Off to Luxembourg today, we were up and out the door before 8am. The sun was shining and the sky was clear, probably the warmest morning we have had here. We dragged our suitcases to Centraal and found the platform. A short wait and we were crammed into our seat with our bags, but comfy enough and time to start typing!
Amsterdam has been a fantastic visit . The city is amazing, full of beautiful canals, wonderful architecture, and people who are arrogant and liberal. As long as you don't affect them, you can do as you like. Except for on the street. You do need to follow road rules, there are too many different modes of transport to account for. The tourist population is mad, the locals must avoid this area. The greatest number of tourists are young people.
I was surprised at how freely the marijuana flows onto the streets. It is interesting to see people walking down the street smoking a joint or sucking on a lollipop, but the smell of the smoke wafting into your face is worse than tobacco and to be avoided. Or I'm just an old prude! Or visiting this city when every university in the world is having a mid year break puts you in an age demographic way beyond the average person on the street.
We caught the train at 8.50, traveling on an Intercity line, via Brussels. It was a lot slower than I expected, pulling into Brussels at 11.30. There was a young Dutch guy on the train sitting with 3 English girls in front of us . He was charming them and full of bravado. A 17 year worldly man, taking a call from his mum and sharing his sandwiches his mum had made for him with the girls, all 18, and on a budget. Think I know too much about this group? He was loud!
Somewhere along the way we moved from The Netherlands to Belgium. No great fanfare, and no need to show anyone a passport or any identification. This is freedom of movement in the EU.
The ticket lady had told us Brusses Nord was the station to get off but when we got there no one else was getting off and the station looked empty and not really an international point. We asked a young girl (not an English one) and she thought we should go to Central. Which we did and it looked much more likely. Quite a nice train station, I popped up to the loo and paid my 50c to a grumpy lady to use a pretty average facility. I would be grumpy if that was my job too. It was a short stop over and we were back on another train with our luggage once more around our feet at 12.37.
I kept typing as the countryside changed from the city to little villages and rural landscapes, all green and pretty. Still on a local train, we were not going all that fast.
We left Belgium and into Luxembourg. So many countries in one day.
Finally arriving at Luxembourg City and out into the streets. It should have been a short half hour walk to the hotel, but we made a minor mistake and it took much longer. It would be nice if cities could make sure you can see street signs, especially around the train stations . Just an idea!
Luxembourg was pretty quiet on a Sunday afternoon. The streets are wide and the air is fresh, with a sweet floral aroma.
We made it to the hotel, which is tucked behind some Catholic centre so you have to wander down through the driveway to reception. The lovely young lady checked us in, my French and her English getting tangled, but we got there in the end. The room is ok, no view but clean and roomy enough.
We freshened up and hit the streets. We had less than 48 hours to see the sites. We got a map and were told that all the important places were in the centre so that's where we went. It was a short walk to Constitution Square, overlooking Petrusse Valley and the old town beyond. It is incredibly pretty. In the square there is a large statue, The Golden Lady Memorial. She is very golden and glistens in the sunlight.
We went into the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is really pretty and free! It was cool and peaceful in there. We admired the stained glass and the columns that are carved in different patterns.
There were quite a few people in this part of the city and more seemed to be arriving.As we walked further into the streets, which had lots of shops (most closed) we found a free rock concert starting. We grabbed a drink and sat and watched for a while. The band was ok, the sun was hot and the drink was refreshing. They were handing out ear plugs (and not just to us old people either!).
We kept exploring the area, there were a few streets with security checking bags to get into the concert . We hadn't had ours checked when we got there earlier. The streets are wide and paved and the buildings are old, but not overly ornate. It has a nice feel to it.
We went into Place D'Armes and it was quite crowded. There were restaurants all around the square. We did a lap and made a decision to eat at Cafe Paris. The meal was nice, I had the duck, Ken lamb and then we shared an ice cream meringue dessert. We were close to the band stand and listened to the local band playing a few tunes. They were a little disorganised, the conductor would take a bit of time in between each number and the crowd would disperse and he would get everything going again. They were fun to watch and it was a nice atmosphere, sitting in the square under the trees enjoying a lovely meal in a pretty city.
So the sun was still up and we were short of time, so we went for a walk down into the valley below Constitution Square. The Cassemates are massive walls that surround the old town and the Petruesse Valley below is so pretty. We were walking amongst tall green trees and shrubs, down a little path into the valley. It was cool and quiet. We didn't go all the way down, it looks like a long way up and the sun was getting lower at 10pm. We walked back up the stairs and found ourselves back in the town centre, near the Law courts. Back through the the pretty streets which are easy to navigate (Yay!) and soon back to the hotel.

Steps 16,661
Kms walked 13.7