13/09/25 Uptown Downtown Old Town in Luxembourg

Warning: photo spam ahead.

Just like in Brugge, life in Luxembourg ran with a backing track of bells, starting bright and early at 7am. Some of them I understood although the number of dongs didn't always seem to match the hour of the day. Other times the bells burst to life for no reason that I could understand, giving a prompt to pause and appreciate whatever beautiful view was in front of me at the time

Luxembourg had a low old town down in the river gorge, and a high old town up on the plateau and promontory where the fortress used to be.

Low old town #1

Low old town #2

Low old town #3

Luxembourg had bits of new town scattered around too, but nobody was interested in those because they were pretty much the same as any other modern town. High level bridges spanned the gorge at regular intervals to connect the upper denizens of Luxembourg, and a glass lift and funicular railway provided connection on a vertical plane. Of course you could go up and down by car, bicycle, and shanks' pony too, but where's the fun in that?

Bridge #1: Railway

Bridge #2: Adolphe Bridge

Bridge #3: Because when town is bursting with beautiful stone bridges some potato just has to build a red metal monstrosity for funsies.

The Adolphe Bridge again.

Bridge #4

We set off from the Parc Belle Vue along the Chemin de la Corniche, past lookouts and towers built by the successive invaders and conquerors who had come and gone from Luxembourg's fortresses.

Along the way we got a little misplaced and passed through some of the upper old town.

Back to cobblestones in the upper old town.

Old town details.

Back on track, we found ourselves at the Bock Casemates. The casemates were the tunnels and crypts under the fortress site on the Bock promontory, the earliest foundations dating from the 10th century.

It all began in 963.

We spent a happy hour or so exploring the casemates, in and out of tunnels and up and down winding spiral stairs with only one bumped head and way too many photos taken.

By the time we surfaced from the tunnels and lunched on bananas and bread at the markets it was raining. We caught a tourist bus around the lower old town as reconnaissance for tomorrow's walks,  and then took the glass lift from upper to lower which was far less exciting than it promised to be, and went looking for the funicular railway back to the top.

More Ruins.

Old town from the glass lift.

The funicular railway was hidden at the top of another glass lift and an escalator and didn't deliver on the anticipated excitement although had Luxembourg added a chairlift they could have marketed it as a four-in-one experience. I might write and suggest that to them.

Yay.

Did I mention that all public transport (including glass lifts and funiculars) in Luxembourg was free to anyone? Yep, even tourists like us. We caught the tram home in time for a late cup of tea consumed via multiple painfully small cups and watched an Asterix and Obelix movie on TV, which was quite a challenge seeing as it was all in French.

I like old doors, and Europe has plenty of them.

To finish: Spires in Luxembourg.