I'll have the feierstengszalot, please, with a side of stress.

So 2013 hasn't exactly shaped up to be our big travel year just yet, extra trip to the US in February notwithstanding. We did, however, manage to make a trip to Luxembourg and Trier over the Easter weekend: Mike had two whole days off from work*, and so we decided we'd better make the most of a genuinely long weekend. I've been fascinated by Trier for a while, and most routes there from here go through Luxembourg, so it wasn't too difficult to talk Mike into heading northwest for a few days. Woooo, travel!

Here's where the stressful part arrives. About a month prior to that weekend, my dear cat Ned had started having seizures. Thankfully, thankfully, they weren't terribly severe, and didn't last very long, and needless to say, I was in a ridiculous state of panic. Our calm, reassuring vet seemed to know almost instantly that A) this was fairly routine epilepsy; B) it was of the mildest type; and C) we could treat it simply by giving good old Ned a pill every day. Which might actually be simple, for a cat that's motivated by food, like Stewie. Ned, not so much. Fortunately, I had some soft treats in which I could hide the pill, and he would take them, with no fuss and no problem. This worked fine for a few weeks, and I assumed that this would continue to work.

Fast forward to our triumphant arrival in Luxembourg** (the city proper, which is not called Luxembourg City, but that's precisely what it is, and who would ever have thought that it might be confusing to have both a country and its main city with the same exact name??), which, as it turns out, is truly stunning. The architecture reminds me a bit of Paris and a bit of Belgium, and the old town is built on top of the hills and in the valleys surrounding a couple of drastic bends in the Alzette and Petrusse rivers. It's just gorgeous. Sadly, the weather while we were there was relatively overcast, and I somehow couldn't quite find any of the breathtaking views you see if you Google images of the city, so you'll just have to take my word for it. My photos do not do it justice.

Our first evening in town, we stumbled upon the Grand Ducal Palace (with attached Parliament on the far right end, and only open to tourists in the summertime, sadly), purely by accident.

Place Guillaume...massive and open and surrounded by some interesting old buildings.

A few lovely Art Nouveau-y details on Place d'Armes.

City Palace, Place d'Armes.

This is what I liked most about Luxembourg: all sorts of narrow, old streets, with mysterious spires and arches and corners and alleys and wonky little passages that made you want to explore everything.

Dinner on Day 1 was at Wäistuff Restaurant Kniddelkinnek, which was in a fantastic building right across the street from our hotel, down this crazy little passage between (and maybe partially under?) two medieval buildings. It turned out to be an extremely cool cellar-like restaurant, complete with giant open stone hearth, super thick stone walls and arched doorways, and an authentic Luxembourgish menu. Mike had a plate of local ham and salad, and I had a gigantic heap of the aforementioned feierstengszalot, which turned out to be a cold salad of cubed beef, mustard, pickles, and who knows what else (much tastier than it sounds, actually); we split a side of some of the most tremendous potatoes ever, fried with bacon and onions; and shared waffle with homemade ice cream, whipped cream, and berries for dessert. Naturally, we had to try out the local wine; the Pinot Gris was quite good.

Day 2 began with a breakfast of madeleines and cream puffs and coffee at the Lea Linster Delicatessen, and how truly, truly tasty it was. Then it was off to the cathedral, on which building began in 1613. While the original remaining Gothic elements (vaulted ceilings, arched windows, and some carvings) were impressive, modern renovations made it fairly disappointing for me, which we all know is highly unusual, given my obsession with interest in cathedrals. Thankfully, we were right across the street from Place de la Constitution and the entrance to the Petrussé casemates (one of two in Luxembourg that you can visit...!), which is where we headed next.

Not the greatest of photos, I'll admit, but you get a feeling for the tunnels. This network was originally built in 1644 (!) by the Spanish as part of an insanely elaborate defense system around the city; was enlarged (and later partially dismantled) over the next two centuries by the Austrians, French, Belgians, Dutch, and Italians; sheltered the city's inhabitants during WWII air raids; and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site (along with all of the old town and its associated fortifications). (Thanks for the info, Luxembourg Tourism Office! Ok, so we did take a guided tour, but I took my sweet time writing this post, obviously, so all of our awesome guide's info was largely forgotten.)

Nineteenth-century Prussian cannon under the Beck Bastion, overlooking the Petrussé Valley. Another awesome thing about Luxembourg: all of its hillsides and valleys are just loaded with fortress walls, tunnels, towers, etc., etc. Neat.

Next, we traipsed outside the city center to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial,*** which is not only the final resting place of General George S. Patton, Jr. (killed in a car wreck, oddly enough), but also the primary American cemetery for soldiers killed at the Battle of the Bulge (holy smokes, this is something that I learned about in college, and actually still remember). It was the first military cemetery outside of the U.S. for both Mike and I, and a place that I found truly poignant.

