Luxembourg: City of Yellow and Grey

On Saturday, March 19th, I went along on one of KU Leuven's organised day trips to Luxembourg City. Before looking at a map of Belgium (during my study abroad application process), I honestly didn't know Luxembourg was a country. I had definitely heard the name before and knew it was associated with a city, but, yes, it is actually an independent country. The capital city is Luxembourg City. Luxembourg is sandwiched between Belgium, Germany, and France; yet it has a completely unique look. The country is largely rural, with the Ardennes forest in the north. The rocky eastern edge gives it the nickname “Little Switzerland.” Luxembourg City is known best for it's medieval old town (all the yellow and grey you see) nestled among cliffs and a river. The country has a small population of just over 500 000, but still it's own language called "Luxembourgish" (along with the other two official languages of German and French).

The trip to Luxembourg City from Leuven took about two and a half hours by bus (a tour-sized Greyhound-type bus). First stop was the American Cemetery and Memorial. The cemetery was established in 1944 very close to the Battle of the Bulge (same month, even) - a famous WWII battle launched through the Ardennes region of Wallonia.

The block here that looks like a statue is actually a chapel and includes massive bronze doors embellished with gold leaf depictions of military virtues.

 A visual on stone displaying the battle movements related to the Battle of the Bulge.

The headstones in this cemetery are mostly crosses with some stars of David. Somehow the grass here is kept green while nothing else is in bloom; the white graves in sweeping curved rows contrast the bright green in a lovely and interesting way (feels odd to write something like that about a cemetery).

Our next and much quicker stop was the Sandweiler German war cemetery. What I first noticed about this cemetery compared to the American one was how it blended into the landscape. The American memorial was very crisp and clean, whereas the German memorial was amongst trees and had simpler earth-toned headstones.

After our quick German cemetery stop we pulled into Luxembourg city, the main attraction. Below is a statue near the bus terminal called Gëlle Fra (Luxembourgish for "Golden Lady"). 

Grand-Ducal Palace: the town residence of the Grand Duke.

These goat cheese panini's were a good idea for the first few bites, then they were a bit too...goat-cheesey. Very strong. But very good in smaller amounts. The coffee and 3 chocolate mousse made up for it. 

A nice surprise was the antique flea market happening in Place d'Armes, the city's main square. I ended up with a lightly worn-out vintage Luxembourg postcard. If I didn't have to pack my life up into a suitcase in June, then I would've bought more. The building you see in the picture below is The Cercle Municipal or Cercle-Cité, which once hosted the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community and is now a venue for exhibitions and conventions. 

The yellow building to the right is Église Saint-Michel (or Saint Michael's Church), which stands on the oldest religious cite in the city and, as we currently see it, was built in 1688. The first church on this spot was built in 987.

Next we were shown amazing views of the Ville Basse or "Low City" of Luxembourg City, which is much lower (hence the name) than the previous areas (Ville Haute or "High City") and is still partially surrounded by a fortress/wall. This is definitely the most picturesque area of Luxembourg City and offers amazing views from both the high and low points - as you will see in the photos to come.

We walked down some stairs in a portion of the outer wall to get to the low city. This area, before more knowledge and technology were available, was of course prone to some intense and fairly frequent flooding. Ironically, a fire wiped out this entire area as the buildings were all connected and made of wood. When rebuilt, for the joined style to continue, the buildings had to be done in stone.

Here you can see a good bit of the surrounding wall.

Our final stop as a group was the Cathédrale Notre-Dame - not to be confused with the one in Paris, of course. The cathedral was built between 1613 and 1621. In the mid 1930's it was built larger given that it was granted the title of cathedral church roughly 60 years earlier.

That's it for Luxembourg City! If you're ever in Belgium, Northern France, or Western Germany, then I'd definitely recommend a day trip to Luxembourg (as it may not be on most people's radar). I'd love to go back when it's greener, because I've seen pictures of a fully bloomed Luxembourg City and it's incredible. Hopefully time permits another day trip! 

Thanks for reading! I'll try to write about Paris and Brugge when possible - but there's a lot of catching up to do. Remember to subscribe using email if you want notifications about new posts right when they go up :)

- Alexandra

Six Hours in Berlin

Mid-February I saw some roundtrip flight tickets to Berlin on for 10 euros. It was too good to pass up, so I decided to just go for it and see Berlin for a short quarter of the day. I was up at 5:30 on Wednesday and travelled for more time than I was on the ground - but it was well worth it. 

Ryanair is a budget airline that usually flies into more secondary city airports, so instead of flying into Berlin's main international airport I landed in Schönefeld (SXF), about 30 minutes by train to the city centre. Luckily Berlin has a super convenient and easy-to-navigate public transport system; so I had no troubles at all figuring the area out. 

First stop was the famous Reichstag building, which was completed in 1894 following German national unity and the establishment of the German Reich (the name of the nation-state at the time; it translates to "German Empire"). Post-WWII, the Reichstag was no longer used for government purposes until restoration in 1999 was complete. 

