It's been weighing on my conscience. I had such a great time in Luxembourg and then I never put the photos up to prove it. I won't go into why Luxembourg had a specific significance for me, but needless to say I wanted to like this place. And I gotta say, when I arrived the night before it weirded me out a little, it's not like any other city I've been to. I went to bar called Arts Scene which should have been called Absence of any Arts Scene, and a friend had told me that this was a town with a policy for not allowing buskers, despite it having at least two big bronze sculptures of street performers. So it was a little bit of a surprise when I arrived in my designated spot to find a steady flow of really interesting people most of whom weren't bankers or tax evaders (not sure where I got that myth from either) but people with quite a clear world view and interest in places beyond their castle gates.
This is the way to the Luxembourg Tourist Office, I don't know why I find that funny... perhaps it is a kiwi thing, you see Luxembourg is even smaller than New Zealand and in New Zealand people have about as much idea of Luxembourg as your average middle American has about some island called New Zealand "say, I think I heard of that, is it part of Australia". Well this is the tourist office, well at least it is the way to the tourist office, and in itself it holds some kind of mystery.
And here is me not far from the Tourist Office, somewhere near the Prince's digs I think, though he did not come to visit as far as I know.
I really wished I had taken more photos because now many of the conversations have completely escaped me. I spoke with a very interesting School teacher, a civil servant, a financial manager, a social worker (now that was interesting), a few students, a couple of artists and plenty of children who manage to flit between languages like most people flit between assorted sweets. I was even invited out for dinner but was unable to make it once I'd spent time packing everything up.
I will come back Luxembourg, I'm not sure when or how but you made a good impression on me. Perhaps this is the upside to preconceptions, you are left with a fresh taste in your mouth like toothpaste when you realise your mistake.
Well I have to mention the street performances that were also part of my time in Luxembourg, here are the 12 foot fairies who took elegance to new heights and below was the fire dancing troupe from France who put on a truly memorable show, I have never seen fire used in such a playful and 'liquid' way.
