Due to a series of unanswered phone calls, indecipherable German voice mail greetings, and a phone number we were given that was lacking a digit or two, we were unable to meet with friends on Sunday morning as per our intended plan. So, mid morning, we set off from the Black Forest en route to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – a small country bordered by Belgium, France and Germany, and with a population of less than half a million. Click here and scroll down to the Language section - unreal!! That evening, we would be meeting up with some friends of a friend who live in a small village outside of Luxembourg City.
It took quite a few hours of driving to get from Tennenbronn in Germany to the little village of Hollenfels in Luxembourg, where our accommodation that night would be at a Hostelling International youth hostel. On the way, we had our only car trouble of the trip, which came to our attention in the form of a constant flapping sound of uncertain but slightly-worrying origin.
After pulling over at a servo somewhere in France, Ben discovered that the protective plastic “underbelly” under the front of the car had torn away from some of its screws and was hanging down and flapping like an unhinged jaw in the crosswinds. We believe this has absolutely no connection whatsoever to the Black Forest back-tracking that took place the previous day and is documented in Europe Post 10. Anyhow, it was obviously not an important part of our car, as I'm told it is not always on cars in Australia, and since returning to England Ben has torn the entire thing off and thrown it out and nothing bad has happened. :) On this particular day though, he managed to push it back into place and it stayed put for the time being.
Luxembourg is a very nice country – pleasant countryside, green hills and mountains, freshly ploughed brown fields, charming houses, and – the thing that struck us the most – dozens of people out for their afternoon “constitutional”! It was amazing – we would just be driving along a country lane surrounded by fields, then we would come across a corner where a few cars were parked, and scattered along the nearby roadside would be people out walking their dog or just enjoying a leisurely stroll. Very random but a fantastic hobby for an entire country to adopt!!
Once we found our hostel, which simply said “Chateau” rather than the hostel name on our paperwork, there was no sign of anyone around. Actually, that statement applies to the entire village. The hostel was at the edge of the town and was absolutely enormous – it was a long, mansion-like building, four or so storeys high and probably containing a couple hundred dorm rooms – but it was as deserted as the large castle perched on the side of the hill immediately behind it.
After a brief exploration of the town, during which we attempted to find the visitor centre some signs were pointing to – an endeavour we were quite unsuccessful in, despite even finding the bus parking area for it – we called Francisco and Elaine and arranged to be at their place around 5pm. We drove there at a leisurely pace, stopping to take photos of the countryside, as we were quite early.
Much to their surprise, we found their place relatively easily despite their street not being on GPS maps yet as it is a new development. They had only moved in a month earlier and many of the houses around theirs were still being built. So, introductions ensued and a thoroughly enjoyable few hours followed! Elaine is Irish and Franscisco is Spanish, and they have been married for about 5 years. We had dinner with them, and lots of entertaining conversation, and overall had such a lovely time that we've already organised our next visit... we're staying with them on Saturday night in just over two week's time, when we'll be on our way across to Austria to go snowboarding with Matt and Kat!! :D
Afterwards, we rushed back to our hostel to check in before the 9pm cut-off, and were quite relieved to find someone there this time. Then, not only did our beds end up costing less than our original quote, but we also ended up having a four-bed dorm to ourselves! It didn't take long before we came to the realisation that this may have had something to do with the fact that we appeared to have the entire hostel to ourselves!! During our stay there, we did not see a single other person except for the guy who checked us in and the girl who served breakfast. The shower rooms were spotless and empty. I walked up to the third floor to get mobile reception to send a text message – no one in sight. The echoing halls stretched on forever and I think our room was number four hundred and something, but we did not see any evidence of a single other person there!! It was quite a bizarre feeling. I started feeling like we were unknowing victims of some reality TV gag...
The next day, Monday, happened to be my birthday. :) We awoke to proof that other people were alive in the town, as the town bells rang a couple hundred times at 7am!! I think Ben said he gave up counting at about 160 (I gave up once I realised they weren't striking the hour :P). Anyhow, apparently it's not a town for lazy sleep ins!!! So we went down to the breakfast room, which can be best described as... hmmm, what's the word... oh yes, EMPTY! We had the breakfast buffet and huge room full of vacant tables and chairs all to ourselves, and enjoyed some good old-fashioned Cocoa Pops (amongst other treats) before checking out and having a bit of a wander around the castle next door.
Please note that I do not condone the activities featured in the following photos. Sometimes it is just safer to take the photo so they hurry up and get down, as a reaction betraying one's true sense of alarm often serves as a further incentive for such risk taking...
After this, we set off into the capital city to follow Francisco and Elaine's advice as to what to do in Luxembourg when you've only got half a day...
In the middle of Luxembourg City, there's a beautiful valley with a narrow river, walking paths, bridges, and lots of trees and greenery. No shops or anything. It's a proper valley, bordered by cliffs or steep slopes on both sides, and at the top of those is the usual bustling city centre scene! It's a fantastic idea and very scenic and peaceful. A couple of massive old bridges carry traffic over the top of the valley. So, we mostly spent our time wandering through this valley, taking photos and just enjoying the lovely morning.
Later, we had a quick look through some nearby shops (found some amazing-looking bakery treats and some awesome Tintin ornaments but could not justify getting either!) and then set off for France for our last night of the trip.
I actually thought I was going to finish writing about the whole trip in this entry tonight, but it has taken a fair while and uploading the photos will keep me occupied for quite a while longer, so I think I'll leave you hanging for the final installment! Goodnight, and please vote on our latest poll if you haven't already!
2 comments:
Great macro setting photo's. Hmmmmm and Dexter makes three!!!!!!!! He's having some scary adventures!!!
Lol, love the photos of Ben and Dexter. You'd think Ben would be a better example, instead of encourageing Dexter to hang of the edge of a cliff! :P So did you find out why that place was so deserted? Lucky you made it out of there alive...!
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