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GORGE-OUS LUXEMBOURG
Elegance and Surviving Royalty
Postage
stamp Luxembourg (Luxemburg depending on your language choice, French
and German are both official) survives today as
an independent state as a result of the ever shifting politics
of Northern Europe and because it is nestled in a land of deep
valley gorges and verdant hills. On visiting the Grand Duchy,
a constitutional monarchy, one notices the geography that has protected
it from encroaching neighbors, much like other tiny states in
Europe
too small to fit their names on the map, Monaco, Lichtenstein,
San Marino, they survived partly because of mountainous terrain
and difficult to get to, before the advent of train tunnels and bridges.
Luxenburg also survived because it was protected by one of the great
fortresses
of
Europe of
the Middle
Ages,
which
was ultimately destroyed not by conquest, but voluntarily, as
a gesture of neutrality. In the late 20th Century Luxembourg became
one of the driving forces be the EU and a center of European banking.
The city sits high on a promontory with beautiful views across the Pétrusse valley, with morning sun crisp in the blue sky, on the spire of the old Catholic Catheral and soon criss-crossed with the contrails of Europe’s modern air travel!
Still not the easiest place
to get to without intending to, the Duchy is served by Findel Airport,
the national airline, Luxair along with
major and smaller airlines. With the Eurail Selectpass and FlexPass,
Luxemburg is included in Benelux, the economic union of Belgium, Netherlands
and Luxemburg. Getting around
the town is a matter of a well-developed
bus system, taxi, or driving. But if car traveling in your rental the
many bridges across the gorges and trying to follow twisting roads with
one way direction is rather like driving the inside of a small intestine,
so bone up on your map reading skills.
The prices are a bit higher
here, but English is commonly spoken and the central old city is a
very walkable mall of tasteful shops and restaurants,
and some very upscale clubs for the international set attracted by the
banking business. And not far to the east are the beautiful gorges of
the German Moselle Valley wine region. © Bargain
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