Day Trip to Luxembourg

Easter is a four-day holiday in Germany, but with a CODEL (congressional delegation) coming to Frankfurt on Sunday night, I was unable to travel for the long weekend.  Not wanting to spend my entire weekend cooped up in my apartment, I decided to take a day trip on Saturday to Luxembourg.  I had never been to the tiny duchy and it's less than 3 hours from Frankfurt.  I packed Bailey and some snacks in the car and left early Saturday morning.

My first stop in Luxembourg was the Mullerthal trail in the north part of the country.  Known as "Luxembourg's Little Switzerland", the region features miles upon miles of hiking trails through beautiful forests.  Although Saturday morning was quite rainy, Bailey and I still went out for a 90 minute hike.  It was very quiet and peaceful, gorgeous and green.  The calm was only broken by the occasional car on the nearby road, the wail of songbird, and the roll of distant thunder.

A nearby farmhouse on the trail

Bailey exploring the muddy path

The green moss practically glowed neon.

The Shiessentuempel bridge and waterfall.  None of my photos come close to capturing the beauty.

Schiessentuempel

Some Wildflowers

The trail I took left the forest and ran next to a golf course.  Not surprisingly, the course was empty this morning.

Then, suddenly the trail was covered with all of these woodpiles.  Over a dozen in total.

Mullerthal trail

Bailey and I finished our hike muddy and tired.  Not sure who was muddier, but he was definitely more exhausted.  He crashed on the floor of the car and just passed out.  I made my 20 miles away to Luxembourg City.  The city started as a virtually impenetrable fortress atop a steep cliff.  Although the city has outgrown those original walls, you can still see how impossible it would be take the town by force.  Delicious soup for lunch hit the spot perfectly, warming me up from the chilly hike.  The town was full of french-looking government buildings and cute shops, with coffee and pastry shops on every block.  No singularly impressive building or square, but a very European feel.  After a few hours walking around town, we drove back to Frankfurt and I crossed my 31st country off my list.

A view from the top - you can see parts of the old city walls to the left of the photo.

Sometimes I am still twelve years old.

Soldier outside the palace

Beautiful stained glass windows inside the Cathedral.

Another view of the deep valley below.