Next up was a short stroll down through to Brandenburg Gate, an 18th-century arch, which is also one of the best-known landmarks of Germany. What was once a symbol of Berlin and German division during the Cold War became a national symbol of peace and unity following the fall of the Berlin Wall. On top of the gate is The Quadriga, a sculpture representing the Goddess of Victory. Fun fact: the sculpture was held captive in France from 1806 to 1814. Why? I don't know.

Walking down Unter den Linden ("under the linden trees"), a boulevard in the Mitte district.

The Gendarmenmarkt is a square housing the Konzerthaus and the French and German Churches. In the middle of the square (white and pictured in front of the Konzerthaus below) is a statue of one of Germany's renowned poets, Friedrich Schiller.

Neue Kirche (a.k.a. Deutscher Dom, the German Church)

 Konzerthaus Berlin (feat. Friedrich Schiller and his very en vogue robe)

Französischer Dom (a.k.a. French Church of Friedrichstadt)

Unfortunately, St. Hedwig's Cathedral (below) was surrounded by construction, so the only photo I could get from the outside was of the super-angled-and-cut-off variety. You can see a lovely crane reflected in the historical 18th century window. It seems as though Europe is always under construction. 

I popped into St. Hedwig's for a few minutes to have a look around.  

 Humboldt University of Berlin, founded in 1810, is one of Berlin's oldest universities. 

Okay, so I didn't catch the name of this museum...but it has a nice pillared walkway and looks very important (but I guess not important enough for me to learn its name...).

This next building I do know the name of. Below is the Berlin Cathedral (a.k.a. Berliner Dom). It is located on Museum Island, a small island appropriately containing many museums - with the Berlin Cathedral being one of its most travelled-to landmarks. 

The cathedral as you see it now was finished in 1905, with many predecessors. 

Going inside the cathedral wasn't free, so I snuck in for a quick snap of the foyer. Still very impressive.

Another of Berlin's points of interest, seen on almost every postcard, is the Fernsehturm de Berlín - a television tower located just off of the large public square Alexanderplatz. At 365m, it is the tallest building in Germany. However, it was meant to be the tallest in Europe, but is second to Moscow's TV tower. According to urban legend, the 365m height was deliberately chosen so that everyone could easily remember its height, like the days of the year. It costs roughly 13 euros to take an elevator to the top for panoramic views of the city, which I'm sure are amazing. Unfortunately, my time was limited, the line was long, and my pockets are shallow (student struggles).

The Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus), close to the TV tower, is seat of the Governing Mayor and the Senate of Berlin. Built between 1861 and 69, the hall derives its name from the façade design made up of red bricks. It really is such a unique building and stands out from miles away. I'm more partial to calling it burnt orange, but "The Burnt Orange" or "Orangey-Red Town Hall" doesn't have the same ring as Rotes Rathaus.

Second last landmark stop was Nikolaikirche, also known as St. Nicholas' Church. The 13th ce. church was ruined by bombs in WWII and has since been rebuilt to no longer function as a church, but as a venue for events, concerts, and organ recitals. 

Nikolaikirche is located in the area of Nikolaiviertel, the reconstructed historical heart of Berlin. This area made me feel as if I transported to a different city or town. The buildings were much more 'cute' and 'old-school', less city-like.

A street in the Nikolaiviertel area.

My last official stop in the city centre was the Bode Museum (originally called Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum) on Museum Island. I didn't have time to visit inside the museum, but wanted to catch a glimpse of another landmark. The museum's concept can be traced back to Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, who published her ideas in a memorandum in the late 1800's. Her ideas were put into practice when construction began in 1897. The museum opened in 1904. 

On my way to the bus station that would take me to the Berlin Wall's East Side Gallery, I walked past The Neue Synagoge (literally, the "new" synagoge). It was built in 1859–1866 as the main synagogue of the Berlin Jewish community. Even though it's sandwiched among other buildings, the synagoge is still quite the elaborate building and impressive sight. 

My very final stop on this short trip to Berlin was the East Side Gallery, a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin Wall, which acts as an international memorial for freedom and is covered in various art and graffiti. This is the first place that came to mind when I first thought of booking a trip to Berlin. Certain works are kept secure behind fences, while others are completely open - I'm not sure what deems a piece of work "fence-able".

Love this piece showing characters like Batman and The Joker.

The final two pieces of work really stood out to me in light of recent events (such as the bombings this morning at the airport and a few metro stations in Brussels). There is so much to learn from a city such as Berlin and country such as Germany. With a very complicated and horrific past, it seems as though many of the people within this city and country now live to move forward and not look back, which should serve as a lesson for many people and nations elsewhere. We can't let fear and anger decide how we treat others; we are all just people regardless of race or religion.

I hope you enjoyed this Berlin recap. It is no new news that I take forever to put these posts together, so bear with me as I prepare to share my Saturday trip to Luxembourg as well. Thanks for reading!

- Alexandra