The day after a marathon is always a challenge especially in the walking normally department and this particular day after was additionally challenging since the race finished earlier that morning. The first order of the day was breakfast, and a slap up fried brekkie with all the trimming was, for once, well deserved. My family joined me later and I recounted the high and low lights of the race and we planned the day ahead.
Luxembourg surprised me. I was expecting a city of soulless glass clad office buildings and streets filled with well dressed commuters, each dashing to a really important meeting to do with the European Parliament or Commission or whatever. It pains me to admit that my knowledge of Luxembourg was largely gained through osmosis while dozing in front of the TV news or picking through a newspaper while waiting for something else to happen. Luxembourg to me was the second European Capital where one or more of the many governing bodies met… when they did I didn’t know, and why they did I could care less but here I was with low expectations that I happily stepped over when I discovered that this city was beautiful!
Luxembourg is an ancient city that has retained much of it’s history through stunningly well preserved architecture and landscapes. It is surrounded by densely forested mountain ranges and the city itself has some impressive valleys and gorges, some becoming an oasis of calm from the bustling city above and often house cafe’s, museums and quite shops along the banks of rivers and streams.
It was a long day but walking did me the world of good. We finished the day in one of the city’s many squares and were entertained by a series of American jazz, blues and gospel performers while we sat in the sun and drank ice cold beer.
Tomorrow my sister and family would head north to Brussels and I would head west to France and Ouistreham on the Northern coast to continue my journey home, but for now we’re drinking beer under the sun in a beautiful square of this wonderful city in the middle of a vast forest.