McRambles: Luxembourg

I'm not sure whether to call Luxembourg the local area or not. It's within such easy striking distance, it's really day-trippable. We, however, opted to stay overnight at a nearby air force base offering cheap, family-friendly accommodations and an opportunity to stock up on some American staples.

We spent Saturday morning in Vianden, exploring the most kid-friendly castle we've yet to encounter. It's not stroller friendly, lots of steps, but my young 2 year old easily walked it. It's small enough to not bore/tire the kiddos. And while there are exhibits (armor, knives, tableware), the exhibits are centered in large rooms which makes it easy to run interference and keep the kids from touching anything. There are occasionally guided tours, more in the summertime, but as we visited in October, we took the self guided route. Bottom line: it is an invitingly trompable castle, with little boy adventures waiting around every bend, especially if you visit off-season (as evidenced by all the pictures of my boys tromping). For any local readers who are now German-castle-skittish, having made the drive to Burg Eltz only to be kicked out because your kid breathed funny, never fear, Vianden is the castle for you. We've yet to make it to Bavaria and the Cinderella-esque Neuschwanstein, but Chateau Vianden perched in the Luxembourg hills, though small, is as scenic as we've seen to date.

As an added bonus, Vianden is a super cute little town, reminiscent of Monschau, but filled with cute antique shops and friendly bistros. Side note: Victor Hugo frequently vacationed in Vianden and just as I couldn't buy a copy of Les Mis in the Paris sewers nor could I buy a copy of it or even Hunchback at the Victor Hugo house in Vianden. REALLY!?! Someone needs a new marketing director, for sure.

Sunday our destination was Luxembourg City. Except..... before we got to sightseeing we had to stop and buy hats and gloves (no easy feat on a Sunday, mind you). We now have hats and gloves as souvenirs from our trips to Cambridge, Heidelberg, Hamburg and Luxembourg. You would think after two years I would have figured out just how cold Northern Europe can be, any time of year. In my defense, that Sunday in Luxembourg City was barely the middle of October, and the first REALLY cold day of the year, so hats and gloves weren't quite on my radar yet.

Once we appropriately bundled ourselves, we set off on the shorter of the two self guided walking tours available from the Visitor Center. Luxembourg is pretty hilly, with some steep climbs and C was walking that day, so between the cold and being paced by 5 year old legs, we figured shorter was better. The city has remarkably preserved casements and walls, some dating back as early as 1644, that today surround a lovely park. Walking the casements provides some really beautiful views of the city. There's a uniformed guard on duty at the city's Grand Ducal Palace and that's always fun for the boys. Luxembourg City, unfortunately, is just the latest victim of my "metropolis fatigue". On a beautiful day it would be a fun place to explore, on a cold and windy one, I could take it or leave it. Rumor has it, though, that there's a Villeroy and Boch outlet near there, so perhaps Luxembourg City and I will meet again one day soon.