters deep at points.

Obligatory panorama.

After our trip the le Bock, we headed back to grab Jackaroo and take her on a walk through the valley.  There are 2 rivers that run through Luxembourg City, which create beautiful valleys.  Here's some photos from our walk:

Aren't they cute?

Pont Adolphe.

Trying to emulate the sign.

Heading back up.

All three of us were a little tuckered out and ready for some refreshments afterwards, so we stopped at a cafe.  And I must brag that Jack was a rockstar at this cafe, at one point she even did this:

This dog is definitely becoming more European.

It was interesting to visit such a small country that's smashed in between a few others.  It was hard to know which language they were speaking.  At most places, I could communicate in French, but they'd throw in some words here and there that I had never heard before. And their accents were definitely different from what I've heard in France and Belgium. The architecture and all around vibe of the city were also somewhat hard to pinpoint.  Lots of the buildings looked French, but the landscape felt very German. It was a very interesting mix of styles.

Following our walk and stop at the cafe, we left Jack in the hotel and headed to dinner.  We went to an Italian place feeling very hungry, so we ordered the "Pasta 5 Ways", which was noted to be a dinner for at least 2.  I think the menu should say that meal should be split between at least 3 people, because we were served an astounding amount of pasta.  Here's me not even halfway through my meal and already feeling full:

How many more bites?

They don't do doggy bags at restaurants in Europe, so I tried my best.  My best, however, was nowhere near Todd's best.  He cleaned his plate like a champ:

He did it! Gold star.

Other than the feeling of never wanting to eat again following the meal, it was really delicious. The pesto was my fave.  We made our way back home through the center of town and happened upon a concert in the square.

Their final number was "I Feel Good", dunna nunna nunna nuh.

On Sunday, we prepared for more walking with a great breakfast at our hotel.  Amazingly, my stomach had returned to its normal size and my body told me to feed it again.  After breakfast, we followed a city walking tour through the area of the city called the Grund.  It's located in the valley and feels very medieval.

We're not in the Netherlands anymore, lots of hills!

Old city wall walkway.

After our tour, we stopped for lunch at another outdoor cafe that Jack could enjoy along with us.  We then left Luxembourg City for the small village of Larochette to do a little hiking.

At this point in the day, we had probably already walked for over 2 hours, but we still had some steam left for a hike.  And I'm so glad we did.   The hike started at some castle ruins perched on top of some giant cliffs.

We then weaved our way along the trail, which ended up being very diverse with corn fields, forest, and views of cute little towns.

Side tongue.

The loop was 6.7km long with lots of ups and downs, so it was a perfect hike for a Sunday afternoon. 

Following another cafe stop, we hit the road for home.  It was a great spontaneous family trip to Luxembourg!