as mentioned in my previous post luxembourg is well known for its old fortifications which are listed as a world heritage site by the unesco. they are really quite impressive and span around the whole city. since our time in town was quite brief we didn't enter the casemates or the old quarter of the town at all, which i now am a little sad about, because after all that is what i wanted to see the most. maybe i should return to luxembourg on my own again to have a more detailed look at everything.
my overall impression of luxembourg city was that it was quite a quirky and open-minded place, with lots of interesting localities to explore.
the grand ducal palace.
this elephant is part of the elephant parade - a social enterprise which wants to raise awareness for elephant issues. it stood in front of the ducal's palace.
lovely stone embellishments.
the area where the city museum was situated was quite a young quarter, as evidenced by all the tags and streetart we found around here.
this statement is pretty debatable :P
loved this little piece ( or peace ) of art.
we finally made our way to the bock fortifications. what i loved most about this particular part of the fortress was that you could look down into the old quarter of town but at the same time had a great view onto the kirchberg district, which is basically where some of the european union institutions are located. if i return to luxembourg some day, i will make sure to visit this quarter as well, because obviously it's every modern architecture enthusiast's dream. at least i think so. we only passed by this quarter with the car and my eyes got big and wide as soon as i saw this. it looked like a space city to me.
the first glimpse of the grund district. it's located down in the alzette valley, next to luxembourg's city center.
the best view of the old city you can get is from the corniche wall. you can also walk along the top of this wall and get a better overview of the whole area. the big building down in the valley with the church next to it is neumünster abbey.
the river alzette flows around grund quite beautifully. such a romantic & charming place!
loved the little gardens on the river bank.
the abbey in all its glory from above.
seriously, my heart was so full of love at this sight. there's something about overlooking cities and villages, or landscapes in general that elevates my mind immensely. must be the air sign in me, haha.
here you can see parts of the bock promontory.
modern construction reached the old walls of the fortifications as well. contrasts like this are really the most interesting thing to me.
the hollow tooth is the little tower on the right of the image. and in the background there's kirchberg district again.
couldn't get enough of this view, i'm very sorry, haha. love the diverse structures.
the flags of luxembourg and the european union next to each other. luxembourg is the embodiment of the european idea and a rather international country, there are over 60 % non-natives living here ( it's a tri-lingual country, too ) and everything/everybody breathes this european sense of community. for a moment i was quite a bit proud to be european and being part of the union. i simply cannot imagine a life with actual borders anymore, the sense of freedom and liberty is what i always loved about the EU. especially in these days where all of these fundamental ideas are challenged again, i keep reminding myself of how important the EU's principles and leitmotifs are.
bad weather was on the menu for late afternoon.
st. michael's church. it's the oldest church in luxembourg city. as it started to rain we decided to hide inside it for a little while.
it was really small and cute and the sense of great antiquity was overwhelming.
the windows were pretty modern, though.
st. michael on the right. i love the stylized figurines.
probably the most glorious window of them all.
the dove, symbol of freedom and peace. especially important in these days, i think.
part three is a-coming! ( i took way too many photos again, haha. )
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