Day 10: Luxembourg Day 2

On day two in the city, we had the MOST amazing breakfast at the Hotel Empire. There was a piano in the lobby, so I gently suggested* Ryan jump on to practice for a bit. It was cute, while he played, a lady in the lobby came running around the corner to watch and listen to him...which was very sweet. He's very much a beginner, but she acted like he was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and he reacted to her supportive praise like any teenager would- by mumbling and looking down. :-|

*Forced

Our first stop of our walking tour that day was Ryan's request, another piano store! It was only about a 1/2 mile away...so he we headed there so he could take his time trying out different pianos. 

I was obsessed with the quiet trams gliding by and their colored glass windows. I just found them to be very reflective of the quality of life in that city. Quiet prestige. What city offers clean, green free public transport? Luxembourg! (Kona offers potholes and almost zero bus service, but that's okay. We have pretty sunsets.)

We spied a few people walking directly underneath the bridge, and decided to try and find the crossing later...

But first, we wanted to visit Notre Dame. I think it was the first time I'd ever seen the size and length of tapestries that massive before.

This accidental trick photography makes me look about 100 lbs. And I'm okay with that.

The stained glass was beautiful, but um...you know, def not Sainte Chapelle level. ;-)  

Our next stop was to Lauderee, a French cafe I'd read about a few days prior. They're renowned for their pastries and macarons, so we tried a few out. Zero line, because...Luxemborg.

Then it was more school clothes shopping for our son. If I have learned one thing on this trip, it was that I have *no idea* what he likes. Everything I think he will like, is awful and gets a horrified stare or an eyeroll, and everything he likes, I think- ooooh...well that's interesting... To be fair, I had a good 10-year run of picking out all his clothes, but it is clear that that ship has sailed, and sailed hard and fast.

We had never seen clear soda 'cans' before, and this was fascinating and cool to us. They were plastic, and now I want them over here. 

We made our way back to the bridge we'd spied earlier in the morning, and we easily found the staircase taking us down to the pedestrian walkway underneath the bridge. It couldn't have been more lovely to peer out at the forest below, but I had a strange moment of an almost dizzying vertigo.  The smile below is just before it happened, when I went over by Ryan, but then quickly had to back away. We were suspended hundreds of feet in the air, and my brain did not like it. I was mad at my stupid brain. I've never had that level of cold sweating/dizziness from heights before, so very lame. And it would happen again...in London. I fought it that time, sort of...as I'm not accepting this lying down.

Right after we walked the bridge, we descended down a trail to the base of the bridge, where we found the forested land was actually a large park. It was quiet/empty with just a few folks here and there, enjoying the sun. 

It was a hike out of the area, and we ended our day walking back through the city, grabbing a deli dinner to eat in the room.

Because the city of Luxembourg is quite compact, and our trip was so short (due to Ryan's schooling)...we had only planned on staying there two days. In hindsight, although that was plenty of time to see the city, we would have loved another couple of days to explore other nearby cities on their amazing public transportation system. 

There was so much to love there- the quiet, the greenery, the eco-friendly transport, the architecture... Although it's one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, with a high per capita income, I can see why. I would say it'd be all worth it to live there...assuming you can learn French or German. :-) I would definitely return someday if I can. It was like an oasis for us.