Memorial chapel.

General Patton's grave.

There are 5,076 headstones here, including 118 Stars of David, 101 unknown soldiers, and 371 missing in action. There were also large, standing relief maps depicting both Allied and German troop movements during the Battle of the Bulge, which occurred not too far north of this site.

Getting out to the cemetery was a bit of a haul, so the end of Day 2 involved a walk around La Corniche, on the 17th-century Spanish ramparts two minutes from our hotel. Awesome. (Sadly, we did not get to the second set of casemates, so there will be a second visit to this amazing city.) Turns out, you have essentially a 360-degree view of loads of old fortress-y stuff from La Corniche. 

Stuff You Can See From La Corniche: part of the Bock casemates (left and bottom center) and the 19th-century viaduct bridge.

SYCSFLC: the 14th-century Wenceslas wall.

SYCSFLC: the spires of the cathedral (center), fortress ramparts, and St. Michael's church on the right.

SYCSFLC: the "Hollow Tooth," the only surviving part of Luxembourg's original 10th-century castle.

SYCSFLC: fortress walls as a foundation for old town on the left, Bock promontory (site of the founding of the city in 963) in the center, and the business district in the back. (Apparently, there's lots of interesting modern architecture in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg, across the valley on that plateau, but we couldn't be bothered this time around. All of the photos make it look like scenes of the future in 1950s comic books. I am intrigued.)  

Across the Alzette valley, to the north: more fortressy stuff.  Fort Thüngen and Les Trois Glands ("the Three Acorns", 18th century).

Er, as you can see, there is quite literally old stuff everywhere. This place is a history-architecture-photography nerd's dream come true, and we only got to see about half of the fortresses and churches and crypts and other assorted historical sites that I feel we should have explored. Sigh.

Anyway, we just kinda lucked out with dinner on Day 2: earlier in the day we'd spotted another fascinating little cellar restaurant, also just across the street from our hotel, and they were able to squeeze us in (sans reservation, shame on us!) around 9:15. The place was packed, which is always a good sign, and the food at Am Türmschen turned out to be really good. To start, I had some fantastic potato soup (the Luxembourgers do amazing things with potatoes), and Mike had a salad with extra garlicky-buttery shrimp (YUM); then came a salad with goat cheese, grapes, apples, and balsamic vinegar for me, and a traditional Luxembourgish dish of pork with broad beans for Mike; and to finish, we split a chocolate lava cake (or whatever they call them in this part of the world). A great way to conclude our stay in one of my new favorite cities.

And with that, I'm going to go ahead and wrap up this post here, so that it doesn't run excessively long...but the continuation should be coming right up. (Seriously, it's basically finished, as well. I know you don't believe me, but for reals. More in a minute.)

Um, oops...just realized that I didn't get to the actual "stress" referred to in the title of this post. Suffice it to say, for now, that it had to do with my stubborn, weird little cat, and my poor cat lady, who had to deal with him in our absence. Ugh. What a mess. Stay tuned, campers. 

*Have I mentioned that in Switzerland, if a holiday falls on a weekend, one simply does not get that time off from work? Holiday, schmoliday, say the Swiss. I think it's kind of a jerk move.

**And also, did you know that Luxembourg is technically a duchy? In fact, the only remaining Grand Duchy in existence? I did not. (At least, that's what Wikipedia says it is, and they're a reliable source, right...?) And also, they have three official languages--French, German, and Luxembourgish. Pretty much everyone speaks English, too, so kids grow up there knowing four languages, right off the bat. SOOOO JEALOUS.

***Look, folks, it's a bit of a slog to get out here from the city center, and actually impossible to find good directions on the interwebs, so here it is: the definitive guide to reaching the American cemetery in Luxembourg, without a car! Take bus 15 heading east-ish from the main train station in the direction of Hamm/Rue de Bitbourg (you can buy a ticket as you get on the bus), then exit the bus at the Käschtewee stop. Continuing along the Rue Haute in the same direction as the bus, you'll pass a roundabout on your left, and then you'll go up a sideway along a the entrance to Highway 2/Val de Hamm. From here there's actually a reasonably well-marked, (mostly) paved walking path to the cemetery. (The route follows Highway 2/Val de Hamm for a short way, then veers off down the hill to the right, goes under another highway, curves left, then continues on until it curves sharply around to the right, and you're at the gates. You can kinda see it on the satellite view of Google maps--it essentially follows the Val du Scheid road east from Highway 2/Val de Hamm.) It's at least a 20-minute walk from the bus stop, but not a difficult one, and easy to get back to the bus stop once you've made your way from there. And I'm sure as soon as I publish this entry that they'll change the bus routes, or the walking path, or something, but at least for now, here are those directions. (Visitors not in tour buses or cars, you're welcome.)