Luxembourg

So in the process of writing, and moving along with the semester, I happened to forget/ purposely not include for sake of time/just flat out didn’t want to post about some things I have done. One of these was the CIEE day trip to Luxembourg back in early March. With all the traveling I’ve done since, this trip may not seem as big in comparison but it was still Luxembourg and was a great and interesting day. We went on a Thursday, so we got to miss class which was nice, but we also had to leave at 7, which meant getting up at 6, not nice.

We started the day with a visit to the European Investment bank. Not it’s new nice and shiny building that’s just a few years old, but rather its older contemporary, which sees less action as a result. We gathered in the buildings large meeting room, where we were given a presentation on the European Investment bank, what it does, and how it works. To be honest, a lot of what was said went way over my head, but I believe the general premise was that companies gives the bank money, which the bank then invests in order to make more money. I am smart.

Leaving Luxembourg’s modern financial district, otherwise known as home for the money of rich people, we then traveled to the city center. I’ll admit, I did not know much about the actual city of Luxembourg before the trip. From what I knew, it was just that tiny country south of Belgium where celebrities and companies hide their money from taxes. What I did not realize was how much of a creative cityscape Luxembourg is. The center of the city sits atop of what is essentially a plateau of sorts, really a flat hill, and is surrounded by a series of walls. The original city wall stands on the hill, protecting the city from the surrounding valleys. To put this in perspective, here is how the walls of the city centre stand out:

You can also see the old aqueducts that tower above the valleys as well as the modern bridges enacted to connect the city centre to the outside world. 

We were given a walking tour of the city centre which included stops at the city wall, a few churches, one old and one newer, and the outside of many official government buildings. It was amazing to see just how open everything was. We were abled to walk right by official government offices and even the palace of the monarch with very little security presence or restrictions.

We left Luxembourg in the middle of the afternoon to continue the day in the Namur region of Wallonia. There, we stopped at a private castle that has been passed through generations of the same family, known as the Chateau de Veves. The castle is located in a quiet little valley, and was reached by a dirt road that proved difficult for the double decker bus we rode. The castle itself is on top of a hill overlooking the surrounding valley:

Looking away, you can actually glimpse another castle in the opposing hillside. Apparently this one was nicer, but is now condemned and unsafe to visit. Oh well.

After taking some selfies:

Nice Tiara

And seeing where the facilities ended up:

We received a guided tour. I went with the French speaking tour guide, so despite understanding a bit of what he was saying, nothing really managed to stay with me. But to be informative, the castle is old, a family lived there, and this is what the rooms looked like:

Shhhh, she's sleeping

It was cool to explore, although quite chilly for what had been a fairly warm day. Afterwards, we headed to our program dinner for the night, which was held at what I assume is a small restaurant. However, it did not look like a restaurant, and we were the only guests present. So, I think it was actually just some guy's house. Nether less, we dined on wild boar stew, a delicacy:

It was extremely tender and oh so good. That about wraps it up for this trip. Man, this only took a few minutes. I really could have written this a while ago. oops. Well, hope you enjoyed it. Cheers.