GORGE-OUS LUXEMBOURG
Elegance and Surviving Royalty
Postage stamp Luxembourg (Luxemburg depending on your language choice, French and German are both official) survives today as an independent state as a result of the ever shifting politics of Northern Europe and because it is nestled in a land of deep valley gorges and verdant hills. On visiting the Grand Duchy, a constitutional monarchy, one notices the geography that has protected it from encroaching neighbors, much like other tiny states in Europe too small to fit their names on the map, Monaco, Lichtenstein, San Marino, they survived partly because of mountainous terrain and difficult to get to, before the advent of train tunnels and bridges. Luxemburg also survived because it was protected by one of the great fortresses of Europe of the Middle Ages, which was ultimately destroyed not by conquest, but voluntarily, as a gesture of neutrality. In the late 20th Century Luxembourg became one of the driving forces be the EU and a center of European banking.
The city sits high on a promontory with beautiful views across the Pétrusse valley, with morning sun crisp in the blue sky, on the spire of the old Catholic Catheral and soon criss-crossed with the contrails of Europe’s modern air travel!
Still not the easiest place to get to without intending to, the Duchy is served by Findel Airport, the national airline, Luxair along with major and smaller airlines. With the Eurail Selectpass and FlexPass, Luxemburg is included in Benelux, the economic union of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg. Getting around the town is a matter of a well-developed bus system, taxi, or driving. But if car traveling in your rental the many bridges across the gorges and trying to follow twisting roads with one way direction is rather like driving the inside of a small intestine, so bone up on your map reading skills. If military history is of interest you can visit the burial site of General Patton near the airport, (see Luxembourg Military Cemetary).
The prices are a bit higher here, but English is commonly spoken and the central old city is a very walkable mall of tasteful shops and restaurants, and some very upscale clubs for the international set attracted by the banking business. And not far to the east are the beautiful gorges of the German Moselle Valley wine region. © Bargain Travel Europe
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