Luxembourg trip

Day 1: 6th April

Kaz and I set off to Luxembourg for a much needed holiday. Luxembourg was the country of choice purely because of it's stance on Covid; it didn't have one. However, to drive to Luxembourg we needed to go through Germany or Belgium. If Luxembourg can be personified as a hippy preaching for free entry everywhere, Belgium and Germany can be viewed as bouncers to a fancy nightclub. Just to be on the safe side, I did my research, filled out the forms, and got tested for Covid. All of it turned out to be unnecessary in the end because there was no border patrol whatsoever. What was even more surprising is that there were hundreds of cars every second zipping across the border. It was pretty disheartening to see all of the isolation efforts by my friends be made almost completely redundant within a second. 

Three hours and one parking ticket later we were in Luxembourg. Even though the whole country is tiny, and even though there is a national language (it's called Luxembourgish, and yeah, I thought it sounded made up too), the dialect is noticeably different from region to region. As you get closer to the west it sounds more French, and as you get closer to the east it sounds more German. The houses are also very strange. Unlike the Netherlands, which consists of row after row of identical looking houses, Luxembourg has brightly colored houses popping out of the ground in all types of weird places and orientations. It looks like a child got frustrated placing in those rectangular leggo pieces and resorted to hammering them in instead. 

We arrived at our remotely located hotel and immediately decided to do a hike. It was only a 2 hour hike, but still very rewarding. 

Day 2: 7th April

We woke up at 7am to have breakfast and start our hike for the day. We ended up hiking to Echternach via some of the famous caves. It was lovely. Once we arrived, it started to snow down heavily so we decided to take cover in a restaurant by a lake. Luckily, today was the first day that restaurants and cafes were allowed to open. Unluckily, Covid restrictions still forced us to sit in the outdoor area. After the cold snap, Kaz and I decided to pack it in early and take a bus back to our hotel. We enjoyed a lovely hot tub, some Chinese food and got to bed early. 

Day 3: 8th April

We had a very lazy start to the day. We woke up late, enjoyed our free breakfast and drove to a castle in Bedorf. The castle was just like any other except for the torture area. There was a whole assortment of pully systems, cranks and spikes all used in creative ways to crush fingers, dislocate shoulders and severe tendons. It's crazy to think how unempathetic these people were. After the sobering visit to the castle, Kaz and I took a walk around the park, disconnected from reality for a while by catching pokemon, and checked into our new accommodation - a place in a prime location for additional hikes. We had a long conversation with the owner of the hotel who said that the hotel had been pretty much unused for the last 2 years. In 2018 they had a flood, and right after they did the renovations Covid hit in full force. The owner tried to hide her bitterness that the Luxembourg Government hadn't given her any support money due to the pandemic. 

In the evening Megan and Yesh, 2 of our South African friends finally arrived and we settled in for some more Chinese and drinking.

Day 4: 9th April

This was our big hiking day! We walked a full 20km around mostly Mullerthal trail 2. It was stunning. We passed the famous caves which got super narrow and pitch black. A very rewarding treat. After that we ordered in some Italian food, played Settlers of Catan and drank some more alcohol.

Day 5: 10th April

My birthday was delightful. My parents went through the effort of ordering Champaign and a snack platter for Kaz, Megan, Yesh and I. Kaz gave me a Strava subscription for a year along with some NASA fanboy gear. Megan & Yesh gave me a triathlon belt. The weather was not so rewarding so we decided not to hike today and tour Luxembourg city. However, due to a rapid series of fuckups, we ended up driving there in double the time of public transport (which is free, by the way), and with a speeding fine. Regardless the city was beautiful. There were lots of old forts and castles scattered throughout the center due to its history of being a punching bag between France and Spain.